How to Create a Virtual Field Trip for Students That Engages and Delights

One of my favorite things about being an educator? Going on field trips with my students! Yes, taking students into a new environment outside school can be taxing. But the fresh perspective on a topic we’re learning about in the classroom makes the extra effort worthwhile. During the pandemic, when we were learning remotely, I discovered that virtual field trips could generate as much joyful learning as in-person adventures.

In March of 2020, my first-grade class had just completed an extensive study of the classifications of animals. I sent home a permission slip for a field trip to the Queens Zoo. A week later, the permission slips were rescinded due to the COVID-19 outbreak. A few days after that, our school became virtual for the remainder of the school year. 

My heart broke for my students. They were so excited about the zoo trip. We talked about it throughout our animal unit. I even had a student tell me early in the school year that he heard I take my students to the zoo and that’s why he is excited to be in first grade! 

Then an idea came to me. I have to digitize my lessons while we’re learning remotely, so why not digitize our zoo trip as well? This allowed me to explore a famous zoo outside of the Queens borough—the Bronx Zoo. 

I scoured the Bronx Zoo’s website for animal facts, videos, and audio clips. I opened the park map and added nature sounds in the background. I compiled my research into digital slides to share with my students. I had never designed a digital field trip before, but it turned out to be a blast! 

Examples of virtual field trips

My first attempt at creating a virtual field trip was so successful that I decided, ‘Why not take my students all over the world?’ Every Friday during distance learning due to the pandemic, we went on a new online excursion. Now that we're learning in person, we still go on virtual field trips because they extend our learning beyond the classroom. Check out this list of free virtual field trips that you can go on with students to bring classroom lessons to life.

Over time, I started to create supplemental handouts, activities, and games that have only enhanced our truly immersive experiences. Here are highlights from virtual field trips with my first-grade class:

• We explored Kruger National Park in South Africa and virtually tagged along on a live safari where we could ask wildlife presenters questions that were answered in real time. My students drew an animal they saw on safari and wrote two facts about it that they learned from the presenters. 
• We studied crocodiles and traveled online to the Australia Zoo to learn about these incredible animals from the Irwins, a family of wildlife advocates. I was continuously amazed by what my students recalled about our adventures. They relayed many facts about crocodiles and other Australian animals whenever they reflected on this trip.
• Another huge hit for my students was our online trip to Disney World. We went on virtual rides by watching point-of-view videos and learned about the company's wildlife conservation work.
• We traversed our solar system and toured the International Space Station with astronauts. My class and I will never forget watching Astronaut Kate Rubins read Rosie Revere, Engineer while she was floating! The Global Space Education Foundation sends children’s books to the International Space Station. Astronauts take turns recording themselves reading picture books, not unlike what I did during distance learning on Earth. 

Planning for a virtual field trip 

My goal in creating virtual field trips is to not only make it educational, but also fun for all of us—the perfect formula for helping students retain new information and utilize their prior knowledge. 

The best way to look at designing a virtual field trip is to think of it as your own mini-research project. First and foremost, where do you want to take your students? What is it that you want them to do, learn, or gain? Once you have the location and target learning goals in mind, then the fun begins. 

Dive headfirst into researching the location. I suggest visiting the website of the place you will be exploring and skimming any social accounts they may have. I like to use a lot of video content, especially ones that offer 360-degree videos that allow students to click around and almost feel like they are there. 

Make an organized list of all links, particularly if this is going to be a teacher-directed virtual field trip. These links can include videos of animals at the zoo or even a guided tour of a museum. Alternatively, you can get creative and use programs like Google Slides, which is easy to share with students.

I try to make trips as captivating and student-directed as possible. I’ll make slides that permit students to lead the way on the virtual field trip. They can choose where they want to explore first and they don’t always have to do every activity. On a trip to the zoo, for instance, I might ask them to pick two animals to describe out of the 10 animals they can see. In this way, students become the guides of their learning, while also having access to all of the same content that I curate for them. 

Creating a virtual field trip for your class 

I like to have a general layout of my virtual field trip. It usually includes the following:

1. Introductory slide: Where are we going? 

Think of this as setting the stage for what you and your students are about to experience. This typically has a picture of where the class is going and fun clipart or pictures, along with background music that is determined based on the destination. Since that first trip to the zoo, I have designed numerous virtual field trips and picked up some new skills along the way. I can now add animation using Google Slides. It offers the ability to animate pictures or text. Choose what you want to have animated, then click “insert” from the menu, and finally “animate” from the drop-down menu. Then you can select exactly what you want the image to do and at what speed. For example, on my solar system virtual field trip, I have a clipart image of an astronaut that floats across the screen. I like to think about an animation as a “bonus item”—not a must-have but it can be something fun to add!

2. Transport: How are we going to get there? 

This slide is optional. I prefer to have a space between the intro slide and before we begin the trip, but it isn’t always necessary. I simply look at this slide as the medium to get us on our way! To give a clearer picture, when I designed one of my Disney World trips, I included a picture of the Magic Kingdom entrance and background music that is played on the park’s buses. It helped students feel like we were there. Another example: I used a picture of a shuttle taking off from the Kennedy Space Center as it headed off to the International Space Station. I guess you could almost think of this slide as the school bus that is taking us from the school to the field trip. 

3. Menu: What are we going to see?

A “menu” slide is like a table of contents that you see in a book. It lays out the different chapters, or rather, it has everything students can explore in one spot. Since virtual field trips can have ample information, I try to narrow down the content and funnel it into various clickable tabs. 

4. Content: What do we want our students to do or learn? 

Depending on the research you have gathered for your virtual field trip, there can be as many slides as you want. I recommend using pictures, text, and even audio to create an immersive experience. I favor using the sound from video clips. All media can easily be added to a slide. Note: if you are going to use a list format of links and other pertinent media, you can play the sound in the background by opening a video link. 

The content slides I create include images and text, both of which are entirely clickable. I link the pictures and words to other slides and/or educational links (sometimes I even have games). I embed video links into slides to keep students focused on my presentation.

5. Closing slide: The trip comes to an end. 

This is another optional piece and is completely dependent on your preference. I sometimes like to have a conclusion to a trip if it’s applicable. For example, while learning about inventors and their contributions to the world, my students learn about Walt Disney. At the end of traversing a virtual timeline of Walt Disney’s life, I add a picture of Walt Disney, along with a quotation about inventions. I find that this can provide closure for the time we invested in the trip before moving on with the school day. 

Virtual field trips provide students an experience that handouts can’t give them. These online adventures allow students to take a front seat in their learning and immerse themselves in a new place or topic—all without ever leaving the classroom.

Share your tips for creating virtual field trips

Have you tried your hand at creating virtual field trips for students? Picked up any useful tips and tricks? We’d love to hear about them. Share your best tips with us on Facebook, Instagram, or via email at shaped@hmhco.com.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of HMH.

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