GCISD students embark on Google Expeditions
Students across the district are becoming world explorers, right from their classroom. All campuses are piloting Google Expeditions, a traveling set of Google cardboard virtual reality viewers and Android mobile devices. Through these devices, students can take virtual tours through museums, college campuses, national parks, and world landmarks. Expeditions use 360 degree images to give guided tours to students through the cardboard viewers, while their teacher or librarian guides the tour on an iPad. Hundreds of different tours are available through the program.
“Google Expeditions can be used to engage students to introduce content, to allow students to gather observations, or as a an activity to visualize something after learning about it in the abstract,” said Kara Johnson, Bear Creek Elementary School librarian. “It gives the students an opportunity to experience an event or go to a place they may never have been able to experience in real life.”
Fifth graders at Bear Creek ES, one of the pilot campuses, took a virtual tour of the moon after reading Space Case by Stuart Gibbs. Also on their virtual passport include visits to the Amazon, a Native American Pow Wow, and various national monuments, all through Google Expeditions. Along with Bear Creek ES, Colleyville Heritage High School, Heritage Elementary School, Colleyville Middle School, Cross Timbers Middle School, Grapevine High School, Timberline Elementary School and Silver Lake Elementary School have already explored adventures through this program. Google Expeditions will continue to visit all GCISD campuses throughout the remainder of the school year.