Treść książki

Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
ComeAlong:Shadowothersastheytraveleitherphysicallyorcognitively,perhaps
communicatingbrieflyintheprocess.
Collaborate:Workwithremotelylocatedotherstorealizeacommongoal.
Foley(2004)comparesvirtualfieldtripstoanotherpopularWeb-basedactivity,namely
WebQuests,pointingoutthatbothdrawmuchoftheirinformationfromexistingWeb
resources,aretypicallydesignedtomakeeffectiveuseofalearner'stimefocusingon
usinginformationratherthansearchingtheWeb,canbeflexiblyusedtoserveavariety
ofeducationalgoalsandarepubliclyavailable.Ontheotherhand,virtualfieldtrips,
unlikeWebQuests,arenotlimitedtobeinginquiry-oriented,arepresentedintheformof
apackagesoftwareapplicationprovidedwithbuilt-innavigationandorientationcontrol
panelorintheformofaseriesofwebpages.Foranexampleofavirtualfieldtripabout
creatingvirtualfieldtrips,seeDevelopingVirtualFieldTrips(http://www.field-trips.org/
develop.htm);foralargeamountoftelefieldtripsrelatingtodifferentdisciplines,see
Appendix1below;forcollectionsofannotatedlinkstovirtualfieldtripsindifferent
disciplines,seeSteele-Carlin(2001/2002)andLuzonMarco(2001b).
AccordingtoSommerville(1999),thefollowingrequirementsforasuccessful
educationaltelefieldtripshouldbemet:
theactivityistobecementedinreality(reallocation,people,time)whichis
uniqueandbeyondtheordinaryreachoflearners,notnecessarilymeaningremote
places,butmoreimportantlyuniqueaccess(e.g.,ajourneythroughacitysewer);
theactivityistobewell-prepared,withwell-resourcedteachingprogrammeleading
uptoitandwithwell-researchedtopics;
thereshouldbefamiliarityandunderstandingoftheremoterealityamongstudents;
theactivityneedstobegroundedinastronginformationbaseandinteraction
withrealpeopledoingrealthings;
technologiesthatmaketheexperiencepossibleneedtobetransparent.
LuzonMarco(2001b)addsthatasuccessfultelefieldtripshouldbequestion-driven
andhaveaclearlystatedobjectivesothatitcanbeseenasapurposefulandoutcome-
evaluatedactivity.Also,studentsoughttobegivenstep-by-steptaskstoaccomplish
duringthefieldtrip,withafieldtripworksheetstatingtheobjectiveanddescribingtasks
learnersaretocompletedistributedanddiscussedbeforethecomputerworkbegins.
Duringtheactivity,learnerscouldbedividedintogroups,witheachgroupresponsible
forresearchingoneaspect,wherethetasksfunctiontofocusstudents'browsingbut
theyshouldbegivenenoughfreedomtochoosewhattheywanttoseeinthevisit.
Mostimportantly,accordingtoLuzonMarco(2001b),theinformationcollectedduring
thefieldtripshouldbeexploitedinsomeoff-linefollow-upexercises.
Lengel(2003a)observesthatvirtualfieldtripsareofgreatusefordifferentclassroom
contextsduetotheirflexibility:evenaone-computerclassroomcanhostavirtualfield
trip,withthewholeclasstakingthetriptogether,beingledalongthepathandputthe
appropriatequestionsastheyviewtheobjectsonthedisplay.Ontheotherhand,with
morefavourabletechnicalconditions,onequestionmaybeassignedtoeachgroup,
eachtakingitsturnatthecomputertofollowthepathandanswerthequestions.