The virtual field trip newsletter shown above can be placed in both a staff room and a classroom setting as a technological integration tool. Virtual field trips bring experiences that were inaccessible before, due to funds or distance, to your classroom. Historically, the Boston Tea Party is one of the biggest events leading to the Revolutionary War. With the virtual field trip, students will be able to reenact the night of December 16th, 1773, as if they were part of the crime itself. Utilizing this type of technology helps differentiate content, tying in material to actions that can help students digest the material in a way they can understand. No two students learn the same; some are visual learners, where slideshows and primary source documents, while others are hands-on. Applying technology to social studies can be tricky, as most of history is primary and secondary sources written 100-odd years ago. The language of these sources, more often than not, is dense and hard to get through, and a reenactment of both the Tea Party, Part of Paul Revere’s infamous ride, and the Battle of Lexington and Concord. On the whole, the virtual experiences offered by the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum are another way to reinforce and facilitate learning experiences for students that may struggle with dissecting primary and secondary documents.
For me personally, history has always been the easiest subject, yet for many, history is this black hole of boredom. In many ways, any differentiation is beneficial when utilized in a proper manner. Integrating technology in a social studies classroom can create a connection between modern issues to historical problems in a way that students can grasp and understand. Virtual experiences can bring history alive and facilitate an innovative way to combat historical themes and concepts. The field trip itself integrates the colonial structure alongside the struggles between the colonists and the British soldiers, the discontentment of the Townshend Acts, as well as economic differences (for the crown and the colonists). Roleplay as a learning strategy in a virtual sense both integrates and reinforces the content and as a teacher, multiple ways of teaching the same material can avoid spending the unnecessary time allotted for other units. I think the importance of technology will only grow over time and as technology advances, teachers also need to advance in the way that we teach content.
