Guest Blog: Do virtual tours add value to children’s education?

EdTech
Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels

Virtual tours are becoming increasingly popular nowadays. Many organizations, as well as companies, are opting for a virtual tour. However, are virtual tours helpful in children’s education as well? Do they add any value to children’s education?

We will answer these questions and justify our answers as well.

Do virtual tours add value to children’s education?

Yes, Virtual tours add good value to children’s education. They do so in multiple ways, as mentioned below: 

1. Interactive experience

Usual classroom teaching can soon become monotonous for children. You need something that grasps their attention and commands it consistently as well.

With virtual tours, there is always something new to explore. That’s why you can gain children’s attention and ensure that they are fully involved throughout the virtual tour.

The interactive experience such virtual tours provide, coupled with the ability to hold children’s interest, make them a necessity rather than an optional tool.

2. High accessibility

There are many field trips that you might want to take your students to. The problem is that the overall procedure to book a field trip and to organize everything is quite cumbersome.

Not only that, the place where you’re taking your students allows you on a particular date and time as well. There are numerous accessibility issues in organizing the field trip. 

However, there are no such issues while creating a virtual tour. That is because the filming, as well as surveying of the premises, is needed just once. Also, the surveying and the filming are done by professionals rather than 50 young students. That is why; gaining access to the premises is undoubtedly easy.

Thus, the high accessibility that virtual tours provide is another reason they can add enormous value to children’s education.

Photo by Julia M Cameron from Pexels

3. Less cost

While organizing a field trip, you have to arrange transportation, food, guides, and so on. You have to do so for every student on the field trip. The cost can quickly scale up, and you might have to pay a hefty amount for the entire field trip.

Comparatively, you need to spend a small amount on creating a virtual tour just once. You can use that virtual tour for as long as you want.

When you go with a company that is the market leader in creating virtual tours like The Red Marker, you can get a virtual tour designed not only at affordable cost but with excellent quality as well. It could save you a lot of time and money as well.

4. No safety concerns

Have you tried managing a crowd of children on a busy floor? If yes, you would know how much of a hassle it is. Not only that, you have to ensure that every child remains safe.

This requires a lot of effort, planning, and constant monitoring. This is what you have to handle when you take children on a field trip.

On the flip side, when you opt for virtual tours, children can have similar experiences from the safety of their classrooms. Not only that, the teacher can focus on explaining the various parts of the tour rather than worrying about the safety of the children.

Isn’t this a great way in which virtual tours can add value to children’s education?

You bet!

Photo by Julia M Cameron from Pexels

5. Time-saving

Even if the field website is just 20 miles away, the entire field trip will still take a day. Moreover, the planning required will be of weeks as well. It means that conducting a field trip is quite time-consuming.

Virtual tours, on the other hand, are created by experts. You have to play them in the classroom. That’s why, if the virtual tour is of 2 hours, you would hardly need 2 hours in total, including planning and preparation.

It means that you can cover multiple such virtual tours in the same amount of time, which will enhance children’s learning experience.

6. Can work as a prep

Did you know that virtual tours and actual field trips can work in conjunction as well? As we have highlighted above, in a real field trip, the teacher has to monitor the children and explain the various parts of the virtual tour. However, due to juggling multiple things at once, the teacher might not cover everything. 

Children might not be able to grasp everything in real-time as well. This is where virtual tours can come in handy. With the help of virtual tours, you can easily explain the basics of the field trip to the children in advance. 

Once they know the basics, they will be more curious to explore the various parts of the site when they get there. In a way, the virtual tour can also work as a prep for the actual field trip for children.

Photo by Julia M Cameron from Pexels

7. More inclusive experience

Even with your best efforts, some children might not be able to participate in the field trip. However, in virtual tours, all the children can easily take part. It means that virtual tours provide a more inclusive experience for children.

8. Wide range of field trips possible

Teachers truly understand the importance of field trips. That is why they try and organize as many of them as they can. However, some sites are simply inaccessible for field trips.

The problem is, what should you do then? The answer is virtual tours. For example, even with the best efforts, it is impossible to get a field trip on the Air force one, is it?

However, History View offers a virtual tour of the Air Force One.

Similarly, History View offers a virtual tour of the Air Ambulance Eurocopter ec135

The point is, virtual tours make a wide range of field trips possible right from the comfort of the classroom. This is one of the primary reasons why virtual tours can add enormous value to children’s education.

So, yes, virtual tours do add value to children’s education. They do so in numerous ways. When you understand the potential of virtual tours, you will find they are a necessity rather than an additional tool.

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