Content Providers for Videoconference Field Trips …also known as…Distance learning…Electronic field trips

Link to the site for a description of their programs and costs. There are many more providers than those listed here, but these show you the range of programs.

Aquariums allow students to experience the wonders of unique underwater habitats in distant places around the globe.  Students meet animals, explore exhibits, talk with researchers and animal caretakers, and may complete hands-on activities.  Aquarium programs provide encounters with unique, and sometimes protected or threatened species. Using inquiry-based learning, conferences emphasize research and rehabilitation programs, and may explore many aspects of earth science.

Alaska SeaLife Center, Seward, Alaska

Mote Marine Laboratory, Sarasota, Florida

Ocean Institute, Dana Point, California

Reef HQ Aquarium, Townsville, Queensland, Australia

Art Museums and Institutes offer programs that inspire students of all ages and disciplines to engage, think and create.  Classes interact with professional art museum staff to examine artworks and artifacts from around the world, and enrich their studies of social studies, language arts, science, math, and the visual and listening arts.  With many questions, students are encouraged to think carefully about what they can learn about people from the art they are encountering. Students participate in conversations with museum educators, and learning packets with extension activities are supplied with many lessons.

Amon Carter Museum, Ft. Worth, Texas

Cleveland Institute of Music, Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana

History Museums and Historical Places use primary source objects and images, and inquiry-based teaching methods to engage students in lessons that focus on historical events. A document camera may allow close inspection of individual objects, or a virtual tour may allow students to see a complete historical site.  Students learn about everyday life for people during earlier times, or talk with survivors of historical events.

Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany, New York

Arizona Memorial Museum Association, Honolulu, Hawaii, FREE

Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and Museum, The Dalles, Oregon

Fort Mifflin on the Delaware, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Pennsbury Manor, Morrisville, Pennsylvania

Science Centers often send learning packets to your classroom in advance of the event, and students are actually involved in hands-on activities or experiments during the videoconference.  Lessons are aligned to state and national standards.

Brownsburg Challenger Learning Center, Brownsburg, Indiana

Camden Children's Garden, Camden, New Jersey

Challenger Space Center, Peoria, Arizona

COSI Columbus, Columbus, Ohio

Cranbrook Institute of Science, Pontiac, Michigan

Vanderbilt Center for Science Outreach, Nashville, Tennessee

Hall of Fame Museums present diverse topics in relation to famous individuals and time periods. Students learn about history through artifacts and film clips.  Standards-based objectives cover many topics, including mathematics, geography, civil rights, women’s history, economics, industrial technology, and communication arts.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum, Cleveland, OH

National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Cooperstown, NY

University Education Centers

Vanderbilt Virtual School, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee

Vanderbilt Virtual School encourages schools to make the best use of videoconferencing technology to enhance learning by connecting students and teachers to experts, by assisting schools in planning videoconferences with other sites, and establishing collaborations with other schools. Vanderbilt develops programs to integrate technologies in teaching and learning, builds virtual learning communities, and focuses on the use of videoconferencing to enhance K-12 curriculum and teacher professional development. Working in collaboration with K-12 schools, universities, informal educators, and the community, the Virtual School matches curriculum needs with national educational standards and links K-12 classrooms to resources beyond their four walls via real-time, interactive videoconferencing using H.323 IP and Internet 2 technology.

Zoos present a lesson focused on teaching a concept, such as adaptation or conservation, or a specific animal in their exhibit.  Some present from a classroom, and bring in live animals, as well as show video footage from the zoo.  Some zoos have mobile equipment and can present from exhibits within the zoo.  Zoos that have remote cameras present from a classroom but can jump to several wireless cameras located throughout the zoo. Students can ask questions and interact with experienced zoo staff.

Bronx Zoo, Bronx, New York

Buffalo Zoo, Buffalo, New York

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, Cleveland, Ohio FREE

Indianapolis Zoo, Indianapolis, Indiana

Saint Louis Zoo, St. Louis, Missouri

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