Virtual Research Expedition-World Travel at the Fingertips of Students

I love the idea of bringing world travel to my students. Biological research takes place all over the world, but very few students at the high school level will get to be a part of this wider community.

I'd like to facilitate a virtual research expedition with my class. As an example, I would love to "take" the students to one of Darwin's original research areas, the Galapagos Islands. I would use Google Earth to simulate what traveling there would look like. We could research animals in that area (a substitution level on the SAMR model) using the internet as an encyclopedia. Teaching with Google Earth: Students could put together presentations using their digital media. We could then end our experience by doing a video chat with experts on animal life that the students are studying. Students can think about questions to pose and get real time answers. Giving students a window into the current active scientific world is a redefinition of how to learn current and relevant scientific information. This is much more than what reading an article in a scientific magazine can accomplish. Integrating computer based learning into the science classrooms allows for more differentiated learning. Students can go at their own pace to learn.