Week 6

For this week's PLE assignment, I viewed the virtual tour projects of Andrea, Trisha, and Katie.
I think implementing a virtual tour could have many benefits in the classroom. Firstly, it allows students to take on a more independent role of exploring locations and doing activities individually. It also allows them to explore global locations in a fun, exciting way. And since basically the whole globe is available for viewing, it opens the door for many creative activities that call for contrasting different global locations. Doing a tour also allows students to learn through many different tools or activities. For example, you could attach a photo, video, or a link to additional information to enhance student learning.
However, a virtual tour could also have a few downsides. For example, this kind of activity may not allow for group work or collaborating with others. A way to counter this would perhaps be to have a group discussion or collaboration after participating in the tour so students can share what they explored and learned. Another downside is if many students have trouble viewing the tour or using the computers, it could be hard for the teacher to attend to all of their needs at once. Similarly, some students may feel less confident using a computer than others.