Virtual Tours

A virtual tour is a simulation of an existing location. Normally, virtual tours are video images that viewers can look at and can also have multimedia elements. A virtual tour allows the viewer to feel like they are moving around the location and allows the viewer to visit a location without leaving their house.

            How can I use virtual tours when I’m a teacher? I feel that virtual tours are a great way to let the students see what is outside of the classroom without having to go outside of the classroom. I feel that it is very easy to find virtual tours on a lot of different events and instead of just standing in front of the class talking I can allow my students to look around a building or place by their selves. I feel that when I teach about events or places that have virtual tours, I will use them inside of my classroom so the students can get a picture of what I am talking about. Virtual tours can be used in classrooms for a lot of different things.

            Some pros of virtual tours are that they can save schools a lot of money. Instead of taking field trip, teachers can show a virtual tour and see the same thing. Also, students can take tours on their own computer and can go at their own pace and still get to look around and read without being rushed or getting lost. Lastly, safety is a lot easier when you do not have to travel to the actually place. Some cons of virtual tours are that the students miss the whole experience of taking a field trip if they just use virtual tours. Students sometimes do not get to see everything that they could see in the actually building and seeing it in person could make the difference of a place being cool or not. Using computers means that you always have to consider what will happen if something does not work out, so if the internet is not working it will be hard to get to the virtual tour. Sometimes having a backup plan for a virtual tour could be difficult.