I consider myself an inquisitive traveler. With a passion for adventure and learning more about what I’m experiencing. I’m luckily in a position where I can take the time to go explore the world and learn about new cultures and customs while just enjoying it. This wanderlust started at a young age and only kept growing due to the encouragement of my teachers, family, and popular media. 

Teaching students about what is out there in the world beyond what they know is an important part of education. Teaching them about what is going on in the world and connecting them to different cultures opens their eyes to a whole new way of thinking. The music (or any arts) classroom is a perfect place to turn those students into little inquisitive explorers

1.) Show them pictures and videos! A simple substitution by finding photos and videos of rare instruments, people of other cultures, and beautiful scenic views from all over the globe. You can store them in a folder on your desktop, inside a powerpoint, or in a Google Drive folder. You can pop up a visual on to your board about a place or a culture to show the class as you discuss it in class.  There are also so many digital field trip videos out there that give your students a small peek into that place.

2.) Set up a video chat between your students and another class somewhere else across the globe. You can do this easily through social media platforms or Skype in the Classroom’s website: https://education.microsoft.com/skype-in-the-classroom/overview.  You can do song sharing with other classrooms, listen to ensembles performing, or even connect up with guest speakers and bring them right into your classroom!

3.) AR and VR are making their way into classrooms in all sorts of ways and making a big impact by bringing the rest of the world in. AR will put objects right on the table in front of you, while VR will bring you to a table halfway across the world. Apps like AR Makr and Merge Object viewer make it easy to create AR experiences while CoSpacesEDU allows you to create VR experiences and Google Expeditions takes you to far off places to learn all about the world.

Isn’t it time to take your students on an adventure? No field trip permission slip needed!