Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
by
Nancy Rubin
Boca Raton, FL
December 2007
Copyright by Nancy Rubin 2007
ii
Digital Public History: Virtual Field Trips (VFTs) as Engaged Learning
by Nancy Rubin
This dissertation was prepared under the direction of the candidate’s dissertation
advisor, Dr. Robin N. Fiore, and has been approved by the members of her
supervisory committee. It has been submitted to the faculty of the Dorothy F.
Schmidt College of Arts and Letters and was accepted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE
____________________________________
Dr. Robin N. Fiore
Director of Dissertation
____________________________________
Dr. Sandra Norman
____________________________________
Dr. Deborah L. Floyd
________________________________________
Dr. Susan Love Brown
Interim Director of Ph.D. in Comparative Studies
________________________________________
Dr. Sandra Norman
Dean, The Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
_________________________________________
Dr. Barry Rosson
Dean, Graduate Studies and Programs
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank the members of my committee who have offered their
time and advice so generously. I thank Dr. Robin Fiore, my Committee Chair, for
her invaluable assistance and for being such a wonderful mentor, teacher, and a
friend. Dr. Deborah Floyd has graciously offered her knowledge and guidance.
Dr. Sandra Norman inspired my passion for digital history and I sincerely
appreciate her support. I would like to acknowledge Miriam Crisman her editing
skills and for her friendship. Finally, I express my deepest gratitude to my family
who has supported me through the entire doctoral program; my husband, David,
and my children, Zachary and Rachel, and my parents, Elaine and Robert Lauer.
ABSTRACT
Year: 2007
using virtual field trips to directly engage learners in public history and community
between digital resources and social studies, and case study of a virtual field trip
History and social studies classes are where most young people learn about the
collective, public past. Virtual field trips (VFTs) are an ideal way to transport
students back in time to learn about different communities and to experience the
history of the people and place in thought-provoking ways. VFTs can introduce
learners to primary materials that are too far away or too fragile to examine.
History can be brought to life with first-person narratives that “virtual travelers”
can watch via streaming video technology. Activities such as scavenger hunts for
specific objects using maps and 3D virtual environments can be incorporated into
virtual adventures so visitors can move around and “walk” through a room or
landscape. Hand-held computers, cell phones, and tablet computers are being
locations. Classes in different schools and even in different countries can work
collaboratively on projects.
field trips, however, the two reasons I chose to use a virtual field trip as a method
of engaging students in history and social studies are: (1) History is more
Virtual field trips can be used to build relationships between generations and
cultures. The ways students are taught must engage them in a journey of self-
CHAPTER ONE.................................................................................................... 1
INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1
Purpose and Justification of the Study .............................................................. 3
Literature ........................................................................................................... 8
Community Memory ...................................................................................... 8
Digital Public History ................................................................................... 11
Virtual Field Trips ........................................................................................ 13
Constructivist Learning Theories ................................................................. 15
Twenty-first Century Literacies .................................................................... 18
Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 19
Bibliography ........................................................................................................ 96
viii
LIST OF TABLES
ix
LIST OF FIGURES
x
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
expanded the possibilities for teaching and learning in the last decade. Wireless
laptops are now used in classrooms to access the Internet, communicate with
for teachers and students to use in school and at home. iPods and other devices
once used primarily for entertainment are now used by individuals to record and
share unique insights and first-hand experiences. VFTs help students learn about
site. Technology, in the form of a virtual field trip, empowers learners to be more
involved in what they are learning, enables students to better relate what they are
Young people born between 1981 and 1993, whether they are called
Generation Y (Ad Age, 1993), Millenials (Strauss and Howe, 1992), or the Net
1
Generation (Tapscott, 1998), are the first to grow up in a digital world. They are
surrounded by cell phones, digital music players, computers, video games, the
Marc Prensky, young people are “Digital Natives” who have grown up with
technology and learn differently than past generations because they expect a
highly stimulating and interactive digital environment (2001). “Digital natives” are
used to being in control of their media; listening to music arranged into personal
play lists and watching television shows at their convenience on digital recorders.
In contrast, many teachers are “Digital Immigrants;” not born into the
speaks an entirely new one (Prensky, 2001). Educators need to reconsider both
the way they teach and their content, learning to communicate in the language
and style of their students. Teaching “Digital Natives” requires more than the
addition of technology skills alone; it also requires the knowledge and skills to
their daily instruction (2001). November envisions a new culture of teaching and
learning that includes collegiality, new relationships with family and community,
students who are more self-directed and new models of curriculum and
2
assessment. This study extends November’s view and provides a teaching
model that enables the sharing of instructional strategies and collaboration with
other teachers. Digital Public History: Virtual Field Trips (VFTs) as Engaged
generation by using virtual field trips to directly engage learners in public history
learning, the connection between digital resources and social studies, and a
template for a virtual field trip using the Boca Raton Army Airfield (BRAAF) site
as a case study.
History and social studies classes are where most young people learn about the
collective, public past. Virtual field trips (VFTs) are an ideal way to transport
students back in time to learn about different communities and to experience the
history of the people and place in thought-provoking ways. VFTs can introduce
learners to primary materials that are too far away or too fragile to examine.
History can be brought to life with first-person narratives that “virtual travelers”
can watch via streaming video technology. Activities such as scavenger hunts for
specific objects using maps and 3D virtual environments can be incorporated into
virtual adventures so visitors can move around and “walk” through a room or
3
landscape. Hand-held computers, cell phones, and tablet computers are being
locations. Classes in different schools and even in different countries can work
collaboratively on projects.
Institute in Germany, facilitates field trips for schools and enables international
classes from remote schools participate interactively via the Internet. The groups
going to the field are equipped with data gathering devices (photographic, video,
direct interaction between the field and the classroom. Assignments are given
that are related to the site being visited and data is collected throughout the trip.
Teachers are provided with templates to help them design projects to use before,
during, and after the field trip with clearly delineated roles for both classroom and
field participants.
multimedia designers let alone classroom teachers. Many teachers have little
1993; Kerr, 1996; Morehead & LaBeau, 2005, Schrum, 1999). Critics have
argued that successful use of technology in schools may depend on how well
4
classrooms and whether they provide opportunities for teacher training, practice
remaining World War II era buildings and to build a museum dedicated to the
Army Air Field and the men and women who served there. The project included
temporary structures when they were constructed in 1942, several still remain on
the Florida Atlantic campus along with many historic artifacts. Based on the work
of this group, Florida Atlantic University applied for a grant which would enable
the project became a central element of this Digital Public History: Virtual Field
Trips (VFTs) as Engaged Learning: the creation of a virtual field trip to teach
important, history as a World War II Army Air Field. This portion of the study
serves a dual purpose; the virtual field trip is a useful educational tool, and it can
also be used as a model for educators to create their own virtual trips or engage
The Boca Raton Army Air Field (BRAAF) opened in Boca Raton, Florida in
1942. While many people know Boca Raton as a warm, upscale, beautiful place
to visit, regrettably, few people are aware of the important role this city played
during World War II. From 1942 – 1947, pilots were trained to fly B-17’s and
5
servicemen learned how to operate airborne radar, a top-secret device at the
time. Several of the original buildings from the Army Air Base still exist. Digital
Public History: Virtual Field Trips (VFTs) as Engaged Learning and the virtual
field trip project offers teachers a way of connecting the history of Boca Raton
and honoring the memories of the World War II veterans who served here.
demonstrates the advantages of incorporating virtual field trips into social studies
and history studies. Two of the main advantages are (1) History is more
field trip; and (2) Virtual field trips can be used to build relationships between
“cyberliterate” generation while at the same time addressing national and state
history standards. I argue that in order for learners to become more engaged with
the past and the community in which they live, the way they are taught needs to
technologies I propose for my field trip; multimedia materials such as images and
studies because taking students on field trips exposes them to “real” people and
Virtual trips can provide even greater benefits because of unique technologies
6
that can enhance the experience as well as follow-up activities. Students are able
to view and download materials that further their understanding of concepts and
serve as tools for research reports. VFTs allow a teacher with just one computer
teacher at the most expensive private school or upscale suburban school. The
for students to examine resources with electronic tools and conduct searches
that facilitate and transform the learning process. Increased access to primary
source materials and the development of powerful digital search tools means that
novice learners can now get into archives and engage in the kind of activities that
knowledge (Seixas, 1999; Holt, 2004; Wineburg, 2001). The availability of digital
virtual field trips: they can be used to teach about the history of Boca Raton
during World War II and, at the same time, raise awareness about the
Raton Army Airfield and the veterans who served here is a way for students to
develop a better understanding of Boca Raton then, and now. Many colleges and
7
universities have started creating digital history projects; local communities and
school systems are also getting involved in developing their own digital
resources. The Internet and the Web, in particular, provide a greater sense of
control over historical narratives because the nonlinear structure of the World
Wide Web means people can navigate through information at their own pace and
at their own direction. Digital Public History: Virtual Field Trips (VFTs) as
Engaged Learning will be a useful curriculum resource for teaching Florida and
World War II history. It will also serve as a model for teachers to develop their
Literature
The research for this project falls into five main areas; community memory, digital
history, virtual field trips, constructivist learning theories, and twenty-first century
literacies.
Community Memory
heritage and museum industry, technology advances, and political and cultural
shifts (Finkelstein, 2000). The availability of digital cameras and the ease with
which people can now take, edit, and produce their own pictures and movies has
led to an explosion in home media. There are many more “memory devices”
8
The definition of history is complicated because it refers to a number of
different but related concepts. E.H. Carr, an historian of modern Russia and the
Soviet Union in the 20th century, maintains that historians are engaged in an
explanations (1961). Carr proposes thinking about the past and the present as a
continuum that stretches into the future. He believes that concern with the future
is what really motivates the study of the past. What society commonly refers to
as history actually includes a series of distinct but related ideas: (1) events from
the past, facts; (2) the process of gathering and organizing information from the
specific historical events, and (4) broader explanations or “theories” about how
and why change takes place. History is the past, the study of the past, and
group or institution’s beliefs about its past and newer studies are trying to
and should be incorporated into public history projects, but the focus on personal
are in a good position to investigate how stories about the past are handed down
9
within families or circulate among friends. Common questions asked in the recent
established and disseminated as the public one? How do these public histories
change over time? Glassberg, writing in The Public Historian, maintains cultural
and protect community memory sites, historic sites, and other significant local
places (1996).
connections to the past and raise important questions about interpretations of the
past (C. Young, 1993). History is vital for all citizens in a democracy because it
our society in relation to the human condition over time and of how some things
change and others continue (Gagnon, 1989). History can help students
understand and deal with change and at the same time teach them to identify the
links between past and present. Historian Peter Stearns maintains that there are
many reasons why we should study history. History helps us understand people
and societies offering “the only extensive evidential base for the contemplation
and analysis of how societies function, and people need to have some sense of
how societies function simply to run their own lives” (2006, p.2). History helps us
understand change and how the society we live in came to be. It provides
extensive materials to study the human condition and also focuses attention on
10
the processes of social change, teaching people personal growth and integrity
that promotes the collaborative study and practice of history; its practitioners
embrace a mission to make their special insights accessible and useful to the
public” (http://www.ncph.org).
about the tensions between visitor agency in museum and memorial exhibits”
its exhibits providing innovative ways of learning about the events of the
scenario and in a voting theater are asked what they would do under similar
recorded anonymously, the audience can see the how everyone responded. At
many Holocaust museums the interactivity comes from Holocaust survivors who
of the survivors are moving towards the end of their lives, such museums are
11
also seeking ways of tactfully retaining their stories in the form of digital
photographs, video clips, documents, diaries, maps and more. Providing the
public with access to the museum physically as well as virtually offers new
Memorial experience, of the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11,
Radio (NPR) took up the task of aural remembering for the nation through a
collaboration of at least 100 NPR stations and their affiliates that contributed and
allows visitors to move a computer screen along a horizontal track in front of the
boxes in the archives. When the screen stops in front of a box, various archival
files can be viewed, including videos. Researchers who use the archive find it
exciting to go into an actual stack area and open a box and look through the
materials.
Teachers and curators are able to take collections with them to students in
remote locations. Not all learning takes place inside of a school, or even a
12
classroom. Classes can communicate in different ways with other students,
teachers, or experts. The larger community—the people, the culture, the physical
environment, and even the virtual environment within which we each live—are
powerful teachers as well. Public memory and public history projects can take on
preservation projects, and oral and video history recording projects, just to name
a few. Virtual field trips are a specialized form of digital historical resource.
Field trips are always exciting for learners in any class. Virtual field trips
create learning experiences in which the teacher acts as a guide who scaffolds
the learning experience for the student. The student can construct his or her own
ideas by controlling when and where they obtain information and deciding what
information they need (Tuthill & Klemm, 2002). As with any classroom activity,
virtual field trips take careful planning to clearly identify the purpose of the field
trip and to determine what is expected of the students in terms of products and
performance (Tuthill & Klemm, 2002). Field trips are important in bridging formal
what they are learning in the classroom with what goes on in the world. However,
for many reasons, not many teachers take their learners on field trips.
Krepel & DuVall (1981) reported that only 10 percent of the teachers
surveyed conduct field trips in a given school year. Fisher (2001) reported
the decline of field trips, confirming that few learners have such
experiences today. Reasons teachers give for not taking field trips include
a schedule which is already too full, too many pupils in class, lack of time
for planning, problems with liability, lack of transportation, lack of funding,
lack of resource people for assistance, failure of school to assume trip
13
risks, too much red tape, and the inability of some tour guides to teach
and engage youngsters (Tuthill and Klemm, 2002, p.454).
Virtual field trips solve many of these problems and can be more engaging
and more stimulating than actual field trips. Interactive multimedia technologies
and virtual exhibits allow for an imaginary type of exploration and discovery that
the actual sites could not afford. Multimedia reenactments, like those at the
United States Holocaust museum, are used for virtual visits and as supplements
to actual field trips. Virtual travelers can take control of their learning and change
facilitators rather than the “sage on the stage”. Computers can provide
the answers given personalize the information each user sees. New technology
places “greater emphasis on agency and the relationship between the user’s
(Reading, 68). Technology becomes a way for learners to go back in time and
Cox and Su, who studied the integration of student learning with
practitioner experiences, concluded that, virtual field trips present learners with
learning modalities (Cox and Su, 2004). Instructional technologies allow more
freedom and control over the learning pace and more exploration of concepts
through interactive multimedia. Virtual field trips may seem out of the ordinary to
someone who is not comfortable with technology but for today’s technology
14
savvy learners it is a natural way to “visit” a place they are learning about in
class. Virtual field trips offer new ways for teachers and learners to visit historical
sites and museums to connect history to their daily lives and better understand
earlier theories, support the practice of analyzing a task and breaking it down into
open-ended learning experience where the methods and results of learning are
based on activities and problems that learners might encounter in the real world
because it can transport learners to a site to learn about its history and make
15
encourages critical thinking and creates active and motivated learners who can
classrooms allow teachers to make decisions that will enhance and enrich
activities that enrich and extend the curriculum. Schools involved in project-
disciplinary lessons drawn from real-world situations. Lifelong learning skills help
learners make informed decisions regarding the direction of their chosen careers,
technological team players who are able to “teach up” the hierarchy. Project-
based learning offers many opportunities for students to develop these skills.
Students work together in groups, similar to the way they would work in a “real”
workplace and offer feedback to each other in the form of peer assessment.
16
learning, helps students identify gaps in their knowledge and think more carefully
about what they know and what they need to learn. Because so much of work life
communication skills. Presenting findings to their group, the class, or even a real-
classroom, suggesting strategies for changing the ways that teachers teach, the
the 1920s and 1930s in the Soviet Union, was concerned that educators were
often trapped by narrowly conceived and universally applied ideas about human
social and psychological development and, as a result, had rigid views about
“scaffold,” or build on the individual and social experiences of students and what
human intelligence can be accurately summarized with one reference point and
that all people learn in essentially the same fashion (Robyler, 2006). He
17
curricula and teachers need to recognize and nurture all of the varied human
societies appropriately address the many problems that we face in the world.
technology and their impact on literacy. Changes in the nature of literacy can be
seen in many classrooms in United States and around the world. Most
classrooms have at least one computer that is connected to the Internet and
lessons often include Internet research, electronic content, and online homework.
The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 had a significant impact on the
integration of technology into schools especially the goals set forth in Part D—
assist every student in crossing the digital divide by ensuring that every student
is technologically literate by the time the student finishes the eighth grade,
location, or disability.
communication tools, problem-solving and decision making tools and deal with
social and ethical issues in dealing with technology. In 2002, AOL Time Warner
18
change to a knowledge-based society (http://archive.nmc.org/summit/).
creative and productive ways. In the past, basic literacy skills included reading,
facts to find new information and use it to solve novel problems. Regardless of
age, nearly all of today’s learners use the Web extensively for information,
person” learning. Rather than being told conclusions, students build their own
Conclusion
tangible evidence of its history to the next generation” (Save Our History).
Making history come alive in the classroom can be challenging, but advances in
technology and digital tools have made it possible to motivate students to learn
about the past. Digital historical inquiry means taking full advantage of current
19
stress developing inquiry skills, perspective taking and meaning making over the
presentations that result from digital historical inquiry" (Lee, 2002). Several
technology into social studies and history classrooms has the potential to
encourage active student inquiry (Lee, 2002; Van Fossen, 2001; Whitworth &
Berson, 2003).
The World Wide Web has made primary source documents available to
(Ayers, 1999). The Web can put learners in direct contact with the raw materials
Despite the growing availability of digital historical resources, very few social
studies teachers and teacher educators utilize the Web to encourage inquiry and
perspective taking within their classrooms (Lee, 2002; Van Fossen, 2001;
Whitworth & Berson, 2003). While the Web places vast amounts of information
before every social studies teacher and student, merely having access to a wide
range of disparate sources alone will not transform history and social studies
learning (Mason, Berson, Diem, Hicks, Lee, & Dralle, 2000). To date, social
context and has been disconnected from student learning (International Society
20
for Technology in Education, 1999; National Council for the Accreditation of
Technology alone will not improve the quality of education, but when
21
CHAPTER TWO
Introduction
basics movement (Bracey, 2002). Throughout the 1970s and the 1980s, public
and increased accountability were touted as the solution to the growing sense
and instruction are the “how”. Content standards indicate “what” students should
know and be able to do, whereas performance standards measure “how” well a
student’s work meets the content standard. Standards guide what is taught in the
classroom. In core subjects such as English, math, science and social studies,
No Child Left Behind Act in 2001. Chapter 2 examines state, national and
22
specific attention paid to standards that promote historical thinking and their
successful launching of the Soviet space craft, Sputnik, in October 1957 (Bracey,
articles titled, “Crisis in Education,” stating that America had not only fallen
behind in the race to launch a spacecraft, but also in educating our children
(1958). Anxiety over American schools’ performance and the feeling that schools
engineers was a major concern at the time. The debate about the quality of
for a return to fundamentals, back to basics, back to drill and memorization, and
National Defense Education Act (NDEA) in 1958. The goal of the Act was to
ensure that highly trained individuals would help America compete with the
Soviet Union in scientific and technical fields. The NDEA included support for
23
The state of education in the United States came under attack again in
1983 with the release of the “A Nation at Risk Report” which concluded that
almost 23 million American adults were functionally illiterate by the simplest test
“rising tide of mediocrity” that threatened our future as a Nation. The report
concluded that the American people were guilty of “educational disarmament” (p.
5). In other words, if a nation did to us what we are doing to ourselves we would
consider it an act of war. Among the solutions suggested in the report was the
English for four years, mathematics, science, and social studies for three years,
and computer science for at least one semester before graduating. When the
report was released, less than one-fifth of all American students met those
country arose with the release of “A Nation at Risk (1983),” the movement toward
a national set of standards was slow. In January of 1985, nearly two years after
the release of the report, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of
Teaching discovered that nearly 75% of major United Stated corporations were
offering employees reading, writing, and math courses to remediate skills that
should have been acquired before employees entered the workforce. American
24
organization of over 200 business executives and educators, warned that the
education system in America was putting the economic future of the country in
danger (2004).
In 1989, President George H.W. Bush held the first ever National
students leaving the 4th, 8th, and 12th grades were to demonstrate competency in
in his State of the Union address in January 1990. The National Education Goals
and science; more workforce development to increase adult literacy and lifelong
Meet Basic Learning Needs was developed spelling out specific targets and
strategies to reach the goal of “Education for All”, or EFA. The Framework for
Action (1990) specified “target dimensions" critical toward reaching the EFA goal.
While similar to the goals established in the United States, the goals were
education and training in other essential skills required by youth and adults and
25
increased acquisition by individuals and families of the knowledge, skills, and
values required for better living made available through all education channels,
them with the knowledge and skills that would help them establish successful
constantly changing, global workplace, the most valued skill is the ability to “learn
and keep learning (UNESCO, 2000)." Curriculum that was suitable for an
worker, citizen, and family member (Rothstein, 2004; Ravitch, 1995). However,
without the skills to participate in a high-tech world, people will remain on the
margins of society, and society will not benefit from their potential contributions
data, 90 percent of schools in the United States had Internet access in 2002
(UNESCO, 2002). Although every school in the United States now has access to
computers, educators are only beginning to learn how to make the most effective
use of these powerful new tools. The growth of computers in schools has led to
the development of new learning techniques; however, not all educators have
embraced the changes and the problem of how to integrate computers into the
26
instructional process, and how to make teachers comfortable using them still
exists. Even if educators are technologically savvy, they are still “digital
immigrants;” not born into the digital world but have, at some point, become
fascinated by and adopted many or most aspects of the new technology. The
Child Left Behind Act, is to provide the professional development and material
2006). The goal of this study, presented as the Virtual Field Trip in Chapter 6, is
standards-based lessons, they can develop them with their students. Developing
a virtual field trip will immerse students in local history and technology, giving
them a chance to learn about the history of the “place” where they live and to
share that information with the rest of the world. Before proceeding, let me
Act.
In 2001, President George W. Bush signed The No Child Left Behind Act
into law, forcing the nation’s schools system to comply with testing, reporting and
27
limited English language skills, become proficient in core subjects taught in public
be identified and closed so children of all race and income levels can read and
do math at grade level by the year 2014. The four main principles of No Child
Left Behind are: holding schools accountable to show students are learning;
increasing flexibility for schools reaching goals; providing more options for
what works best for student learning (U.S. Department of Education, 2001).
that progress by various subgroups which can amount to over 30 groups - ethnic
subgroup fails to make AYP for two consecutive years, all students in the school
the school is “failing.” Groups of educators and parents have been critical of the
No Child Left Behind Act arguing against the use of standardized testing to
tests than others (Rabb, 2004). Classroom teachers report feeling pressured to
“teach to the test” in order to ensure good scores for their schools. The
2006). Schools that do not do well, often through no fault of their own, are
Child Left Behind standards, sanctions are imposed on the school. Corrective
28
action for failing schools can include firing school staff, restructuring school
My aim here is not to critique the No Child Left Behind Act; I want to
the same time engage students in technology-rich lessons. My virtual field trip
that tends to get left out of the No Child Left Behind conversations in favor of
math and science. Elementary and middle schools have sacrificed social studies
instruction in favor of those subject areas which are tested (Manzo, 2005). In the
next section, I look more closely at national history standards and the decline of
helps students develop the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values needed to
participate in civic life. Although curricular content has been a concern since the
establishment of schools, the case for the importance of history in the academic
curriculum in the present study begins with a statement from the Bradley
29
History belongs in the school programs of all students, regardless of their
academic standing and preparation, of their curricular track, or of their
plans for the future. It is vital for all citizens in a democracy, because it
provides the only avenue we have to reach an understanding of ourselves
and of our society, in relation to the human condition over time, and of
how some things change and others continue (Jackson, 1989, p. 21).
Social studies aims to help young people develop the ability to make
informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally
national standards in social studies, including U.S. and world history, civics and
the social studies standards as a guide, and then use the standards from history,
developed to organize social studies curriculum at the school level are: (1)
culture; (2) time, continuity, and change; (3) people, places, and environments;
(4) individual development and identity; (5) individuals, groups, and institutions;
30
(6) power, authority, and governance; (7) production, distribution, and
consumption; (8) science, technology, and society; (9) global connections; (10)
ways, these strands helps students decide how they should live in accordance
with others based on the experience of humanity (Manzo, 2005). The following
Table 1
NCSS Thematic Strands
Change
Environment history.
31
Power, Authority, and Ways that individuals and societies make decisions
and Consumption about the things people need to survive and how they
will be provided.
and Society distribute what they need and want within an economic
system.
between societies.
actual practice.
1984, John Goodlad confirmed in a major study that significantly more time was
devoted to language arts and math than to social studies. The American
1998 that illuminated two major concerns: “the position of social studies in the
1996, p. 8). Ninety percent of teachers responded that the textbook for instruction
32
and media was used less than once per week and fewer than 25% of the
the Social Studies, builds a working knowledge of the evolution of the human
condition through time across locations and cultures and an appreciation of the
virtual field trip project addresses several of the NCSS thematic strands as it
technology into teaching and learning are examined more closely in the next
section.
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) also had a significant impact on the
through the use of technology in schools and ensuring that every student is
technologically literate by the time the student finishes the eighth grade,
location, or disability.
33
Technology literacy standards were developed by the U.S. Department of
communication tools, problem-solving and decision making tools and deal with
social and ethical issues in dealing with technology. The table below highlights
Table 2
National Education Technology Standards for Students (NETS)
Standard Benchmarks
Social, ethical, and Students understand the ethical, cultural, and societal
34
Students use productivity tools to collaborate in
Technology
Students use telecommunications to collaborate, publish,
communications
and interact with peers, experts, and other audiences.
tools
audiences.
results.
and decision-
Students employ technology in the development of
making tools
strategies for solving problems in the real world.
35
Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants
students must be able to connect their own experiences, both outside and inside
the classroom, for them to engage with the material. Educator and author, Marc
Prensky, recently commented that our schools are stuck in the 20th century but
our students are already into the 21st century. “If educators want to have
school” (Prensky, 2006, p.11). To engage digitally literate students, schools need
today, are frustrated because they have no meaningful voice in their own
education and they will soon find this to be unacceptable. Students today are
fully engaged in life outside of school but we are not motivating them in the
“Digital Natives” are used to receiving information really fast. They like to parallel
process and multi-task, just like a computer. They prefer their graphics instead of
text and they function best when networked (connected to the Internet and one
another). They thrive on instant gratification and frequent rewards and prefer
they find answers by searching for information and communicating online. Many
36
parents are often surprised that their children are able to do their homework while
that engage and challenge learners (Kimber & Wyatt-Smith, 2006). Teachers
must be familiar with learning theories, know how to use a range of computer
applications, and be willing to experiment, step outside their comfort zones and
take risks. Kimber and Wyatt-Smith, along with Prensky, realize young people’s
out-of-school experiences with technology can mean that students find the
directed learning, mostly out of school, about things that interest them. I will look
Conclusion
I chose virtual field trips as the case study for my project because they
environments they have come to expect from their music, video games, websites
and virtual worlds. Virtual field trips are a way for students to experience the
sights and sounds of a distant place even if they cannot leave their classroom.
Subjects learned in school take on new meaning when students are able to
connect them to real people and places from their own experiences outside the
classroom. Virtual field trips can expose students to other cultures and people
37
and teach them to make decisions about their future based on a real
understanding of the world they live in. Virtual Field trips provide the challenging
38
CHAPTER THREE
Virtual field trips are a form of constructivist learning in that they provide
students with opportunities to build their own knowledge. Virtual field trips embed
students off on a journey and help them develop related questions that organize
and direct their search for knowledge. Student “infotectives,” discussed at the
end of the chapter, are skilled questioners, critical thinkers capable of analyzing
the data they find by researching a topic and solving puzzles with a combination
39
Constructivism: From Passive Learning to Active Learning
founder of constructivism, rejected the practice of rote learning, which was the
common mode of instruction in his day. Dewey maintained that students should
concepts they learn. Hands-on projects were the key to creating authentic
learning experiences (1933). Virtual field trips enable the principles of student-
“just in time manufacturing”, where raw materials are received just prior to their
use rather than held in expensive inventories (Applefield, Huber, & Moallen,
2000).
learning:
40
are assigned tasks in which they must implement particular instructional goals in
"genuine," real-world tasks. Student projects can range from the development of
involve many students and faculty over many years of development (Bass and
“Learning Paradigm” shifting from passive learning to more active learning where
students are active participants and constructors of their own learning (1995).
The roles of teachers and students shift in the constructivist classroom; the
teacher provides guidance and students help plan their own learning.
centered approaches. Recently, educators have seized upon computers and the
Web as a means of realizing constructivist ideals. The term, web, itself suggests
strong by the densely interweaving threads, not by any individual end point.
workgroups, and people with shared interests and goals (Burton, 2002).
students become more accountable for their learning through designing, sharing,
project-based learning, instruction and learning both occur within the context of a
41
workplace, in a project-based learning environment, student teams are presented
with complex problems that focus and act as catalysts for what they need to learn
(Thomas, 2000). The project, which could entail multiple problems, stimulates the
learning process and gives it context. Typically, projects extend over time to act
Project-based learning is not a new concept, but there has been increased
interest recently due to opportunities presented by the Internet and World Wide
Web. PBL originated in the late 1960’s at a new medical school, McMaster
the traditional curriculum and its outcomes. Howard Barrows, one of the original
This concern has been expressed in all levels of education and has
rather than teaching. Roles and responsibilities of students and teachers also
reflected this new style of learning. Rather than passively absorbing neatly
problems in small group settings guided by faculty who were trained to facilitate,
their learning needs first, students imbued with new knowledge consulted faculty
42
experts for help with difficult concepts or further guidance to pursue their
expectations about education, they were made solely for the purpose of
solving problems, developing the ability and willingness to monitor and assess
real world situations that by their nature have no easy solution, or have no
solution at the present time. Students learn to manage their time, interpret data
sets, resolve value conflicts between group members and prepare and
communicate the results of their investigation. In other words, they will use their
for their learning, students learn what they need to know (Barrows & Tamblyn,
point to set the stage for further questioning. The next section discusses
“Free-Range Students”
43
great questions, analyzing the data they find by researching a topic and solving
understand the usefulness, the relevance, and the greater benefit of a particular
students and can be used to stimulate discussion, debate, dissent, and research.
integration, not taking full advantage of the electronic tools available to them.
Schools that take advantage of the power of the Internet and electronic networks
can raise “free range students; young people capable of navigating through a
minds about the important issues of their lives and their times” (1998, p.2).
Successful schools will find ways to teach students how to use technology and
electronic networks in creative ways and also use technology to help students
“Free range” students are self-directed learners who know how to “graze
the Internet.” They must be taught thinking and problem-solving skills so they can
documents, to contacts and cell phone favorites. The section in this chapter
focusing on the shift from the Information Age to the Interaction Age highlights
the move from the Age of Information, a time of information gathering online, to
the Interaction Age, a time when people connect with one another and interact
44
around information. Even if there has been a shift in the culture of the Internet,
digital literacies are important skills for students to master. In the figure below,
McKenzie illustrates the skills students need to master in order to “graze the
instructional technology, is that this is ten years old. The World Wide Web has
already evolved from version 1.0 to 2.0 and many young people have still not
mastered these skills, which have been deemed critical for success in the world
today.
Figure 1
Skills for Grazing the Net
45
Self-directed, student “infotectives” must develop “grazing” skills to be
on the Internet or the shelves of the local library” (McKenzie, 1998, p.16). The
Table 3
Essential skills for Cyberspace (McKenzie, 1998)
trying to solve.
navigating databases.
46
This process is the foundation for
unravel.
travelers.
of all.
ask questions. The teacher in a free-range, classroom does not stand in front of
the room and lecture, instead they are a “guide on the side,” checking over
shoulders, asking questions, and working privately with those who need
individual help. Virtual field trips help develop self-directed learning skills by
47
observations without being on an actual site or having an expert on hand for
explanations.
learning is characterized not only by greater autonomy for the learner, but also a
participation playing key roles, and on changing roles for the teacher, indeed,
is only worthwhile if they can relate to it, if it supports their own personal goals
today absorb information quickly, in images and video as well as text, from
next door or around the world), and they are as likely to create their own media
Success, for today’s young people, is not measured by how well they do on
multiple choice tests, even if that is how their schools measure achievement.
Success, for them, is measured by creating and inventing; using art, video,
48
writing, and multimedia to share projects with others “connected” to them.
of ways. Free-range students are more likely to retain and transfer the new
because the project or performance is not just a fun and engaging activity; it is a
gives students the chance to show what they have learned and for the teacher to
assess their abilities (Furger, 2002). Authentic assessment broadens the kind of
information that is collected about students and the way that information is used
previously covered material, but instead scaffolds the knowledge each student
questions, test basic knowledge and skills rather than encouraging creative,
critical thinking, the type of learning that will prepare students for the 21st century
(Corbett & Wilson, 1991; Shepard & Smith, 1988; Smith & Cohen, 1991).
49
focus on developing students skills and competencies in real-life, "authentic"
situations, and graduate students who can demonstrate these abilities. Authentic
assessments are better than standardized tests at matching the skills students
learn in school with the skills they will need upon leaving school (Winking &
Bond, 1995).
When the Internet was first introduced in schools, it was used mostly to
delivering and accessing digital content. Now, we are entering the “Interaction
Age,” a time when information is seen as something with which, and around
which, people can interact (Milne, 2007). We live in a connected world and
two to three mobile, electronic devices at any given time. Many students have a
cell phone, an MP3 player, a game player, and possibly a laptop. Powerful
portable communication tools, previously reserved for busy executives, are now
The term Web 2.0 signifies the shift from the Information Age to the Age of
in which content was created, shared, remixed, repurposed, and passed along.
Web 2.0 can be visualized like a solar system depicted in Figure 2 (O’Reilly,
2005).
50
Young people today, sometimes called “Generation Y,” “Millenials,” or
have been shaped by the Internet and the constant introduction of new electronic
devices. They integrate the latest technologies into the way they work, relax and
socialize. For them, email is old school; “Millennials” relish the speed and mobility
of text messaging. Past generations made do with the telephone and television,
today's generation has access to those devices plus video games, the Internet,
e-mail, instant messaging, and videos and music that can be downloaded in an
instant. The “Net Generation” has grown up in a wired world and they are digital,
51
Figure 2
Web 2.0 Technologies
Note: Web 2.0 has become an umbrella term describing several concurrent
trends that are coming together to enable a richer online experience.
52
Table 4
Web 2.0 Technologies
Online Photo Sharing Users have space on the web to share
connected computer.
53
Social networking websites Online social networking involves
interests.
The shift from Web1.0 to Web2.0 has led to online learning being less of a
rather than read, and is more likely to be produced by students than courseware
their own personal RSS reader or some similar application. From there, it can be
54
remixed and repurposed with the student's own individual application in mind,
with others in the discovery and presentation of information. Wireless and mobile
technologies allow students to engage in field research and interact with other
Wagner and Bryan Alexander note, mobile learning "define(s) new relationships
and behaviors among learners, information, personal computing devices, and the
world at large" (2005). Web 1.0 was the static, expert knowledge web. Web 2.0 is
the interactive, user knowledge web, and, Web 3.0 is already being described as
an always connected technology and total environment knowledge web. Web 2.0
technologies are allowing teachers to easily construct virtual field trips. These
where they want with their class and to see what they want. Web2.0 is still in its
infancy but it has potential and risks. It has not been thoroughly researched by
55
Conclusion
students are learning, adopting, and using technology at a much faster rate than
teachers, and many teachers are afraid of the technologies, which students take
for granted.
education. New technologies are arriving and changing quickly; too fast for
teachers to learn to use them all effectively. Nevertheless, students are intrigued
by new technologies and they want to use them in their education because they
use them in their everyday lives. What should educators do? Get help from their
56
CHAPTER FOUR
Digital history, studying the past using electronic resources, is not just the
authentic historical sources (print, audio, video, and artifacts) at very low cost.
Digital history puts students in the virtual context and role of apprentice historians
investigating aspects of the past. Because the World Wide Web is not structured,
like textbooks, students are more directly and actively involved in some forms of
historical inquiry, and thus engaged in discovering the past with all the historical,
critical, and sourcing abilities (or habits of mind) required to do so (Hicks, Doolitle
& Ewing, p.7). This chapter introduces digital history and virtual field trips as
57
sustainable interest, or establishing relevance of the material being taught
classes, and to get them excited about their studies, teachers can design
activities that enable students to use authentic historical resources, now widely
available, to create engaging, meaningful, and useful lessons about the past.
According to Edward Ayers of the University of Virginia, the World Wide Web has
made virtually every major historical document available to all students across
the spectrum at all times (1999). Until recently, history and social studies
historical documents. With the advent of the World Wide Web, students can now
see original documents themselves and use these primary source documents the
way historians and scholars do; to analyze information, interpret events, and
essential steps in building student interest in history and culture and helping them
understand the ways that scholars engage in research, study, and interpretation.
Primary sources give students a sense of the reality and the complexity of the
real people and problems. In this section, attention is paid to noteworthy digital
The proliferation of digital history resources means that there are many
new resources available to use in the classroom, but, it also means educators
58
must evaluate these resources before using them. Bull, Bull, and Dawson
identified four criteria for evaluating digital products. The criteria are questions to
ask about digital resources: are they able to transform teaching; are they able to
scholarship; and are the resources provided related to the curriculum? (1999) It
Congress. The website provides open access to written and spoken words, audio
recordings, images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American
and serve as a resource for education and lifelong learning. The National Digital
rare books, maps, recorded sound, and moving pictures. World History Matters
case studies of scholars detailing how they analyze a particular primary source
and giving students specific guidance on how they can engage in the same kind
suggestions for students and world history teachers as to how best to use the
resources found at these sites. Students using this type of database for their
59
research, rather than a search engine such as Google, will start with the best
into an instructional unit, have the potential to engage students and involve them
encourages critical thinking skills and helps promote information literacy, the
reveal the writing of the document. Similarly, in “Battle Lines: Letters from
correspondence from over 200 years of American conflicts, ranging from the
Revolution to the current war in Iraq, users can place a typed transcript over a
handwritten script and also hear each letter read aloud. The British Library
developed “Turning the Pages,” a digital tool that allows students to leaf through
famous books, reading, magnifying, and hearing the story read aloud to them
(http://www.adgame-wonderland.de/type/bayeux.php). It is a thoroughly
example of a digital history project that is also a virtual field trip back to Historic
teachers, curriculum planners, and local historians can facilitate digital historical
60
inquiry in conjunction with local, public history. Through collaboration and
interaction with the community, students and teachers develop relationships that
Digital resources, and the tools being developed to utilize them, enable
connections among artifacts, all critical skills of historians and scholars of society
and culture. When students make decisions about which document to use and
how to use that document, they are constructing knowledge of their own. As
students put together their own interpretations of digital resources, they are
constructing history.
Virtual Field Trips are a relatively new form of learning that incorporate
embedded in educational content (Cassady & Mullen, 2006, p.1). Virtual field
rationale for using virtual field trips is to connect students with materials, subject
matter experts and resources that they could not otherwise access because of
resource, especially for small, rural schools, where museums, zoos, or historical
landmarks may not be close by. VFTs can be designed so that a variety of
materials (audio, video, and text) are incorporated to address different learning
styles. Teachers with special needs students can design an instructional field trip
module which incorporates design features allowing students with disabilities the
61
same access as students without impairments, as required by the Americans
Virtual field trips can be as simple as a set of interrelated images, text, and
that students from around the world participate in. They transport students to
places they might otherwise not be able to visit. Field trip participants experience
independent decisions.
Virtual field trips help teachers and students overcome barriers to study
the real world (Klemm and Tuthill, 2003). Many students today do not have the
accountability (Tuthill & Klemm, 2003). Virtual field trips allow for interaction
through participation, exploration, and analysis (Cox and Su, 2004), and they
meet criteria established by The National Science Foundation (1998) for the
encouraging collaboration, fostering critical thinking skills, and using the World
locations, resources, and technologies that are available. The content of the
discuss in my virtual field trip template, taking an actual field trip and recording it
62
is the best way to create a virtual field trip as a class activity. An actual trip can
be captured many different ways using still cameras, video cameras, note-taking,
audio recording, and other data collection tools. Once the necessary information
has been collected, the virtual field trip can be created. VFTs have the potential
Virtual field trips are an ideal tool for historical inquiry because they are
long as they have a computer and a connection to the Internet. People develop a
geography and the environment of an area. Studying how history and memories
attach to places is important for students so they learn how to help define and
town or city is often derived from the meanings and significance that people
understanding of, and connection to, a community and can encourage students
own communities as the context for educational experiences is a way for them to
63
connect their world to the larger world and place real value on their education.
electronic formats. One of the best ways to learn about the usefulness of the
past, according to eminent history scholar John Lee, is through the study of local
particularly local history, and providing them the skills they need to be
Many virtual field trips have already been created and can easily be
designed and developed using sophisticated lesson plans and some are self-
published websites. Following are some virtual field trip notables with examples
travel brochure to prepare students to visit an actual site. These activities, while
64
not the most sophisticated use of the technology, can help create an
Lehrman Collection contains more than 60,000 documents detailing the political
dating from 1493 through modern times. There are several online exhibits and
virtual tours that can be used to travel back through American History.
learning, JASON inspires teachers to try new teaching techniques and effectively
opportunities for real-life exploration of the world through the use of cutting-edge
technologies. The JASON Project hosts nearly 2 million students each year and
65
accompanying real researchers in real time as they explore everything from
online virtual field trip program designed for New Zealand students
LEARNZ just provided the field trip experience; however, their adventures now
each day that includes a record of the day’s events with still pictures. Enrolled
Cooperstown National Baseball Hall of Fame, the United States Congress, and
web-based question and answer sessions with experts before, during and after
each live broadcast so students and teachers can have their questions
answered. Ball State uses five different venues for content delivery: (1) pre-
website; (2) learning materials for students; (3) synchronous question and
66
answer sessions by experts during each broadcast; (4) live broadcasts delivered
(same-time) live broadcast is what makes their trips unique and is what they
excited about the possibility of being “on the air” asking a question; seeing other
Why should teachers use virtual field trips? Virtual field trips are an
maintaining student interest in the unit being studied. They offer a student-
area instruction. Virtual instruction allows students to view people and places in a
reading. (Lacina, 2004) Students bring back facts and information uncovered
through their experience on their virtual adventure. Teachers can use virtual field
trips not only to meet national technology standards but to combine content
for taking students on virtual field trips: to help students gain understanding of a
67
problem-solving activities; to meet national, state, or local curricular
and learning occur within the context of a challenging project. Just as workers
questions and problems that act as catalysts for learning. Projects usually extend
over a few classes or weeks to help students acquire new, necessary knowledge
and skill sets (Thomas, 2000). In other words, instead of working on a small
project for a week, projects build upon each other and can carry over from
shaping their education, and enable more authentic assessment of what students
have actually learned. In history and social studies, the topic of my thesis,
and stimulates them to want to know more about the events and people they
investigate.
create their own virtual field trips. Teachers, on their own or with their students,
can visit a site and use digital cameras or video to capture information. Maps and
reference materials can be added to maximize the actual site study. Lesson
68
these decisions, choosing interesting projects or places that they would like to
visit.
important for teachers, and making technology an integral part of curriculum and
instruction was of the greatest importance (1999). This suggests that teachers
Logan identified the knowledge and skills to make technology a seamless part of
today. Scheffler and Logan’s study revealed that there is an increasing need for
teachers to obtain more skills and knowledge about the use of technology-
enhanced instruction. My virtual field trip project is a way that they can learn
approached many different ways. To engage digitally literate students, Web sites
must offer a lot of interactivity and have different activities for students to choose.
Tuthill and Klemm noted the many advantages of taking a virtual field trip, both
69
Table 5: Advantages of taking Virtual Field Trips
been studied.
learning styles.
Teaching Flexibility and Efficiency Teachers can spend more class time
70
Control of Content Teacher-created VFTs can be created
Conclusion
Digital media have transformed the way that students write about the past
the Web and technology are evolving rapidly and "older" forms of online
recent past, had websites of their own and used discussion forums and
71
academic—through weblogs, "live journals," tagging, and other forms of digital
communities.
A virtual field trip allows a teacher to bring the sights and sounds of a
distant place into the classroom through a computer. Subjects learned in school
take on new meaning when students can connect them to people and
experiences outside of the classroom. Such exposure could help students make
Virtual trips are an easy and exciting way of incorporating local places of
interest and historical prominence. VFTs offer valuable tools that can augment
instruction and enrich actual field trips. Virtual field trips increase learner-
centeredness, meaning students have more control over the pace of the material
presented. Teachers can spend more class time covering concepts while
students access the VFT on their own time (Belanger & Jordan, 2000, Stainfield,
72
CHAPTER FIVE
World War. More than 250,000 Floridians joined the United States Armed
Forces. The warm climate and flat land made Florida a perfect place to train
pilots and other military personnel. Many military bases were established in
existence in Florida, compared to only eight in 1940 (Coles, 2002). Florida was
considered to be a strategic location vital for national defense. Planes and ships
from Florida's military bases helped protect the sea lanes in the Atlantic Ocean,
Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean. The state was viewed as an important first
line of defense for the southern United States, the Caribbean Basin, and the
Panama Canal.
airbase and a year later, the Army opened another Air Field Boca Raton. More
than 6,000 planes and over 45,000 servicemen passed through on their way to
Africa and Europe. Later in the war, soldiers and supplies flew from Morrison
73
Field to the Pacific Ocean. The Army Air Corps also took over the Boca Raton
Resort and turned it into housing for military trainees. Many hotels in the state
were used for military housing and hospitals. The Boca Raton Army Air Field
(BRAAF), a vital asset during the war, was built in 1942, and is the focus of the
next section.
The Boca Raton Army Air Field, built in 1942, consisted of almost 800
buildings and a triangular-shaped runway that was the centerpiece of the base.
The base covered more than 5,800 acres and played a significant role in World
were aboard the Enola Gay on its bombing run to Hiroshima in 1945.
however, the United States' entry into World War II caused that to change. The
Army Air Force needed year-round training bases, and Boca Raton already had
an airport. The airport was selected as the Army Air Force's main base for radar
training. By December 1942, the Army had acquired 5,820 acres of land,
including most of the Yamato Colony and the Boca Raton Club. The Boca Raton
Army Air Field served as a base for air-sea patrol scouting enemy submarines
and a weigh station for planes being ferried to Europe by the Southern American-
African route, but its primary mission was radar training facility.
As the Army Air Force’s only radar training station during World War II, the
Boca Raton base grew to troop strength of more than 16,000. Over nine million
dollars was spent constructing the facility and an average of 1,200 civilians
74
worked on the base. By 1945, one hundred planes were regularly assigned to the
field. Although most were medium bombers like the B-17, in the last year of the
war the B-29 was brought in for training procedures in radar bombing. B-29’s
In 1942, the war was raging in Atlantic and the Pacific and military
priorities included construction of new bases to house and train the many young
men entering the service. The Germans initiated Operation Drumbeat, using U-
Boats to torpedo vessels traveling the East Coast shipping lanes of the United
States (Ling, 2005, p.40). Over the first seven months of 1942, the Germans
sank nearly 400 vessels, including more than thirty-five ships off Florida. The
most dramatic sinking in Florida waters took place the night of April 10, 1942,
when U-123 torpedoed the tanker Gulfamerica off Jacksonville Beach. The
resulting fiery explosion was clearly seen onshore and curious crowds gathered
to view the ship's destruction and looked on in shock as the German submarine
surfaced and fired its deck gun at the tanker. In response to the Gulfamerica
sinking, in which nineteen crew members were lost, Governor Holland ordered a
blackout of lights that could be seen at sea and might silhouette passing ships.
Florida to acquire 5820 acres in Boca Raton, Florida by eminent domain. The
land was bound by Dixie Highway on the East, the Seaboard Railroad on the
west, Palmetto Park Road on the south and Fifty-first Street on the North. The
Boca Raton Radar School, a microfilm series documenting the history of the
Boca Raton Army Air Field, reported that there were over 100 people affected by
75
the acquisition of land. A Negro community of 40 families’ occupied houses and
shanties that were built over a period of 15 years on land not legally owned.
These black families did not own the land they lived on; they were technically
“squatters.” The government took the land and moved the people to Delray
Beach. The area became known as New Town until the last house was razed in
2002.
the temporary home for thousands of troops, officers, and cadets. The Boca
Raton Army Air Field was created to train radar operators and technicians but
schools were also established in high and low altitude bombing, radar navigation,
60) Troops arrived in Boca Raton from all over the country by train. Military
personnel disembarked at the Florida East Coast Seaboard depot in Boca Raton,
the Seaboard depot west of the base or at depots in Delray Beach or Pompano
Beach.
BRAAF was the Army Air Corps’ only airborne radar-training facility during
the war. The facility and training done there were considered top-secret. Radar
Everything was secretive. Security was so tight on the base that trainees had to
provide passes to go from one building to another. Instruction lasted from five
written on paper, in fact, being caught with paper and pencil or trying to take
76
they transferred to flying classrooms where they put their ground training into
practice. B-17 bombers fitted as airborne-radar classrooms were flown over the
Atlantic from the Boca Air Field. Many of the men also trained as mechanics and
became part of the ground crew. Their job was to install and repair radar and
result of the Army Air Field. The Old Floresta section of Boca Raton was used for
housing of officers and two Federal Public Housing Authority Projects were built
to house military families. Palmetto Park, a housing project for whites, was a
series of attached units located across the base on the south side of West
Palmetto Park Road. The other housing authority project was known as Dixie
Plaza. Located across from Squadron F, it was a series of small individual homes
used to house black families. Civilians were vital to the overall operation of the
base and served in practically every office and department. Averaging 1200 and
In April of 1945, the Allies overran German troops from the west while
Russian forces advanced from the east and the last bombs were dropped on the
Skoda armament works at Pilsen, Czechoslovakia. The Army Air Force began
missions of mercy dropping food and relief in northern Italy and the Netherlands
and evacuated prisoners of war. In May of 1945, the Germans surrendered. The
Boca Raton Army Air Field suffered significant hurricane damage in September
of 1947 and the base was flooded. It eventually closed at the end of 1947. The
77
city of Boca Raton bought most of the air base land and contracted with the
Aeronautics Administration and the state of Florida in March of 1960 required the
state to establish a university by 1969 on one thousand acres of the former Boca
Air Field. In October of 1964, President Lyndon Johnson dedicated FAU and
78
CHAPTER SIX
nature of the World Wide Web. Students need opportunities to be more involved
their own knowledge, learners can build a context for learning that is meaningful
to themselves and to others around them. Creating a digital history site, such as
a virtual field trip, creates a “learning laboratory” (Calandra & Lee, 2005, p.327) in
which students and teachers can practice digital history, constructivist learning,
use the TIP (Technology Integration Planning) Model when planning lessons
new to technology, plan for effective classroom uses of technology. The model
79
Table 5
Technology Integration Planning Model
Phase 1: Relative advantage Deciding on instructional problems and
the problems.
outcome.
80
Every teacher has lessons that could be enhanced or refreshed using
they look for new instructional approaches. However, time and effort are required
benefits of using technology and decide if the benefits are worthwhile. Everett
Rogers (2004) refers to this decision as seeing the “relative advantage” of using
teachers as they look for instructional solutions to problems that students may
face with abstract concepts, motivation and time consuming tasks. Teachers
have to consider the benefits of using such methods compared to their current
ones and decide if the benefits are worth the additional effort and cost. The first
Virtual field trips require planning and preparation, active participation, and
follow-up learning activities. The following table summarizes the steps involved in
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Table 6
Virtual field trip planning steps
Step 1 Identify the curriculum standards by referring to state standards
for teaching social studies that have been adopted as the core of
Step 2 Prepare for the trip by developing activities that will challenge
locations should be locations that others might not have considered; someplace
in another part of the world. Often there's not a virtual field trip on a topic of
interest and an opportunity presents itself to create a new virtual field trip. A class
can take a live field trip and record the event on web pages. What follows are
examples of a virtual tour, virtual adventures, and a virtual school tour. Teachers
can work with a local historic site to develop a virtual tour or use archived
82
photographs, recordings, and other digitized historical artifacts. A virtual tour of a
school could be a great resource for the local community or parents of students.
The Utah Education Network has an online tool that can be used to
also be used to develop virtual field trips. Their “TourMaker” software is set up to
tell a story of sorts, to guide one through a sequence of Web pages on any given
topic. For each visited Web page, a Narration frame is provided, a place in which
custom information can be written about the visited Web page, or students can
are worthwhile resources worth noting. In the next section, I develop my virtual
In 2003, The History Channel launched the Save Our History initiative by
offering funding and resources for schools to collaborate with local historians to
preserve the history and heritage of their communities. Students, teachers, and
preservationists can find lesson plans, hands-on activities, articles, and links to
online, offers tools teachers can use to incorporate local history resources into
(http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=mini_home&mini_id=51103).
The lessons offered on this site were developed in conjunction with educators
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from the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) to ensure their
The Apple Learning Interchange (ALI), a social network for educators, also
curriculum units. Educators have easy access to media and ideas for classroom
activities. There are several lesson plans for local history projects in several
different disciplines that are excellent examples of digital history projects that
could be incorporated into, or serve as the model for, a virtual field trip.
“Digital Field Trip Report” can be personalized for use in any classroom.
Using audio, images, and devices such as an iPod, students create a series of
guided tours through a museum, creating a virtual museum for others to access.
Student reflections provide a way for students unable to attend the field trip to
see what resources are available in the community and make connections to
their own studies. The tours also help teachers prepare subsequent classes for
trips to the same museum. This project is ideal when used in conjunction with a
class field trip designed to support what is being taught in class. On the field trip,
students can use an iPod with a voice recorder to capture thoughts and
reflections and also take photos with a digital camera. Upon returning to school,
they combine the audio and photos to create a guided tour with software such as
(http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/story.php?itemID=10663).
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Maps and Geo-caching
Systems (GPS), teachers can combine history lessons with lessons on how to
newspaper archives, and local historical societies. “High Tech Treasure Hunt” is
a lesson plan that is available from the Apple Learning Interchange. Students
discover their heritage while investigating the history of a local city or town. Using
or a weatherproof box and contain a logbook to record finders' visits and a few
trinkets. A geocache could be hidden just about anywhere - a park, under a rock
off a hiking trail. Geocaching is an outdoor adventure game, which uses a global
cache.
familiar with geographical coordinates, entering waypoints into gps units, and
navigating around using the compass. They created walking sticks for reasons
you can hear in their podcast. They researched information on local history and
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students used iPods to digitally journal historical information found on landmarks
around this historical local town. This is an excellent lesson to help develop the
introduction of Google maps as a fast and easy way to display locations. In many
areas, you even can see a satellite photo that zooms in on your own rooftop!
landscape of their community today with maps from the past. Maps help students
Oral Histories
Gathering oral history is a fun way for students to learn about the past.
Family, friends, community members, and veterans have lived through important
events in history and can share their memories, perspectives and firsthand
accounts of the events of their time. Recording interviews and gathering oral
Oral history projects such as “The Rocky Gap High School Oral History
exemplify how students can become engaged in the history, culture and
technology of a place. An excellent oral history project, and an ideal model for my
Millville, New Jersey. Students interviewed pilots and crewmen who served at the
Millville Army Air Field during World War II. Using the material gathered in their
interviews, the students created “Local Hero Trading Cards” featuring photos of
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World War II Veterans, their hometown, rank, years served during the war, a brief
description of service and also a current picture. The students also edited their
oral histories and sent them for inclusion in the U.S. Library of Congress’
the history of where they live while contributing to the community's historical
record. After researching local history using books, online resources, and by
visiting the local historical society or public library, students select areas to learn
more about and photograph. Students use AppleWorks to create a storyboard for
their iMovie project, including narration for their movie, titles, transitions, and
other elements. Each project should include information about when the structure
or area was built, the history behind it, and what its purpose is today. Students
scan or download existing photos of their location or structure. They visit the
location and take new photographs using a digital camera, trying to mimic the
perspective of the past photos as much as possible. They import all photos into
one iPhoto album. Students then create their iMovie project by importing the old
and new images, creating transitions between them, and recording narration
about their findings. When the projects are done, the class watches all of the
projects and discusses the impact of change in their community. The iMovie
projects are exported to QuickTime and burned on CDs or saved in iDVD and
burned on DVDs. The CDs or DVDs can be presented to the school library, local
historical society, or public library. In subsequent years, the movies can be used
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by history classes who can continue adding to this digital historical record
(http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/story.php?itemID=171).
students to their community to capture the stories of the local citizens. The entire
process; gathering the stories, listening to them, editing them, and publishing a
digital product, gives students a sense of satisfaction and connects them to their
Virtual BRAAF
A Virtual Field Trip can incorporate many digital elements, and can even
be developed in pieces. There are many projects that could be developed and
highlight important dates in the history of the Army Air Field and the city of Boca
Raton. Oral histories can be gathered from World War II veterans who served on
the base. Many oral histories have already been gathered by BRAAF veterans
that could be made publicly available through this virtual site. Maps from then
and now can be compared and contrasted to highlight geographical changes that
occurred when the base was built. The virtual field trip can be a central gathering
place for all of the information collected, a portal or jumping off point. Something
as simple as a diagram could connect all of the pieces that could be linked
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Figure 3
Virtual BRAAF Components
There are many types of virtual field trips. Fact finding missions involve
tools have been developed to assist teachers in creating lessons that adhere to
state and national standards. There is no best lesson-planning tool, but there are
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teachers should ask themselves three basic questions: Where are your students
going? How are they going to get there? How will you know when they've
arrived?
Goals determine purpose, aim, and rationale for what you and your
students will engage in during class time. Goals are typically written as broad
Objectives are drawn from the broader aims of the unit plan but are achieved
over a well defined time period. Table 7 is a sample lesson plan for a virtual field
trip taking into account the Florida Sunshine State Standards as well as National
Table 7
Virtual BRAAF Lesson Plan
Goal: To transport students back in time to experience life on the Boca Raton
Army Air Field. When students make real-world connections between themselves
and their community, they can participate in authentic activities based on issues
that matter to them personally. In this activity, students become active archivists,
gathering photos, artifacts, and stories that highlight the history of Boca Raton,
specifically, the Boca Raton Army Air Field. Their results will be published online
• Culture
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• Power, Authority, and Governance
perspective. (SS.A.1.3)
• The student understands U.S. history from 1880 to the present day.
(SS.A.5.3)
• The student understands the history of Florida and its people. (SS.A.6.3)
environment. (SS.B.2.3)
Technology Standards:
technology.
audiences.
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Objectives:
virtual museum.
• Compare the present with the past, evaluating the consequences of past
events and decisions and determining the lessons that were learned.
Students will:
newspapers, etc.
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archives, and community resources.
• Identify artifacts that will be included in the final project. Make sure they
• Create a fun and interesting field trip that brings the class research
together.
Any of the lessons highlighted in the beginning of this chapter could easily
be adapted into a virtual field trip project. Learning about World War II and the
men and women who served at the Boca Raton Army Air Field is an effective
way for students to learn about important historical events while using technology
93
to enrich the process. It is an opportunity for students to gain a greater interest
Conclusion
field trips, however, the two reasons I chose to use a virtual field trip as a method
of engaging students in history and social studies are: (1) History is more
Virtual field trips can be used to build relationships between generations and
cultures. The ways students are taught must engage them in a journey of self-
This study includes a virtual field trip to the Boca Raton Army Air Field, an
important part of the history of Boca Raton. Developing and participating in this
served at BRAAF during the War and also provide them with a better
rethink their methodology and their content. Kimber and Wyatt-Smith encourage
teachers to incorporate new technologies into their teaching and shift the focus
from tools to “teacher agency” (2006). There is not one specific type of project
create a classroom environment and develop a pedagogy that opens a space for
critical and creative engagement with learning. It is clear that now, more than
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ever, we must embrace new technologies in our teaching repertoires. As shown
in the various examples presented in this study, and the proposed Boca Raton
Army Air Field virtual field trip, creating a space for engagement in the classroom
experiences that allow them to “be” historians and social scientists instead of just
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