WARNING! This website is no longer actively maintained. It is an archive of 2 years work by Doug Belshaw who now blogs at [1] dougbelshaw.com... [2]

It’s been possible to create virtual visits or field trips for at least 10 years: all that’s been needed is digital versions of photographs taken at a location which are then added to a website. Of course, with continuing developments in technology this has become easier and there is now the potential to make such virtual visits a lot more interactive and engaging. In what follows I intend to look at ways you can use the Internet to make creative and stimulating virtual visits!

Creating a virtual visit is basically a 3-step process: collect the data, organize it, and present it. Collecting the data can be done by yourself, a group of you (perhaps your department) or with students - perhaps collecting it for subsequent years or as a learning experience in which they create the virtual visit to deepen their understanding. The organization of the data depends on the software program(s) used, the technical knowledge of those involved, and - to some extent - the hardware available. Finally, the presentation simply depends on the artistic flair and imagination of those involved and their familiarity with the tools at hand.

I’ll begin with the simplest option and progress to the most technical…

Option 1 - a series of photographs with explanations
This is perhaps the easiest, but least engaging, method of creating a virtual visit. An example of this kind can be seen [3] here where simple WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) software has been used to add text and a picture to a web page. Microsoft Word (and Publisher, and Powerpoint) along with a whole host of other free software can produce basic setups like this one. All you need to do is visit the site with a digital camera, take some photographs, manipulate them in the WYSIWYG editor, and upload everything to your website or school network.

Option 2 - an interactive ‘overview’ picture with links
An example of this way of doing things can be seen [4] here, where hovering your mouse over an ‘overview’ image reveals links to different parts of the subject of the virtual visit. This technique requires slightly more sophisticated WYSIWYG products such as a combination of Adobe [5] Dreamweaver and [6] Fireworks. A basic guide to doing this can be found [7] here. The nice thing about this approach is that it gives a sense of ‘place’ when it comes to the still-images displayed. There is a notion of interactivity here and a sense that you are actually ‘visiting’ the subject.

Option 3 - 180/360-degree representations
Single pictures are all well and good, but to get a more immersive experience, 180-degree - or even better, 360-degree - representations are a lot more engaging. See, for example, the [8] amazing virtual tour of the New York Apple store at night! There is a real sense of ‘being there’ with this type of virtual visit. The upcoming [9] Photosynth from Microsoft’s labs looks amazing, but until then your options are mostly limited to the list given [10] here.

Option 4 - a (series of) video(s)
Whilst 180/360-degree representations are a lot more engaging, they don’t really allow viewers to sense anything more than a series of static ’snapshots’ of the subject of the virtual visit. Video, on ther other hand, when done properly, can allow virtual visitors to feel at home at a place straight away if they ever go and visit it ‘in the flesh’.

Option 5 - harness the power of Web 2.0
Knowledge, as [11] George Siemens argues in his new book, no longer resides in individuals, but in networks. Why not use the power of new communications technologies to build upon the work of others or have others do the same to your content?

[12] Wikipedia, for example, can be used by anyone to create content. It could be your class goal to go from creating a [13] Stub to a [14] Featured Article. There are templates and guides available for doing this, for example [15] here. The process which your students would have to go through to develop the page would encourage teamwork skills, online etiquette, considerations r.e. audience and fairly deep research!

If it’s going to be a short-term rather than long-term project you could easily [16] geotag your photos in [17] Flickr. This would add to the wealth of human knowledge on the Internet, and be motivating for students. They could then use the information here in any further work done on the topic.

Finally, [18] Wikimapia uses [19] Google Maps data along with wiki technology to describe anywhere in the world! The example picture below comes from the place in which I grew up - Ashington in Northumberland:

[20]

The possibilities are endless! Please share your ideas/experiences in the comments section below.

Popularity: 3% [[21] ?]