Take A Virtual Field Trip With 360Cities!

@LisaBerghoff/@MrKimDHS

I was once at a workshop where the leader asked us to think about the ultimate learning experience. It was one of those moonshot thinking activities where money, time, and the other usual barriers were supposed to be removed and we were just supposed to think about what would be best for my students. I instantly wrote down that we would take a field trip almost every day. I thought about how much I have learned from traveling and how many of my students are visual thinkers and if they could just be there, they would learn so much more than just hearing me tell about it.

That was a fun exercise but not really steeped in reality. Many of our students are fortunate enough to get to travel, and we do live near one of the greatest cities in the world, but we still spend much of our time just talking about amazing places and things without getting to experience them. This is where the world of VR and 360 images comes in.

While some think that virtual reality is a fad, I'm here to say let's ride this wave and hope that it sticks because we have 360 images from all over the world that are at our fingertips for free. You may think that you need fancy VR goggles to experience 360 images and those goggles certainly enhance the experience but they are not completely necessary.

When I first discovered 360Cities, it was based on a recommendation from National Geographic. I figured if they approved this site, it has to be good. I decided to check it out and it did not disappoint.

There are so many practical uses for 360 images in the classroom and 360Cities is an incredible source for 360/VR content for educational use.  According to the 360Cities website, it is the largest collection of stunning, high resolution, interactive panoramic photos and 360 videos created by a network of thousands of the first panorama photographers and videographers from around the world. 

Step 1: Go to 360Cities and create a free account.

Step 2: Explore and find content.

There are 5 ways to find the panoramas you are looking for.

1. Search. You can enter many different parameters in the search bar. For instance, you can search for specific words, or search by people.

2. Map. Take a look at the 360 map and click on an image thumbnail to open the panorama.

3. Use the categories that are created, such as "editor's picks:

4. Gigapixels. They even have the world's largest panoramic photos!

5. License and download images.

Step 3: Share

Once you find the images that you will use, you can grab the sharing link so your students can experience it for themselves.

Once you see the level of engagement in your classroom, you will want your students to create their own 360 images. Interested? Contact me for more information. 

Are you using VR images in your class? Post in the comments below to let us know what you're doing!