My last post talked about the rising cost of fuel driving (pun intended) a significant rise in online class enrollments. Here’s something else for academic institutions looking to save big time on gas to consider: the virtual field trip.

For example:

- Florida Virtual School uses Elluminate Live! for virtual field trips, like “visiting” the Grand Canyon using Google Earth, connecting with a class in England to hear a speaker from Parliment, and sending streaming video of a trip to a zoo to those students who couldn’t attend in person. Learn more.

- Tom Moncrief from Union County Public Schools uses Elluminate vRoom to take his students on virtual field trips to interview the cast of the musical Rent or view a laparascopic surgery and talk to the surgeon. Learn more. Plus here’s an article about another virtual field trip organized by Moncrief during which some fifth-grade students got some face time with NASA engineers.

So where do you want to take your class today? I guess the answer is that you’re only limited by your imagination. But you sure don’t have to be limited by the cost of gas.

- Beth, Elluminate Goddess of Communication