virtual field trip to hospital

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Virtual Hospital Tours

Virtual hospital tours, engage and immerse your audience with exceptional virtual hospital tours for your healthcare facilities.

With Virtually Anywhere, you can now use your website to provide virtual hospital tours of your hospital or patient-care facility to prospective patients, family members and staff. Virtually Anywhere is a virtual tour company who understands the changing marketing and recruitment needs in the healthcare industry. We have created affordable virtual tours that allow the public to view all areas of a hospital or patient care facility, giving visitors a feel for the environment and comforting them with a sense of what to expect upon arrival.

A few selected examples of our Virtual Hospital tours:

Southeast georgia health system virtual hospital tours, 2 separate campuses, but one great regional healthcare system..

We used innovative 360 degree video introductions to each campus, as well as aerial drone 360s of each campus to help show both hospital layouts and provide an engaging navigation system. Added voice overs help to polish the entire tour experience.

SGHS' mission is to provide safe, quality, accessible and cost-effective care to meet the health needs of the people and communities in coastal Georgia. This virtual tour helps helps teach the local community more about our their specialty care services, as well as become more familiar with, and help navigate, their 2 campuses.

ORLANDO HEALTH CANCER CENTER

A "system-wide" hospital virtual tour solution.

Orlando Health hired Virtually Anywhere to offer a System-Wide Solution, assuring maximum economies of scale. Producing all tours initially at once supported their goal of projecting a quality, consistent image for all its locations and service lines.

Virtually Anywhere has created a modular virtual tour system that can easily grow with its clients as they add service lines and locations. They also provide nationwide coverage to ensure delivery of the same high quality solution virtual hospital tours, regardless of facility size or location.

NICKLAUS CHILDREN’S VIRTUAL HOSPITAL TOURS

South florida's finest hospital exclusively for children.

Founded in 1950 by Variety Clubs International, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital is South Florida’s only licensed specialty hospital exclusively for children. With nearly 800 attending physicians and more than 475 pediatric subspecialists, the 309-bed hospital nonprofit hospital - known as Miami Children’s Hospital from 1983 through 2014 - is renowned for excellence in all aspects of pediatric medicine and routinely has many programs ranked among the nation’s best by U.S. News & World Report.

Some additional example of our virtual hospital tours:

Cleveland clinic, shirley ryan ability labs, mercy virtual care center, awesome: optional & built-in features.

We can suggest a mix of added features to customize your presentation to highlight your facilities’ greatest strengths.

Our most popular add-on feature to display additional information and media elements.

Optional, but useful features can be added inside the 360° images to provide more informational detail to your viewers by incorporating your existing media assets. See Hotspot Demo

Deep Linking

Increase engagement exponentially by using this built-in feature.

Our deep links allow you to incorporate links throughout your site to open the tour directly to ANY 360 as the start image.

Detailed Analytics

Built-in detailed online reporting of what your viewers are seeing within the tour.

Online traffic reporting including all scene views, + hotspot interactions using our newest advanced platform. See Example Report

Aerial Imagery

Add drone imagery for intro videos and/or a 360 navigational element.

An exciting point of view to show facilities or campus orientations. Availability based on specific location(s). See Demo Tour

Interactive Floor Plan & Map

Use a map or floor plan as a navigational element to the tour.

From your provided artwork, we can add navigation elements to a campus map.  This is used inside the tour window to seamlessly flow from one 360 image to another. See Example Tour

Add polish to the presentation, especially useful for headset projects.

Professional Voice Over

We can produce professional custom voice overs to tell your story.  Cost varies based on script length and talent chosen.

See Sample Tour

Since 1998, we approach each job with an eye toward true user engagement, a streamlined and natural user-friendly design, and most of all, a customer service model you will not find elsewhere.

We offer virtual tour services in these locations:

Whether you’re an avid traveler, a curious explorer, or a business owner seeking to showcase your space, our virtual tours services are available across these areas.

California Virtual Tours Texas Virtual Tours Florida Virtual Tours New York Virtual Tours Pennsylvania Virtual Tours Illinois Virtual Tours Ohio Virtual Tours Georgia Virtual Tours North Carolina Virtual Tours

Michigan Virtual Tours New Jersey Virtual Tours Virginia Virtual Tours Washington Virtual Tours Arizona Virtual Tours Massachusetts Virtual Tours Tennessee Virtual Tours Indiana Virtual Tours Missouri Virtual Tours

Maryland Virtual Tours Wisconsin Virtual Tours Colorado Virtual Tours Minnesota Virtual Tours South Carolina Virtual Tours Alabama Virtual Tours Louisiana Virtual Tours Kentucky Virtual Tours Oregon Virtual Tours

Oklahoma Virtual Tours Connecticut Virtual Tours Utah Virtual Tours Iowa Virtual Tours Nevada Virtual Tours Arkansas Virtual Tours Mississippi Virtual Tours Kansas Virtual Tours

Virtually Anywhere Interactive 4205 Balcones Drive Austin, Texas 78731 512-591-5500

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© 2024 Virtually Anywhere.

• 360 VR Video
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Virtually Anywhere 4205 Balcones Drive Austin, Texas 78731

T:  512-591-5500 E: Contact Us Here

How to Create a Virtual Tour for Your Hospital: A Beginner’s Guide

The past year has seen a rapid transformation in the healthcare sector. Within weeks, practices and facilities in all medical specialties went into virtual environments to accommodate their patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, ten months into the pandemic and with vaccinations on the horizon, it’s time to stop the band-aid solutions and build long-term virtual experiences for your audiences. Why not begin with a virtual tour for your hospital? 

For hospitals especially, virtual tours are an important component of that experience. They come with a number of advantages, from easing the fears of prospective patients to closer community involvement. 

Virtual reality tours, it turns out, are no longer a fad. Today,  50% of adults on the internet use them to help in their decision-making process. In this guide, we’ll discuss the benefits of virtual tours for hospitals, what tour stops you should include in your own platform, and what considerations to keep in mind as you look to engage your audience and ease their anxieties.

The Benefits of Virtual Tours for Hospitals

There are plenty of advantages your hospital can leverage through a virtual tour. Among them, three stand out as especially important for your patient acquisition and satisfaction, as well as your community engagement strategy.

1. Increase Comfort for First-Time Patients

It’s no surprise that, especially the first time they visit a hospital, patients are stressed. They don’t know what to expect, don’t know the people taking care of them, and  research has shown  that this uncertainty can lead to anxiety and even panic attacks. 

No virtual tour is a magic bullet to solve this anxiety. It can, however, play an important role in calming these fears. If your patients learn about your facilities, from the front lobby to the area where they’ll be treated, they’ll develop a feeling of familiarity that calms their nerves and ultimately makes for a more relaxed visit.

2. Help Patient Families Get to Know the Place

Of course, the patients’ secondary stakeholders matter as well. They’ll want to know what to expect, where to park, and where to pick up some flowers or gifts as they visit patients. For hospitals with long-term care and rehab stations, they might also want to play a role in deciding whether this facility is right for their loved one.

A virtual tour can help them get to know your hospital’s most important areas for them. That way, by the time they stop by for the visit, they’ll feel comfortable, and are more able to focus on their loved ones’ well-being.

3. Drive Engagement in Your Local Community

Finally, don’t underestimate the impact a virtual tour can have on your local community. No hospital, of course, exists in isolation. Before they become residents in your rooms, prospective patients are just members of a larger community wanting to make sure their healthcare needs are taken care of if needed.

Promoted the right way, the virtual tour can play a role in that process. It can be leveraged as a type of ‘virtual open house,’ inviting members of your community to tour the stations and rooms from the comfort of their living room. That engagement will play off significantly in the long run.

8 Tour Stops Every Hospital Virtual Tour Should Include

Understanding the  why  behind these interactive tours is only the beginning. The  how  begins with understanding exactly what you should prepare to showcase.

An important disclaimer: ultimately, every hospital’s situation is unique. The ideal number and topic areas of your stops may differ from the next hospital down the road. That said, these 8 must-have virtual tour stops are a great start for your planning stage.

1. The Lobby

It’s the first thing your visitors and patients see, and you’ve probably spent significant resources to plan and design it. That makes it the first stop on your tour, providing a comforting feeling for users as they virtually ‘look around’ and check out their surroundings.

2. The Gift Shop

For most hospitals, this is a natural stop right after the lobby because of its close physical proximity. Both patients and prospective visitors will appreciate a closer look and this stop, along with both visual and textual descriptions of just what kinds of items they can buy here.

3. The Cafeteria (and Other Food Stops)

The third natural spot in the tour goes to basic nourishment. This gives you an opportunity to show off your main public eating space, along with the types of food available. If you have other food stops for patients and visitors, you can feature them either via supplemental media or, if significant enough, their own tour stop. 

4. Rest and Relaxation Areas

Your hospital likely has a number of spaces specifically designed to make both patients and visitors feel more comfortable. These might include:

• Courtyards and outdoor gardens
• Children’s (or siblings) play rooms
• Art exhibits 
• Library or resource centers

Each of these, ideally, should get their own virtual tour stop. That helps communicate your patient and visitor-centric approach, an important part of the communications strategy for many hospitals.

5. The Emergency Room and ICU

When a patient has to come in short-notice, what can they expect? The emergency room is definitely an area, you’ll need to stage before including them as a stop. It also pays to show your intensive care unit as a separate stop, providing patients peace of mind that they will be well-taken care of.

6. The Nursing Station

You likely have one of these on every floor and unit within your hospital. Use your virtual tour to highlight exactly what they look like, with a description of what exactly patients can expect. Including this stop also leads you naturally into the next must-have:

7. A “Regular” Room

Showcase one of your patient rooms. This is likely a spot that most of your users will have an active interest in, as they will sooner or later find themselves in one of them either as a visitor or a patient. Pick one that presents itself especially well, but make sure you don’t misrepresent what the typical patient experience is like.

8. Any Specialty Areas

Beyond regular care, your hospital likely provides a number of specialized services for prospective patients. That might include:

• A Maternity ward
• A catheterization laboratory
• An X-Ray and imaging center
• Same-day surgery rooms

Again, the goal here is to not just provide peace of mind, but introduce distinction. Adding stops for your specialties helps you stand out from other facilities looking to offer (but unable to show) similar care.

What to Consider What Planning Your Hospital’s Virtual Tour

As you plan through your virtual tour, a few important considerations can help you maximize the potential benefits mentioned above and throughout this guide. These considerations include:

Comprehensive is good, but don’t overdo it .

You definitely want to showcase the various areas of your hospital. At the same time, adding too many stops may lose the focus of your audience. For instance, showing a patient room is important, but you probably won’t need to show every variation of patient room your hospital offers.

Provide supplemental information where possible .

Every tour stop offers the possibility for supplemental media, such as extra photos and videos offered in a library or as hotspots. That allows you to add additional info without distracting from the core message or visual appeal.

Honesty is crucial .

Yes, your virtual tour is designed to show your hospital in the best possible light. However, it’s a thin line to walk between accomplishing that goal and misleading prospective patients and visitors. Be mindful of that line as you stage rooms, plan shoots, and build the tour.

Build in natural conversion points .

Based on their experience with your tour, your audience might want to contact you or learn more about the hospital in other ways. Accommodate their needs by adding call-to-action buttons throughout the tour that naturally guide your audience towards those points.

Build an intuitive flow .

Not all of your users will start at the beginning, but most well. It’s best to organize your tour in a way that mimics their physical experience in the hospital. Start with the lobby, move to the gift shop, and only then begin to move into the patient and treatment areas.

Find the right virtual tour software .

You’ll find plenty of vendors looking to sell their virtual tour services to you. Not all of them are well-prepared to understand and accommodate the nuances of your industry. A virtual tour partner who has experience working with hospitals will be vital to build a successful experience.

We’d love to help with that last item. Concept3D has spent years building and optimizing virtual tours in a variety of industries, including healthcare. Our experience has allowed us to become a reliable partner for many hospitals, while our intuitive platform has helped them better engage and communicate with their audience through interactive maps and virtual tours

If you’re looking to build a virtual tour for your own hospital, that level of partnership is crucial.  Contact us  to start the conversation today.

Interested in learning how we can help your hospital?

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About the author: jeff harwood.

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• Apr 18, 2021

Healthcare Workers Themed 👩‍⚕️🩺👨‍⚕️ Virtual Field Trips

Virtual Field Trips are engaging educational experiences - here is a set of 8 virtual trips related to healthcare workers, including: visiting the dentist, eye doctor, pediatrician, and children's hospital

This set of informative virtual trips will help students learn all about essential healthcare workers. Whether students will be visiting a doctor soon, or just curious about future career opportunities, these brief virtual trips will help them learn more about them.

This slide deck includes 8 different virtual trips and a hyperlinked main menu. This file is shared in Google Slides and uses embedded videos. It also includes a linked image in the bottom right corner to return to the main menu slide. It is best used in Present mode with the teacher sharing their screen. As always, teachers should preview the trips before using to determine what best fits the needs of their class. I hope that these virtual trips are enjoyed by you and your students.

Have you seen the other virtual field trip slide decks that I have shared here ? Check them out and make copies to use and enjoy!

Make a copy of 👨‍⚕️🩺👩‍⚕️ Healthcare Workers Related Virtual Trips to enjoy here:

http://bit.ly/ShareCopyHealthcareWorkersRelatedVirtualTripsTeachersUsingTech

• Bitmoji Fun
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🚍☀😎 Solar Eclipse Virtual Field Trips

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National Museum of Civil War Medicine

Home » Explore » Bring the Museum to You » Virtual Field Trips

Virtual Field Trips

Thanks to the Internet, a scholar is only a video chat away. Stream a scholar into your virtual classroom or your next digital field trip. Bring the experts from the National Museum of Civil War Medicine directly to you with these live-streaming programs and conversations.

Topics Include

Mythbusters: the true story of civil war medicine *.

Did you know no one actually “bit the bullet” during the Civil War? Learn the truth behind the most common misconceptions about Civil War medicine, and how the innovations during this time period paved the way for our modern emergency medical system.

REQUEST A SPEAKER

Clara Barton: Her Life and Legacy

Many think of Clara Barton as a pioneering nurse who founded the American Red Cross but she was so much more than that. Discover Barton’s extraordinary work: as an educator, a barrier-breaker, a nurse, and a humanitarian.

Cut It Off: An Amputation Demonstration and Discussion *

Over 60,000 amputations were conducted during the Civil War. Watch an amputation on a (fake) leg, discover the medicine behind the operation, and how post-war society adjusted to welcome their “heroes with empty sleeves” home.

Please Note: There is an additional supply fee for the demonstration.

Don’t see what you’re looking for? Contact or Tours and Reservations Coordinator directly to arrange for a speaker uniquely suited to your needs.

Phone: (301) 695-1964

E-mail: [email protected]

  Programs with a * are recommended for school groups.

REQUEST A Virtual Field Trip

Many of these topics are also available in person through our Speaker’s Bureau.

Quick Links

• National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, MD
• Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum in Washington, DC
• Pry House Field Hospital Museum on Antietam National Battlefield
• Primary Sources
• Artifacts Revealed
• Health Care Heroes
• Videos and Digital Exhibits
• Museum Publications
• Bring the Museum to You
• Ask A Question
• Walking Tours
• 2024 Conference on Civil War Medicine at Antietam on May 3-5
• Letterman Award
• Become a Member
• 2023 Annual Appeal

How to take a virtual field trip

Discover how to whisk your students away to museums, mars, and more, without leaving the classroom.

By Google Arts & Culture

Visiting without barriers

Whether you're visiting a museum, historic site or location in a far flung place, Expeditions, also known as virtual field trips, are available to everyone, anywhere, with a web browser or mobile device.

Planning is key

If you are a teacher, we recommend that you start by reading through the tour, to get an idea of what it's about. Check to see if it covers the subject you want to teach. Do you want to run through the whole thing or just pick out highlights?

Perseverance Touching Down on Mars (Illustration) (2020) NASA

Near or far

You can take the class to a wide variety of places. From a visit to the local museum , to a quick trip to Mars . You can project the tour on a screen or share it on Google Classroom. These tours are a mixture of 360° and 2D imagery. There are no pop ups within the panoramas.

Past, present and future

There are tours that look at the past, that explain how systems work today and what we should be thinking about to preserve our future. You can search for a specific tour or browse through by subject: arts , natural history , science and technology , geography , history . 

And there's more...

Once you've been through a tour with your class there are more  virtual field trips  to try or you can go to   Learn with Arts & Culture . There's subject related material and lesson plans that you can use in the classroom or give to students as worksheets to work through at their own pace.

Ready to begin your virtual field trip?

 Click here to set off

Hampi - Poetry in Stone

Archaeological survey of india, the james webb space telescope explained, 10 spectacular sites you can explore in south africa, south african tourism, mahabalipuram - sculpture by the sea, what will the james webb space telescope see, game drives: a south african adventure, rajghat: varanasi through the millenia, ellison onizuka, superstars of the south african bush, sarnath - turning the wheel of law, newton’s laws of motion in space, 5 things you didn't know about south africa's "hole in the wall".

Virtual Field Trip Videos Healthcare and Technology

Welcome to the VIDEO LIBRARY for WWFC Corporate Experiences virtual field trips!

• Educational field trips to teach students about entry level roles in STEM careers that are accessible after high school.
• Behind-the-scenes tours of STEM companies that are making a difference in the local community
• Chance to “meet” a panel of relatable employees in a variety of entry level roles who share their backgrounds and career stories.

We hope these resources provide high school students with job ideas and inspiration!

QUICK LINKS:

• Sequoia Hospital Physical Therapy and Rehab Services
• NASA Machine Shop and Fabrication Shop
• Nuro Autonomous Vehicles
• Sequoia Hospital IT Services
• Atomic Video Production
• Pathways Home Health and Hospice
• Sonrisas Dental Health
• Genentech Biotech
• Red Cross Blood Services
• ProTransport-1 Ambulance Services
• Sequoia Hospital Cardiovascular Services

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Entry Level Job Guides – Including job descriptions, starting salaries, education/ training requirements, free training/ education options, and links to more information

• Link to Entry-Level HEALTHCARE JOB GUIDE
• Link to Entry-Level TECHNOLOGY JOB GUIDE

SEQUOIA HOSPITAL PHYSICAL THERAPY AND REHAB SERVICES

January 2024 – Virtual Field Trip with Sequoia High School, Santa Clara High School, and Menlo-Atherton High School

After a brief introduction (2 min.) , students got a behind-the-scenes tour of the Physical Therapy and Rehab Services Department at Sequoia Hospital (4 min.) followed by Case Study #1 on the assessment and treatment of a Stroke Victim (8 min.) – focusing on ways to support the patient’s critical activities of daily life. Students pause here for a short interactive activity – “How to Tie Shoes with One Hand” (1.5 min.) Find Activity handout here.

Case Study #2 follows an ACL Tear patient through evaluation, treatment, and recovery (5.5 min.)

Lastly, students heard career journeys and advice from the Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy, Sports Therapy, and Occupational Therapy team (~15 minutes total): • Physical Therapist/ Sports Medicine (2.5 min.) • Rehab Aide (5 min.) • Physical Therapy Aide (3.5 min.) • Physical Therapist/ Sports Medicine (5 min.) • Speech Therapist (4 min.) • Occupational Therapist (3 min.) • Physical Therapist (4.5 min.)

A Student Q&A session (20 min.) wrapped up the event and included advice for high school students who are interested in Rehab Services”

QR Code for Survey of Field Trip

NASA MACHINE SHOP AND FABRICATION SHOP

February 2022 – Virtual Field Trip with Kathleen MacDonald High School, Woodside High School, and Menlo-Atherton High School

After a brief introduction (1.5 min.) , students got a behind-the-scenes tour of the NASA Ames Machine Shop (15.5 min.) including CNC Lathes and Milling Machines, a look inside one of the largest wind tunnels in the world, and flight test preparation for NASA’s Orion Spacecraft. Students paused here for a short interactive activity – “How High Can You Jump” gravity activity handout here.

An insider’s tour of the Fabrication Shop followed (15.5 min.) , including the water jet room, the welding process, footage of ROAMX, a rotorcraft in development for Mars exploration, and footage of NASA’s upcoming mobile robotic mission on the moon, VIPER.

Lastly, students heard career journeys and advice from a panel of NASA employees who started in entry level roles (~15 minutes total):

• Machinist/ Engineering Technician (3 min.)
• CNC Machinist (1 min.)
• Female Machinist (3.5 min.)
• Lead Engineering Technician (2.5 min.)
• Engineering Technician, Water Jet (1 min.)
• Machinist (1.5 min.)
• CNC Machinist (2 min.)

A Student Q&A session (5 min.) wrapped up the event and included advice for high school students who are interested in machining at NASA as well as answering the question, “Are aliens real? (Be honest)”

QR Code for Survey of NASA Field Trip

NURO AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

May 2022 – In-person Field Trip with Wilcox High School

After a brief  introduction (1 min.) , students heard an overview of Nuro’s company history and learned about autonomous technology (16.5 min.).   Then students got a behind-the-scenes tour of the Nuro Santa Clara Vehicle Garage (15 min.) including going under the hood of autonomous vehicles with the technicians.  Next, students heard about De Anza College’s free Autonomous and Electric Technician Pathway (4 min.) , a new option for high school students – followed by a talk on the Evolution of Auto Technology from a De Anza instructor (10 min.).

Lastly, students heard career journeys and advice from a panel of Nuro employees, most of whom started their careers in entry level roles:

• Fleet Supervisor (Formerly Vehicle Operator) (3 min.)
• Recruiting Coordinator for Operations (Formerly Vehicle Operator) (2 min.)
• Quality Engineer (2.5 min.)
• Manufacturing Technician (1 min.)

A brief Student Q&A session (5 min.) wrapped up the event and featured job search tips and advice for high school students.

Quick Student Survey of Nuro Field Trip

SEQUOIA HOSPITAL IT SERVICES

May 2022 – Virtual Field Trip with Carlmont High School and Santa Clara High School

After a brief introduction (2 min.) , students got a behind the scenes tour of the IT infrastructure at Sequoia Hospital (11.5 min.) – a rare glimpse of the “path of the data packet” from a patient room through the MDF (main distribution frame) and out into the world. Next, students heard stories and advice from the panel of IT experts who started their careers in entry level roles:

• Field Engineer (formerly End User Support Technician or IT Help Desk Technician) (6.5 min.) • Systems Engineer II (formerly IT Help Desk Technician) (5.5 min) • Clinical Informaticist (formerly IT Support Specialist and Registered Nurse) (3.5 min)

Two case studies followed featuring real world emergency situations that the “super hero” IT team had to tackle including a Hospital System-wide Outage Case Study (2.5 min.) and a critical need for Covid Patient-Family Communication System Case Study (4.5 min.).

Lastly, Students could write down their own answers for a 2 question interactive quiz (6.5 min.) to see if they are ready to jump into IT.

A Student Q&A session (29 min.) wraps up the event and features “on the job” experiences and IT department overlap with programming skills.

QR Code for Survey of Sequoia Hospital IT Field Trip

ATOMIC PRODUCTIONS

March 2022 – Virtual Field Trip with Wilcox High School, Andrew Hill High School, and Sequoia High School

After a brief introduction (1.5 min.) , students were led on a behind the scenes tour of the Atomic Video Productions headquarters (7 min.) featuring a sneak peek into client meetings, the equipment room, the editing suites, and the green room. Next, Danny Angotti, company founder, shared his personal journey and the history of Atomic Productions (5.5 min.) including their introduction of innovative digital effects  in the 1990’s which led to huge growth in the demand for their services.  Two educational case studies followed focusing on advertisement production, concept development, digital effects, and working with agencies: Klay Thompson Case Study (6 min.) and Bud Light Case Study (6.5 min.) .

Next, the students heard career journeys and advice from Atomic Productions employees:

• Production Manager / Producer / Director & In-house Make-up & Wardrobe Stylist (5 min.)
• Senior Editor / Motion Graphics Artist (3 min.) 

Student Q&A session (45.5 min.)

QR Code for Survey of Atomic Video Productions Field Trip

PATHWAYS HOME HEALTH AND HOSPICE

November 2021 – Virtual Field Trip with Sequoia High School Health Careers Academy

Students learned about Pathways Home Health and Hospice services (3.5 min.) and got a tour of the home office with Andy Robinson, Director of Operations. They got to see examples of close-up medical training (7.5 min.) including giving a venipunture (blood draw) and taking blood pressure with Pathways Educator and RN, Daniela Mak. Andy Robinson gave a talk on a long-term care scenario, “Diagnosis through Death” featuring Congestive Heart Failure. (20 min.) . Next, the students heard about career journeys from Home Health and Hospice professionals:

• Home Health and Hospice Sales & Marketing (5.5 min.)
• Home Health Aide (3.5 min.)
• Office Manager (4.5 min.)
• Hospice Vocational Nurse (5.5 min.) & his funny patient joke (1 min.)
• Registered Nurse and Director of Operations (4 min.)

Student Question and Answer session (18 min.) QR Code for Survey of Home Health and Hospice Field Trip

SONRISAS DENTAL HEALTH

October 2021 – Virtual Field Trip with Andrew Hill High School and East Palo Alto Academy

Students met Dr. Bonnie Jue from Sonrisas Dental Health and learned surprising ways that Oral Health impacts Overall Health – including heart disease and diabetes. Dr. Jue delivered a fast-paced overview of Oral Health issues, treatments, and preventions ( 21 min. ) .  Next, students heard career stories and advice from a panel of dental professionals:

• Dentist/ Dental Director of a Non-Profit Practice (4. 5 min. )
• Dental Assistant ( 3 min. )
• Patient Care Coordinator ( 4 min. )
• Dental Hygienist (2. 5 min. )
• Dentist/ Owner of a Private Practice ( 3 min. )

A Q&A session ( 21 min. ) followed featuring student questions.

QR Code for Survey of Oral Health Virtual Field Trip

May 2021 – Virtual Field Trip with Santa Clara High School and East Palo Alto Academy

Students were introduced to Genentech and the world of biotechnology by the Chief People and Culture Officer, Cynthia Burks ( 9 min. ) . They then watched a brief entertaining video, “What actually happens in Drug Development?” ( 16 min. ), heard about the Genentech drug development process ( 7 min. ), and got to see a drone tour of Genentech campus ( 4 min. ) .  Lastly, several Genentech employees shared their stories and career journeys:

• Senior Scientist (17. 5 min. ), “I research how to get drugs into difficult to reach tissues and work to come up with new ways to image this in animals/people.”
• Principal Scientific Researcher ( 6 min. ), “I discover legal drugs for patients.”
• Scientific Researcher ( 19 min. ), “I use experiments to understand how a drug moves through tissues in the body.”
• Principal Program Manager ( 15 min. ), “I manage cross functional teams that develop therapeutics in early stages of drug development.”

RED CROSS BLOOD SERVICES

April 2021 – Virtual Field Trip with Andrew Hill High School

Students attended a tour of a blood drive ( 4 min. ) in honor of a 7-year-old cancer patient and got to see how blood collection works during Covid. They then heard a very entertaining educational talk about blood, blood types, and blood uses ( 19 min. ) .  Next, students heard about careers from several blood services professionals:

• Phlebotomist ( 2 min. )
• Collections Materials Coordinator (7. 5 min. )
• Blood Collections Trainer ( 2 min. )
• Blood Drive Account Manager (6. 5 min. )

A Q&A session (31. 5 min. ) wrapped up the event.

PROTRANSPORT-1 AMBULANCE

March 2021 – Virtual Field Trip with Andrew Hill High School

Students got to hear an introduction to ProTransport-1 Ambulance and learn about emergency medical services ( 17 min. ) ranging from NICU transport to professional sports event athlete support. They did a “ride-along” on a Static Rig Ambulance ( 7 min. ) with the Critical Care Transport Team. They learned about Signs and Symptoms of a Heart Attack and CPR ( 12 min. ) and heard stories and advice from ProTransport-1 employees:

• EMT ( 4 min. )
• Paramedic (1. 5 min. )

A Q&A session (36.5 min.) addressed student questions and “on the job” EMS Stories.

SEQUOIA HOSPITAL

February 2021 – Virtual Field Trip with Sequoia High School and the Health Careers Academy

Students attended a virtual “behind the scenes” tour of the Sequoia Hospital Catheterization Lab and learned about heart procedures ( 14.5 min. ) with electrophysiologist, Dr. Greg Engel.  The students heard from a panel of employees in entry level healthcare roles about their career journeys:

• Echo Tech ( 3 min. )
• Medical Assistant (4. 5 min. )
• Finance Manager (4. 5 min. )
• Administrative Assistant ( 5 min. )

Q&A session ( 40 min. ) with Dr. Gregory Engel and panelists

November 2020 – Virtual Field Trip with East Palo Alto Academy and Wilcox High School

Students enjoyed an inside look at the Sequoia Hospital Cath Lab where heart related procedures take place.  They took a virtual tour of the Sequoia Hospital Cath Lab and learned about heart conditions ( 14.5 min. ) .   Stories and advice came next from a panel of entry level healthcare employees:

Q&A Session ( 40 min. ) with Dr. Gregory Engel and panelists

Additional STEM Career Planning Resources

• Link to Entry Level Jobs in STEM* – including job descriptions, starting salaries, education/training requirements, free training/education options, and links to more information
• Link to Work Experience and Enrichment Ideas in STEM* – including free training and education opportunities and internships for High School students to explore career options

*Note: Initial guides focus on healthcare 

Teachers or Counselors: If you are interested in showing a custom version of this presentation to your school, feel free to contact us.

EIN: 77-0381972

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Virtual Field Trips

Explore the World with Virtual Field Trips

Designed for ages 9-15 but customizable for all ages, virtual field trips allow students to travel the world and explore natural environments without leaving the classroom. Each virtual field trip contains a video, teacher guide and student activities.

Working Trees: Reforestation and Responsible Forestry

Forests represent a powerful opportunity to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, helping to cool our planet while also providing clean air, clean water, and habitat for wildlife.

Less Harm on the Farm: Regenerative Agriculture

Food is more than something we eat to survive; it's a part of how we thrive. Learn how regenerative agriculture can help us feed a growing population while restoring nature.

Climb-It Change

Explore how climate change is impacting alpine ecosystems and go on a climbing adventure with scientists who take you to some of the most stunning mountain ranges in the United States. This film is a Rocket Soul Studios production.

Protecting Our Oceans and Ourselves

More people rely on our ocean for food, energy, transport, recreation and other natural resources than any other time in history.

Climate Heroes: The Power of Trees

Trees are our climate superheroes! From Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States to St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean, trees are playing critical roles in cleaning our air and improving our resilience in the face of climate change.

You’re the Scientist! Citizen Science, Frogs and Cicadas

The conservation community relies heavily on volunteers not only to restore natural areas but to help gauge the success of restoration efforts.

Changing Climate, Changing Cities

Get a front-row, ground-level seat to the challenges cities face as they confront this force of nature, and discover the solutions experts are promoting to mitigate it.

The Secret Life of Corals

Learn how fragile reefs are being damaged by human activity and climate change, and how scientists are developing ways to restore corals.

Borneo: The Symphony of the Rainforest

On this journey, we’ll learn how experts are using cutting-edge science to find out how healthy the rainforest is—and to discover where it needs some help!

View from a Canoe

Can you imagine a place with 100 million acres of forest and 30,000 miles of coastline? It exists. The Emerald Edge is home to the largest intact coastal temperate rainforest.

Wild Biomes: America’s Rainforests & Deserts

Two wildly different ecosystems, both dependent on the same precious resource: Water. On this virtual field trip, we’ll travel to Seattle and Arizona.

The Coral Reefs of Palau

Join our expert scientist, marine biologist Stephanie Wear, on a virtual field trip to the coral reefs of Palau where you'll explore amazing underwater cities.

China’s Great Forests

Join our expert scientist Yue Wang, a conservation planning officer for The Nature Conservancy, on a virtual field trip across the world to two stunning provinces in China.

Powering the Planet: Renewable Energy

Join scientist Alex Wegmann as we embark on a Virtual Field Trip to explore a compelling question: How can we get the energy we need without harming nature?

Journey of Water: Colombia’s Páramo

In this virtual field trip, we will explore the magical páramo ecosystem and the stunning mountain landscapes found just beyond the capital city of Bogotá.

Peru: A Coastal Ecosystem

Join fisheries scientist Matias Caillaux to explore the Humboldt Current Ecosystem off the coast of Peru while learning about the area’s amazing diversity and productivity.

Ridge to Reef: A Virtual Field Trip to Hong Kong

The “Ridge to Reef” (R2R) concept is a holistic approach that takes into consideration all the environments within a watershed — from the top of the mountains down to the ocean — and shows that what happens on land affects what happens in the water.

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Virtual Field Trips

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No permission slips required! These virtual events let educators take students to amazing places and give them remarkable experiences, without ever leaving the classroom.

Featured and upcoming virtual field trips.

Join us for our Virtual Field Trips or watch them on-demand after their premieres. Each no-cost Virtual Field Trip comes with a companion guide packed with standards-aligned, hands-on learning activities! Select one of the options below to register.

On-Demand Virtual Field Trips

Discovery education & the nba: a slam dunk partnership, “innovators for impact” virtual field trip with olympian katie ledecky and panasonic, bridge to the future: a virtual field trip into extended reality, arctic adventures: polar bears at play virtual field trip, the science & behavior of safe driving: it takes all of us virtual field trip, an ounce of prevention virtual field trip, the courage to act: forming a chain of resistance.

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5 Tips for Creating an Effective Virtual Field Trip

Students can connect what’s happening in the classroom to real-world locations by using digital tools to gain new perspectives.

When you can’t bring your students to the place, bring the place to your students.

During the pandemic, places that provided in-person educational experiences for students were forced to shutter, but the need for what they provided didn’t disappear. In fact, they were more important than ever because they reminded students cloistered at home that the wider world was still out there and that there were still ways for them to experience it.

As a result, distance learning programs offered by informal educational organizations like museums and zoos grew in number. And when in-person learning resumed, many continued to offer these popular programs because the infrastructure essential to creating them remained in place.

There are many groups that offer distance learning programs, but those offered by the National Park Service are among the highest quality. This is due in large part to their design, but also to how they suggest classroom teachers integrate them into their units and projects. Having had the opportunity to work alongside many providers of distance learning, I discovered that there are a number of things teachers can do to improve the effectiveness of these programs.

How to Structure a Distance Learning Experience

1. Make clear connections to the curriculum. It’s important that programs make clear connections to real learning goals or standards that teachers are expected to address. Aligning the program to the learning goals and framing specific projects or units within your curriculum ensure that distance learning is a relevant and meaningful experience. Make sure to look for programs with strong curricular connections.

Some places anticipate this need, like the programs offered at Channel Islands National Park , which clearly outline the standards that are addressed. But if you find an opportunity that doesn’t clearly list the standards, just ask. Sometimes the facilitator can adjust their plan to accommodate a specific request.

Also, be sure not to judge a book by its cover. Sometimes, the title of the program might not be a good indicator of the content. For example, Hot Springs National Park offers “Bathtub Time Machine”—a very creative title that belies the program’s strong historic and equity content .

2. There is power in a phone call. Thanks to the widespread adoption of videoconferencing technology during the pandemic, more and more places have the capability to deliver distance learning programs. If you find a museum or park that would be a good fit for your next unit, call and ask if they would be willing to talk with your students for 30 minutes, even if they don’t have an official offering.

Sometimes, you’ll find a willing educator or curator who will offer to conduct a video chat on their personal phone in a gallery or exhibit that fits your needs (shout-out to the rangers at Ninety-Six National Historic Site who did this for my students in the middle of a hurricane!).

3. A bit of prework is key. Since most distance learning programs online are less than an hour long, it’s not always possible for the person hosting them to include background information that’s sufficient for every student. For that reason, it’s important to create some sort of activity that introduces the topic, gives students a chance to build a little background knowledge, and also contextualizes the program within the larger learning sequence. A short research sprint, a reading followed by a discussion, or a video are all possibilities.

In many cases, you don’t even need to come up with this activity by yourself. Sometimes, the organizations that host distance learning activities have suggested free activities that you can download or print out for your students. Yellowstone National Park provides guided organizers for each of their programs that help students come prepared with key knowledge.

4. Generate questions to identify what students need to know. While many distance learning programs are given in a direct instruction or presentation style format, one thing that can lend more interactivity to the experience, as well as help you capitalize on getting access to an expert, is having your students generate questions in advance. Time can then be set aside at the end of the program for student questions, making the experience even more relevant.

Previously prepared and thoughtful questions are a win-win because they help students utilize the expert knowledge available to them while providing the person conducting the program a way to ensure that they’re meeting your learners’ needs.

5. Include a post-work and reflection component. Following the distance learning program, it’s important to provide students with an opportunity to reflect and build off of what they’ve learned. “Do they feel like they got the information they needed in order to understand the topic?” “What new understanding do they have now?” ”Did the presenter mention things that they already know?”

Those questions can help students reflect on their experience and allow you to plan next steps. You can also consider what the next activity or instructional sequence should look like so that you can capitalize on the enthusiasm and energy that a distance-learning program provides. It’s also always worth checking with the organization or the presenter that you’re working with. More often than not, they can direct you to materials that may be appropriate for continuing student learning after the program has concluded.

Now that you know how to structure them and have gotten some helpful hints, where can you go to find these programs?

• The National Park Service hosts distance learning programs during the off-season (October–March) at many different sites. They’re free, open to anyone in the United States, and as such, they do fill up quickly. You can go to their Teacher Portal to sign up or look at the information on this resource I created , which is a comprehensive list of locations and their offerings.
• California has one of the best state park systems in the nation (as a former California State Parks volunteer, I may be biased) and has a very good distance program called PORTS , which provides great science and social studies lessons from parks around the state. Get on their mailing list for alerts when registration opens.
• Center for Interactive Learning & Collaboration hosts programs from parks, museums, and zoos all over the United States! Visit their website to learn more about booking these awesome experiences for your students.

What is a virtual emergency department? And when should you ‘visit’ one?

Senior Research Fellow in Telehealth delivered health services, The University of Queensland

Disclosure statement

I am lead author of the Metro North Virtual ED evaluation mentioned in this article. I do not work for the Virtual ED nor have received any funding for my collaboration and evaluation of their services.

University of Queensland provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.

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For many Australians the emergency department (ED) is the physical and emblematic front door to accessing urgent health-care services.

But health-care services are evolving rapidly to meet the population’s changing needs. In recent years, we’ve seen growing use of telephone, video, and online health services, including the national healthdirect helpline , 13YARN (a crisis support service for First Nations people), state-funded lines like 13 HEALTH , and bulk-billed telehealth services, which have helped millions of Australians to access health care on demand and from home.

The ED is similarly expanding into new telehealth models to improve access to emergency medical care. Virtual EDs allow people to access the expertise of a hospital ED through their phone, computer or tablet.

All Australian states and the Northern Territory have some form of virtual ED at least in development, although not all of these services are available to the general public at this stage.

So what is a virtual ED, and when is it appropriate to consider using one?

How does a virtual ED work?

A virtual ED is set up to mirror the way you would enter the physical ED front door. First you provide some basic information to administration staff, then you are triaged by a nurse (this means they categorise the level of urgency of your case), then you see the ED doctor. Generally, this all takes place in a single video call.

In some instances, virtual ED clinicians may consult with other specialists such as neurologists, cardiologists or trauma experts to make clinical decisions.

A virtual ED is not suitable for managing medical emergencies which would require immediate resuscitation, or potentially serious chest pains, difficulty breathing or severe injuries.

A virtual ED is best suited to conditions that require immediate attention but are not life-threatening. These could include wounds, sprains, respiratory illnesses, allergic reactions, rashes, bites, pain, infections, minor burns, children with fevers, gastroenteritis, vertigo, high blood pressure, and many more.

People with these sorts of conditions and concerns may not be able to get in to see a GP straight away and may feel they need emergency advice, care or treatment.

When attending the ED, they can be subject to long wait times and delayed specialist attention because more serious cases are naturally prioritised. Attending a virtual ED may mean they’re seen by a doctor more quickly, and can begin any relevant treatment sooner.

From the perspective of the health-care system, virtual EDs are about redirecting unnecessary presentations away from physical EDs, helping them be ready to respond to emergencies. The virtual ED will not hesitate in directing callers to come into the physical ED if staff believe it is an emergency.

The doctor in the virtual ED may also direct the patient to a GP or other health professional, for example if their condition can’t be assessed visually, or if they need physical treatment.

The results so far

Virtual EDs have developed significantly over the past three years, predominantly driven by the COVID pandemic. We are now starting to slowly see assessments of these services.

A recent evaluation my colleagues and I did of Queensland’s Metro North Virtual ED found roughly 30% of calls were directed to the physical ED. This suggests 70% of the time, cases could be managed effectively by the virtual ED.

Preliminary data from a Victorian virtual ED indicates it curbed a similar rate of avoidable ED presentations – 72% of patients were successfully managed by the virtual ED alone. A study on the cost-effectiveness of another Victorian virtual ED suggested it has the potential to generate savings in health-care costs if it prevents physical ED visits.

Only 1.2% of people assessed in Queensland’s Metro North Virtual ED required unexpected hospital admission within 48 hours of being “discharged” from the virtual ED. None of these cases were life-threatening. This indicates the virtual ED is very safe.

The service experienced an average growth rate of 65% each month over a two-year evaluation period, highlighting increasing demand and confidence in the service. Surveys suggested clinicians also view the virtual ED positively.

We need further research into patient outcomes and satisfaction, as well as the demographics of those using virtual EDs, and how these measures compare to the physical ED across different triage categories.

There are also challenges associated with virtual EDs, including around technology (connection and skills among patients and health professionals), training (for health professionals) and the importance of maintaining security and privacy.

Nonetheless, these services have the potential to reduce congestion in physical EDs, and offer greater convenience for patients.

Eligibility differs between different programs, so if you want to use a virtual ED, you may need to check you are eligible in your jurisdiction. Most virtual EDs can be accessed online , and some have direct phone numbers.

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12 Virtual Field Trips Your Kids Can Take

Verywell / Caitlin Rogers

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History and Social Studies

Though nothing can ever match the experience of going on a field trip to explore something in the real world, a virtual field trip can come close. Popularized at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual field trips for kids are likely here to stay. They offer families and schools a chance to allow kids to explore a world-class museum or monument without having to schedule travel or spend a mint. In fact, these virtual field trips are free!

So, if you have a free morning or afternoon and want to keep curious kids busy, head to one of these virtual field trip sites. A virtual tour can be a learning experience in itself or help families decide where they want to travel to next.

Art and Culture 

If your child has always had an interest in the arts or you find that they are looking to draw or color something new, then these options below may be a great choice for your kid.

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Whether you’re obsessed with fashion, sculpture, music, or poetry, The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a virtual tour for you. With online and in-person exhibits made viewable thanks to Google’s street view cameras, you can make your way through museum rooms or photo galleries full of art to admire. 

This tour is presented in partnership with Google's Arts & Culture program, which features tours from museums large and small, all around the world. Visit cool collections and classic artworks without leaving your home.

The Blue House Frida Kahlo Museum

We can’t decide what’s more fun to look at in this virtual tour of The Blue House , a museum dedicated to Frida Kahlo: the art itself or the architecture housing it, which ranges from brightly painted houses and walls to lush greenery and fascinating trees.

Of course, the museum is also the place where she lived, died, and created much of her work—so you get up close and personal with Frida Kahlo the artist and Frida Kahlo the woman. 

The National Gallery of Art 

Scrolling through photos of art in a museum online isn’t that different from looking at them in a book—unless you're taking a virtual field trip to The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC!

This museum has found a way to make viewing art interactive. With its children’s video tours, it brings 50 different historic pieces of art to life in just a few minutes, including audio effects, narration, and close-up shots of the details featured in each work.

There are also conversation starters about art, a guided video tour of Stuart Davis’ work hosted by John Lithgow, and an interactive app for kids. 

Got a future paleontologist, zoologist, or "Bill Nye the Science Guy" on your hands? For kids obsessed with animals, outer space, dinosaurs, chemical reactions, or how the world works, these science field trips are engaging and educational.

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

If your child is interested in learning about the natural environment and the organisms that inhabit it, the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History is a great option. Current, past, and permanent exhibits are included in this virtual tour, which allows you to navigate through the museum using your device or to click on different areas to visit on an interactive map.

There is even a series of narrated tours on video for kids who want to dive deep into a topic (like megalodons). The 360 degree images on this tour are crystal clear, making it feel like you are really there!

San Diego Zoo

Not only does the web site for the San Diego Zoo feature exhibit cams and zookeeper-hosted videos of many of its animal residents, but it’s also a great resource for animal crafts, online games, and fact-based infographics about different species. It’s more than just tuning into a live cam; it’s a virtual visit that gets close to being as fun as the real deal.

Seattle Aquarium

The Seattle Aquarium is a mecca for marine biologists-in-training. Check out what kinds of exhibits the aquarium houses on location through live cams, activities, and fact sheets, then head over to YouTube , where staff host a virtual field trip by walking-and-talking you through several of the species native to the Puget Sound that spend their days inside the aquarium.

Farm Food 360

Is your kid curious about how chickens, cows, or pigs are raised? No problem! At Farm Food 360 , you can read about how more than a dozen Canadian farms are run and watch a series of videos about each one, explaining everything from how a farmer spends their day to environmental sustainability of modern-day farms. 

Johnson Space Center

Mini Neil Armstrongs should check out the Johnson Space Center online for aerospace education opportunities. Boeing and Discovery Education host two virtual field trips on space exploration: Innovating the Future and ecoAction.

Both trips consist of a video series and companion educator guides, so you can apply your newfound knowledge over the course of a few days’ worth of lesson plans and activities . 

Museum of Science

The Museum of Science , a Boston-based science hub, is worth a trip at some point in your life. Until you can get to Boston, the museum is hosting virtual content, including live animal demonstrations to chats about current science events to planetarium tours.

If your kid's life goals include becoming president of the United States, these field trips focused on American history, civics, and notable landmarks will be right up their educational alley.

Ellis Island

Whatever country your family tree can be traced back to, it's likely that you have some kind of connection to Ellis Island . Through Scholastic’s website, you can take a 30-minute virtual tour of Ellis Island and follow it up with an interactive story and photo tour, diaries of real young immigrants, and colorful charts and bar graphs depicting important statistics about immigration through the decades.

Yellowstone National Park

You can go on virtual “walks” through Yellowstone National Park in a series of videos on the National Park Service’s website. When you’re done, dig deeper into fascinating areas of the park—like Mammoth Hot Springs and Norris Geyser Basin—by reading about their histories, taking guided photo tours, and exploring their landmarks on an interactive map.

Mount Rushmore

You've seen Mount Rushmore in history books, but that didn't get you as close to Teddy Roosevelt’s left nostril as you hoped! Never fear: you can go on a "deep dive" (pun intended) on this virtual tour of the famous American landmark.

Featuring a 3D explorer, a 360 degree virtual tour, and a video about how the landmark has been digitally preserved over the years, you can get a good look at the true size and scale of this impressive monument—and learn a little about history, too.

By Sarah Bradley Sarah Bradley has been writing parenting content since 2017, after her third son was born. Since then, she has expanded her expertise to write about pregnancy and postpartum, childhood ages and stages, and general health conditions, including commerce articles for health products. Because she has been homeschooling her sons for seven years, she is also frequently asked to share homeschooling tips, tricks, and advice for parenting sites.

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Goddard Virtual Field Trips

Activities, exhibits and events at the Goddard Visitor Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, provide inspiring and captivating educational experiences for all ages. The visitor center showcases Goddard’s innovative and exciting work in Earth science, astrophysics, heliophysics, planetary science, engineering, communications and technology development.

Virtual Field Trips

The NASA Goddard Visitor Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, now offers virtual field trip programs for student and community groups, focusing on such subjects as living and working on the International Space Station and how to build a satellite. These virtual field trips are available to groups with a minimum of eight students – grades kindergarten and above. In addition to receiving a list of online resources, your group would schedule a 45 minute live virtual session with an informal educator. We are currently scheduling sessions Tuesday through Friday.

To Schedule a Virtual Field Trip

For more information or to schedule a virtual field trip, please email  [email protected] .

Virtual Field Trip Options

Interactive presentations are taught live by an informal education specialist and are approximately 45 minutes in length. Topics are listed below. Custom programs may be offered based on availability.

• Living and Working in Space, Kindergarten – 4th Grade People are living and working in space right now! Participants will discover many of the different ways that scientists, engineers and astronauts have developed to help humans live in space. They will also learn about the parts of an astronaut’s spacesuit and then look at actual food items sent to the International Space Station.  This program has three parts: a series of short videos to watch ahead of time, a live interactive presentation with a question-and-answer session, and optional self-guided activities using common supplies already on hand at home and school.
• How to Build a Satellite, 5th – 8th Grade Building a satellite takes many steps, requires help from a team, and needs creativity and innovation to make things work. Participants will explore the engineering design process and how scientists and engineers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center use it to solve problems. They will also talk about tools and components of a satellite with demonstrations focusing on infrared light.  This program has three parts: a series of short videos to watch ahead of time, a live interactive presentation with a question-and-answer session, and optional self-guided activities using common supplies already on hand at home and school.
• Goddard Overview, 9th Grade – Adult With facilities in Maryland, Virginia, New Mexico, Texas, New York and West Virginia, Goddard is a place where a mission can go from start to finish: from planning to building to testing and even launching. Goddard is also involved in nearly every NASA science mission involving Earth science, planetary science, heliophysics (the study of the Sun and our local space environment) and astrophysics. Participants will receive an overview presentation focused on current missions. This program is lecture-style, with a question-and-answer session and additional self-guided resources.
• Goddard Overview (Career Highlights), 9th – 12th Grade With facilities in Maryland, Virginia, New York, West Virginia, New Mexico, and Texas, Goddard is a place where a mission can go from start to finish: from planning to building to testing and even launching. Goddard is also involved in nearly every NASA science mission involving Earth science, planetary science, heliophysics (the study of the Sun and our local space environment), and astrophysics. Participants will receive an overview presentation focused on current missions that also highlights Goddard staff working on several of the missions that are featured. This program is lecture-style with video interviews interspersed, along with a question-and-answer session and additional self-guided resources.

Virtual Field Trip Eligibility Requirements

• Virtual field trips are available for free to the public.
• Virtual field trips need a minimum of eight participants and a suggested maximum of 50 participants. Exceptions may be made to accommodate large groups. However, groups of more than 50 are encouraged to schedule multiple sessions to allow for higher quality participant and instructor interactions.
• Groups may not charge participants a fee to attend the program.
• Field trip requests should be submitted at least two weeks in advance.

*If your number of school-age participants is outside of our requirement ranges, please contact us to see what options may be available for your group.

*If you would like to request an accommodation to participate in this program (e.g., sign language interpreter, captioning service, reader services, etc.) please contact the GSFC Disability Program Manager, Merechia Davis, in the Equal Opportunity Programs Office at (301) 286-0561 or  [email protected] .

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Virtual Field Trips: Ideas & Examples With Links

By: Angela Robinson | Updated: August 01, 2022

You found our list of the best virtual field trips .

Virtual field trips are class outings that take place online, via platforms like Zoom, Google Street View or websites. While some of these activities consist of pre-recorded tours and videos, the best options tend to involve live video feed and student interaction with guides. Examples activities include digital walks along The Great Wall of China and a scrollable deep sea dive. These activities are also known as “online field trips” and “digital field trips”.

These adventures are an example of online classroom activities and often include virtual tours .

This articles includes:

• interactive virtual field trips
• virtual field trips for students
• the best virtual field trip ideas
• free virtual field trips for kids
• live virtual field trips

Here is the list!

List of virtual field trip ideas

From virtual cockpit tours to online historical sites to do-it-yourself options, here is a list of ideas for virtual field trips to captivate and educate students.

1. Online Zoo (Behind the Scenes)

A digital zoo tour is one of the best virtual field trips for kids. While virtual trips may not let students see otters float, elephants play, and lions strut up close, a digital tour allows for more intimate behind-the-scenes access.

Your class can get close with the animals and walk paths usually reserved for zookeepers. While you may not be able to fit 30 squirming first graders into a baby animal nursery or an operating room, the guide can easily broadcast from these venues. Also, since the visit takes place entirely online, you can visit a zoo that is otherwise far from you.

Here is a starter list:

• San Antonio Zoo
• San Diego Zoo
• Cincinnati Zoo (self-guided tours, livestream safari and feeding times)

Many other zoos stream live animal webcams that you and your class can watch. You can also contact your local zoo directly to inquire about facilitated virtual tours and school group discounts.

During the online visit, your students can ask questions using the hand raising or chat features in the video conferencing platform. Once your tour concludes, your students can enjoy thematic snacks such as zebra cakes, goldfish, and of course, animal crackers.

Check our more virtual zoo tours .

2. Virtual Safari

When you do a virtual safari, your students can observe lions, elephants and other animals in their natural habitat. Wild Earth offers twice daily live safaris. Since the broadcast occurs on African time, your best bet is to tune in for the sunset safari, which live streams from 9:00am to 12:30pm Eastern Standard Time. The safari broadcasts from several nature reserves and features animals such as lions, leopards, cheetahs, and hyenas. During the tour, viewers can ask park rangers questions. The unscripted nature of the broadcast lends an element of excitement, since animal sightings are always a surprise.

Learn more at Wild Earth .

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3. Under the Sea Visit

Unless you are secretly Miss Frizzle from The Magic Schoolbus, you cannot whisk your class to the bottom of the ocean in a submarine. However, you can lead your students on an online field trip of the ocean.

The Deep Sea by Neal Agarwal shows all sorts of marine life in the ocean. Viewers can scroll deeper into the ocean, discovering the animals that dwell at each depth. For a fun pre-tour exercise, distribute a handout with the names of various species and challenge students to guess at which depth the creature lives. Then, check answers as you plunge further down into the ocean.

Journey to The Deep Sea .

4. Aquarium Webcam Livestream

The Monterey Bay Aquarium hosts live cams for animals, including sea otters, penguins, jellyfish, and sharks. Aquarium employees narrate during feeding time, so for maximum engagement consider tuning in during mealtimes. The aquarium website also offers free online classes for ages ranging from kindergarten to high school, resources for teachers, and crafts and printables.

Dive into the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s live webcams .

5. Virtual Tour of the Great Wall of China

Your students can trek the Great Wall of China from the comfort of home. For $15, The China Guide offers a guided tour through high resolution images of the Great Wall of China via Zoom. Your students can also take part in question and answer sessions with an expert and have an interactive experience.

Stroll the Great Wall of China .

6. NASA Commercial Crew Program

Until recently, space wasn’t on the list of field trip destinations. NASA decided to teleport students directly to space camp by curating a virtual field trip that highlights its commercial crew program. Teachers can transmit a series of educational videos onto virtual reality sets to create an immersive experience. The tour guide leads virtual visitors through spaceship crew pits and launching pads while explaining the process of becoming an astronaut. The tour puts a heavy emphasis on STEM education and directs teachers to resources useful for supplementary science and math lessons.

Learn more about NASA’s at-home STEM activities .

7. Disney Parks Digital Tour

Most children dream of the day the teacher announces a field trip to Disney World. While students may not be able to ride teacups or roller coasters during a digital tour of Disney, they can still experience the excitement of the happiest place on earth by touring a high resolution Google Street view of the parks.

Students who have not yet visited Disney can see what the park is like, and those that have visited can point out sites and share stories. You can also include Disney history and lessons on the inspirations behind the attractions to make the tour more educational. Consider serving Disney themed snacks during breaks, and perhaps initiating a singalong during a music lesson. With the money you save on transportation and admission, you could even hire a beloved Disney character to pay the class a visit.

Learn more about Disney Parks Digital Tour .

8. Streaming Broadway Shows

Instead of escorting your students to a Broadway show, summon a Broadway stage to your classroom. Broadway HD has a library of hundreds of productions, including rare and obscure shows. While not in real time, most filmed productions on the site are of live shows. Your students can uncover hard to find productions and learn about American theatre history too. Broadway HD offers a one week free trial, as well as monthly and yearly subscription options.

Watch a Broadway show .

9. Virtual Reality Rainforest Tour

Even if you had the budget to fly your class to the Amazon, a real-life tour would be too risky for a field trip. A virtual tour lets students experience panoramic views of lush rain forests while learning about indigenous communities and conservation efforts. The tour is viewable as an immersive experience via virtual reality devices, or as a 360 degree video on regular devices. By participating in the Under the Canopy tour, students come to understand the importance of the rain forest and its connection to human life as a whole.

Embark on a virtual reality rain forest tour .

10. Computerized Cockpit Tours

Livestream cockpit tours make thrilling virtual field trips for high school students. While airline regulations call for restricted cockpit access, you may be able to find a private pilot willing to give your students a Skype tour of the craft. The pilot might even broadcast a quick flight.

If you cannot find a live guide, then the following organizations provide self-guided tours with pilot-perspective views of various aircraft:

• The Naval Aviation Museum
• Experimental Aircraft Association
• National Museum of the USAF
• Museum of Flight

Or, you could download and run a flight simulator that gives students the chance to navigate and land a virtual plane.

11. Living Rooms Around the World

A living room might seem like an odd choice for a virtual field trip, but a living room located across the globe is as fascinating as any other destination. You can plan a tour of foreign homes so that your students can learn how everyday life differs around the world.

If you know individuals in other countries willing to Zoom with your students, then you can reach out to these acquaintances and coordinate your experience directly. If not, then you can contact a foreign exchange program or local university for help. You can also watch the Life Where I’m From channel on YouTube, though live tours with question and answer sessions are more personal and immersive.

You and your students can also check out Dollar Street for a strong visual map of how people live around the world.

12. Virtual Tour of the Louvre

The Louvre is one of the most famous museums in the world, but many people will never visit in person. By taking your class on a virtual tour of the Louvre, you save airfare and time spent waiting in line.

The Louvre offers high resolution, 360 degree tours of various exhibitions on its website. Your class can explore Egyptian antiquities, classic Italian paintings, and the remains of an underground moat, all without leaving the classroom.

The Louvre site also directs visitors towards a downloadable “VR Mona Lisa” app that provides an up close peek at the famous painting, and other video and at-home experiences.

Visit the Louvre .

13. Online Tour of the British Museum

The British Museum’s online Museum of the World exhibit lets visitors view and sort artifacts based on time period, area of origin, and themes such as religion or trade. Each point on the timeline contains pictures, descriptions, an audio file, and links to related objects.

This format lends itself well to a virtual scavenger hunt . Solving an activity helps students focus and remain more engaged, which results in students learning more from the experience.

Explore the British Museum .

14. Digital Tour of the Van Gogh Museum

While the digital tour of the Van Gogh Museum fails to capture the paintings’ texture, it does offer contextual information on the artist’s most famous images such as Almond Blossom and Self-portrait With Grey Felt Hat . This tour also provides background information about Van Gogh’s life, with several narrative timelines.

Check out the Van Gogh Museum .

15. Google Meets Visit to the Guggenheim

The Guggenheim offers an interactive virtual museum experience. Booking a tour gives your class access to a guide for one hour, and your class will view three to five famous works and participate in an ongoing Q&A session. The museum educator facilitates activities that encourage students to engage with the art. All tours take place via Zoom or Google Meet.

Though the museum gears most tours towards grade school, they also hold separate online tours for university students and adults as well.

Book a Virtual Group Visit to the Guggenheim .

16. Computerized Career Days

Career day is a staple of the school experience. Typically, parents and community professionals visit classrooms to talk to students about various jobs. Online, these professionals can actually take students along on the job. Students can go to work with firefighters, underwater welders, cake decorators, farmers, or any other interesting vocations that do not mind taking the kids along.

Career days can be an ongoing series, with a five to 15-minute tour of a different workplace every session. This approach spreads the fun across a larger span of time by hosting a mini field trip every day, instead of condensing all the excitement into a single afternoon.

You can do online career tests too, or plan a virtual take your child to work day .

17. Remote City Tours

Tour guides in many cities offer a verbal history and visual slideshow via software like Zoom and WebEx. Remote city tours are one of the easiest-to-execute virtual field trip ideas. The guides already mapped the path and prepared the presentation; you only need to book the tour and show up with your class.

The crew here at TeamBuilding recently embarked on a virtual tour of Black Broadway in Washington DC and an online Harry Potter tour of Edinburgh, Scotland. Our team thoroughly enjoyed both tours and learned a lot.

18. Online Historical Sites

Many online field trips focus on learning about history. You and your class can visit significant sites all around the world and learn how these locations shaped modern history.

Here is a short list of historical sites with online experiences:

• The Sistine Chapel
• The Taj Mahal
• Ellis Island
• Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
• Gettysburg Battlefield

There are many other historically significant locations you can visit online.

19. DIY Virtual Field Trips

Some schools give students options to vote on the yearly field trip. Since online field trips use minimal time and resources, every student can design a dream trip. Instead of organizing a virtual trip yourself, you can assign the planning to your students. Every participant can design an itinerary by using Google Tour Creator .

Students may choose to explore areas such as the tombs of pharaohs, or the birth cities of American jazz. Your students will become the tour guides and teach peers about the chosen topic.

Most of these virtual field trips are available to anyone, and are free to access, meaning your students can visit or revisit the sites anytime. To make your activity extra special, seek out guide-led, live, interactive experiences so that your students can hold conversations with an expert. You can also supplement the trip with assignments and fun games.

Next, check out our list of games to play on Zoom, this list of Google Meet games , and this one with online art classes .

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FAQ: Virtual field trips

Here are some of the most common questions and answers about virtual field trips.

What are virtual field trips?

Virtual field trips are learning excursions that happen online through video conferencing software, livestream video, or digital map and photograph platforms. For example, a virtual zoo tour or an online visit to the Great Wall of China.

What are good online field trip ideas?

The best online field trips often revolve around experiences that are off-limits or logistically impossible for in-person visits. To keep students interested, these activities should involve interactive elements such as question and answer sessions, games, and special requests.

How do you do a virtual field trip?

The first step in planning virtual field trips is to decide on your venue and activity. You can choose between self-guided tours or live-guided experiences. Typically, live video and interaction makes for a more compelling visit. Once you choose your trip, pick a day and time for your visit and inform the students. You can plan additional activities like research assignments and presentations to enhance your student’s learning. You can also make the day special by providing themed snacks.

Author: Angela Robinson

Marketing Coordinator at teambuilding.com. Angela has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and worked as a community manager with Yelp to plan events for businesses.

That was so cool!! I am a child and I am making these things for my JK sister. This was really helpful. Thank you!!

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Marketing Coordinator at teambuilding.com.

Angela has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and worked as a community manager with Yelp to plan events for businesses.

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44 Captivating Virtual Field Trips to Explore from The Classroom

Virtual field trips are a great alternative to traditional field trips when obstacles such as budget or scheduling prevent in-person experiences. They also provide access to educational opportunities across the globe and throughout history, without the need for fundraising or permission slips.

You can also consider using a virtual field trip as a reward for good behavior for your students. Whatever the case, there are numerous tours and trips that are simply outstanding and captivating.

How do virtual field trips work?

Virtual field trips are a type of digital experience that enables students to explore different places, events, or experiences without having to physically leave their classrooms. These trips use technology to create an interactive and immersive learning environment.

Typically, in order to take part in a virtual field trip, you will need certain tech on hand:

• A computer and ideally as smart whiteboard in class. It’s best if students have their own tablets or computers. But this can be done with one large projector.
• Stable internet connection.
• Speakers for good audio in class. We love and suggest the Anker Soundcore speaker .
• Optional VR headset. Some tours are compatible with VR and provide an immersive experience.

You can use virtual field trips to boost learning outcomes by connecting them with particular lessons, units, or topics in the curriculum. To reinforce the ideas explored throughout the virtual experience, create follow-up activities or assignments.

The best virtual field trips for students

With that out of the way, here are Teach and GO’s top choices for virtual field trips:

The Vatican Museums Virtual Tour

Explore the extensive collection of art at the Vatican Museums and discover iconic sites like the Sistine Chapel. Discover masterpieces from the Renaissance period and take in the beauty of Raphael’s Rooms. You can also visit St. Peter’s Basilica.

Ellis Island Virtual Tour

Explore Ellis Island and discover the immigration procedure and the experiences of those who went through this important entrance to America. Ellis Island is one of the most important sites in American history. It was the main port of entry for millions of immigrants from 1892 to 1954.

Machu Picchu Virtual Tour

Explore Machu Picchu, the ancient Inca city nestled in the Andes Mountains of Peru, through a virtual hike. Begin with a scenic hike to the Sun Gate, where you will get an unforgettable view of Machu Picchu from the top.

The National Gallery of Art Virtual Tour

You should visit the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. There you can discover a wide range of art pieces, including paintings, sculptures, and other works of art. The museum features both permanent and temporary exhibitions, offering visitors the chance to learn about a variety of artists, cultures, and time periods.

Anne Frank House Virtual Tour

Explore the secret annex where Anne Frank and her family concealed themselves during World War II and gain understanding of their experiences. Take a tour of the museum, then view original artifacts from Anne’s time in hiding. Learn about her journaling and other writings.

The Great Barrier Reef Virtual Tour

Explore the vibrant marine life and ecological importance of the Great Barrier Reef, which is the world’s largest coral reef system. Dive in to find out more of the spectacular array of coral and marine life in this diverse and vibrant ecosystem.

Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Virtual Tour

Visit the Museum of Modern Art to see their extensive collection of modern and contemporary art, which includes pieces by well-known artists. From there, take a stroll through Central Park to appreciate its lush greenery and peaceful atmosphere.

Acropolis Museum Virtual Tour

You can explore ancient artifacts and sculptures from the Acropolis site by visiting the Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece. The museum features a variety of exhibits ranging from ancient Greek culture to the modern era.

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Virtual Tour

Take a virtual tour of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum and discover the fascinating world of aviation and space exploration. Explore the incredible history of aviation and space exploration through interactive exhibits, hands-on activities, educational resources, and 3D models.

The Museum of Natural History Virtual Tour

Visit the American Museum of Natural History to see displays featuring dinosaurs, fossils, human evolution, and other subjects. Browse the galleries to learn about cultures and civilizations around the world, from ancient Egypt to modern India.

Palace of Versailles Virtual Tour

Experience a virtual tour of the Palace of Versailles in France, which includes its magnificent gardens and luxurious interiors. Explore the Hall of Mirrors, the Pyramids Room, and other historically significant rooms. Learn about the works of art that are housed in this breathtaking palace.

The National Aquarium Virtual Tour

Experience a virtual tour of the National Aquarium and explore diverse marine life in their natural habitats. Get an up-close look at the many species of fish, sharks, reptiles and amphibians that live under the sea.

National Museum of African American History and Culture Virtual Tour

Visit the Smithsonian museum to discover the exhibits and learn about the history and contributions of African Americans. Explore the National Museum of African American History and Culture, where you can learn about the African American experience through interactive exhibits and displays.

The Colosseum Virtual Tour

Discover the captivating history and impressive architecture of the ancient amphitheater by exploring the Colosseum, an iconic destination in Rome, Italy. Begin your visit with a guided tour inside the Colosseum, where you’ll find information about its construction and bloody past.

Galapagos Islands Virtual Tour

Experience and learn about the distinctive plant and animal life of the Galapagos Islands through interactive virtual activities. From listening to the songs of the endemic Galapagos mockingbird or exploring the archipelago’s unique lava landscapes, you can discover what this beautiful area of the world has to offer.

Galapagos National Park Virtual Tour

Experience the diverse wildlife of the Galápagos Islands by taking a virtual tour through its unique ecosystems. From the mangrove forests of Isabela Island to the dry landscapes of Santiago Island, you can explore each island’s natural habitat.

The National Museum of China Virtual Tour

You should go to the National Museum of China in Beijing to learn about the rich cultural and historical heritage of the country. Explore the various galleries and exhibitions that showcase artifacts from ancient dynasties, and get a glimpse into China’s past.

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum Virtual Tour

Explore the historical events that led to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, as well as its impact on peace and world history. Learn about the complex decisions behind the bombing and its long-term consequences. Discover how this event shaped international relations, nuclear policy, and affected human lives.

Grand Canyon Virtual Tour

Experience a virtual tour of the stunning landscapes of Grand Canyon National Park. Take a journey through the breathtaking views of the canyons, rock formations, and colorful sandstone walls and Explore the fascinating history of this National Park.

The Pyramids of Giza Virtual Tour

Discover the secrets of the pharaohs as you visit the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, one of the world’s oldest wonders. Explore the tombs of kings and queens, admire the unique architecture, and learn about their fascinating history.

California Academy of Sciences Virtual Tour

Explore interactive exhibits about science, nature, and the environment at the California Academy of Sciences. From the four-story rainforest dome to live animal encounters, you can find something to explore for visitors of all ages.

Getty Museum Virtual Tour

You should visit the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California to see their famous collection of art and antiquities. The Getty Museum was founded in 1954 and is one of the largest museums of art in the United States.

The Hermitage Museum Virtual Tour

Visit impressive Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, and appreciate its vast collection of artwork. Admire the works of Italian, Dutch, Spanish and French masters, including Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Dyck, Monet and others.

African Safari Virtual Tour

Experience a virtual safari and observe diverse wildlife. From the comfort of your classroom, you can take a trip to Africa and explore its stunning landscapes.

The Louvre Museum Virtual Tour

Visit the famous Louvre Museum in Paris, France to see its vast collection of art and historical artifacts. Explore the world-famous galleries and see some of the most famous works in history, including the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Michelangelo.

The Great Wall of China Virtual Tour

Experience the breathtaking views and rich history of the iconic Great Wall of China by taking a virtual walk. With so much to take in, your virtual journey will be full of surprises and unforgettable moments.

National Park Virtual Tours

Students can explore the natural wonders and unique ecosystems of national parks such as Yosemite National Park and Yellowstone National Park through virtual tours.

NASA’s Langley Research Center Virtual Tour

Learn about the pioneering aeronautical and aerospace research conducted at NASA’s Langley Research Center. Explore the history of Langley’s groundbreaking achievements in aviation and space exploration, from its earliest days as the first civilian aeronautics research center.

The British Museum Virtual Tour

Explore the extensive assortment of art and artifacts from various civilizations and historical epochs by visiting the British Museum in London, UK.

San Diego Zoo Virtual Field Trips

The San Diego Zoo offers virtual field trips that allow students to watch live animal cams, discover various species, and participate in interactive activities.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Virtual Tour

Explore the extensive collection of artworks spanning various cultures and centuries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, USA through its virtual tour.

The International Space Station Virtual Tour

Explore the International Space Station (ISS) through a virtual tour and discover more about the experiments and daily life of astronauts in space. Learn about the unique opportunities and challenges of living in a microgravity environment through videos, interactive media, and more.

Google Arts & Culture – Perfect for students

Google Arts & Culture allows you to explore virtual tours and exhibits of a variety of museums, historical landmarks, and cultural sites from all around the world. With interactive experiences, videos, and photos, you can explore different cultures and learn more about their history.

In addition to virtual tours and exhibitions, Google Arts & Culture also provides educational materials such as articles, informative videos, and activities for kids to help them engage with the material.

Best virtual tours for students – Conclusion

Virtual tours can provide a great way for students to get an authentic view of what their day-to-day lives may look like in different places around the world. Whether it be a casual look at campus life or something more structured and technical such as science labs, virtual tours have the power to bring the sights and sounds of faraway locations right into your living room.

From national parks to foreign universities to cultural attractions, there’s truly something for everyone. With these amazing websites, you’ll always have access to exciting new adventures from around the globe.

Editorial Staff

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40 Amazing Educational Virtual Field Trips

No permission slips needed.

Virtual field trips are a game changer. Not only do they fill in for real field trips when budgets and other roadblocks prevent in-person options, but virtual field trips also open doors to educational experiences all over the country and the world, both past and present. No fundraising or permission slips required!

(Note: For anyone who needs it, YouTube offers a closed-captioning option. Just click the CC button in the bottom right-hand corner.)

1. Amazon Career Tours

Amazon Career Tours are free virtual field trips that inspire students to pursue careers of the future. Tour whenever, wherever on Kahoot! Each tour comes with a Teacher Toolkit that includes a facilitation guide and student worksheets.

• (New!) Amazon Music: Careers Behind the Beats : From studio to streaming, check out how computer science and amazing professionals make listening to your favorite songs possible.
• Amazon Fulfillment Center Tour : Explore how packages get delivered at lightning speed and how computer science, engineering, and real people work together to make the magic happen. 
• Data Center Tour 1: Uncovering Cloud Computing : Do students know what “the cloud” actually is? Find out how we went from renting movies at the store to streaming them from anywhere at any time.
• Data Center Tour 2: Keeping Data Safe and Sustainable : Discover the infrastructure that keeps your information safe and sustainable while diving into data careers of the future.
• Space Innovation Tour : Students will learn about the amazing technology on board the Orion spacecraft in NASA’s Artemis I flight test and hear from the engineers who made it all possible.

There are so many amazing online options when it comes to zoos that we couldn’t narrow it down to just one. Most zoos have live webcams in some of their most popular exhibits, such as the KC Zoo Polar Bear Cam and the Giant Panda Cam at Smithsonian’s National Zoo . However, some zoos offer a more in-depth look. You’ll definitely want to check out the San Diego Zoo as their site for kids includes behind-the-scenes videos and stories, as well as a variety of printable activities and online games. Check out our full list of virtual zoo goodness.

3. The Aquarium

It’s a similar story with aquariums. You have your pick of live webcams, but our favorites are the Georgia Aquarium’s Ocean Voyager webcam (wait for the whale shark!) and the “Jelly Cam” at Monterey Bay Aquarium (so soothing). The Seattle Aquarium even has a 30-minute video tour . Want more under-the-sea fun? Here’s our ultimate list of virtual aquarium field trips.

4. The Farm

The classic preschool field trip goes online! You can have your pick of dairy farm field trips, but we like this one from the Dairy Alliance  and this one from Stonyfield Organic . Farm Food 360 gives students the opportunity to immerse themselves in Canadian farm and food tours—from raising pigs to making milk and cheese. We’re also loving these virtual egg farm field trips from the American Egg Board.

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5. An Art Museum

We found 20 art museums with virtual tours , including the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s # MetKids and its awesome Where’s Waldo? setup. And you can’t miss the world-famous Louvre in Paris (no passport needed!). Check out the current virtual tours: Traveling Materials and Objects, the Advent of the Artist, the Body in Movement, and Founding Myths: From Hercules to Darth Vader!

6. A National Park

From webcams at Hawaii volcanoes to a virtual run along the rim of the Grand Canyon , you have tons of options here. Our top pick would have to be Yellowstone. The interactive maps are a great way to see the Mammoth Hot Springs and Mud Volcano, but we think kids will be psyched about the Old Faithful Geyser livestream and the opportunity to make their own predictions for its next eruption . Check out everything the National Park Service has to offer virtually.

7. A Planetarium

Through Stellarium Web , kids can explore over 60,000 stars, locate planets, and watch sunrises and solar eclipses. If you enter your location, you can see all the constellations that are visible in the night sky in your corner of the world.

8. A Recycling Center

Take your students on a virtual field trip of a recycling center and a modern landfill . Plus, there’s a full-on curriculum that includes lesson plans, take-home handouts, and more.

9. Slime in Space

Nickelodeon teamed up with two astronauts on the International Space Station to demonstrate how slime reacts to microgravity and had kids reproduce those same demonstrations back here on Earth. It makes for an amazing 15-minute virtual field trip .

10. Nature Lab

The Nature Conservancy has a brand-new virtual field trip entitled “You’re the Scientist! Citizen Science, Frogs & Cicadas.” Check out their full library of videos on topics like climate change and water security.

11. Discovery Education

Discovery Education hosts a variety of virtual events —each with a companion guide with hands-on learning activities. Current offerings include “Making a New Life: The Courage of a Refugee” and “The Future Is Now” (architectural and engineering innovations). Stay tuned for their upcoming civics virtual field trip, “The American Ideal.”

12. The Great Lakes

This virtual field trip from Great Lakes Now has three components: coastal wetlands, algae, and lake sturgeon. Each video is a quick five minutes long.

13. The Strong National Museum of Play

Explore online exhibits and discover the history and evolution of play. Check out board games that changed play, sports video games that shaped digital play, and the making of Monopoly to name a few.

14. U.S. Census Bureau

Kids can learn about the most recent Census and how census data is collected and used. This virtual field trip also features interviews with subject matter experts and an interactive challenge.

15. National Constitution Center

The “Museum of We the People,” the Constitution Center serves as a “headquarters for civic education.” Check out the Interactive Constitution section , and be sure to watch the virtual tour .

16. The Johnson Space Center

Houston, we have a virtual field trip. Three, actually. All with companion educator guides. The star of the show is the behind-the-scenes tour of the Johnson Space Center .

17. Birthplace of Music

Boise State put together this fully interactive virtual field trip with text, photos, audio, and video about the history of music. The four featured music locations are: Vienna, Austria; New Orleans, Louisiana; Cleveland, Ohio; and Bristol, Tennessee-Virginia.

18. Colonial Williamsburg

This living-history museum provides a look into life in an early American community. The website offers five different webcams featuring areas such as the tavern and the armory.

19. Mount Vernon

This virtual experience of George Washington’s home is incredibly well done. Enter the different buildings—from the opulent mansion to the chilling slave quarters—and click on different items for video and text explanations.

20. Mount Rushmore

This virtual tour comes with a real tour guide! Blaine Kortemeyer is the Assistant Chief of Interpretation and Education, who lends his expertise on the building of this national monument. The 3D Explorer is also an excellent tool.

21. The Manhattan Project

Take a visit to the National WWII Museum for “a cross-country virtual expedition to discover the science, sites, and stories of the creation of the atomic bomb.” Don’t forget to download the classroom guide!

22. The White House

For a look inside the iconic building, check out the 360° tour of some of the most historic rooms of the People’s House, from the Situation Room to the Oval Office. Examine each room and check out the contents up close.

23. The Smithsonian

The National Museum of Natural History’s virtual experiences are self-guided, room-by-room tours of permanent, current, and past exhibits. Be sure to send kids to the second floor Bone Hall so they can take a look at all different kinds of skeletons.

24. Google Arts & Culture

A collaboration with over 1,200 leading museums and archives, Google Arts & Culture is an incredible storehouse of monumental works of art. We recommend the Street View and Play sections.

25. 360 Cities

Boasting the world’s largest collection of 360° image videos, 360 Cities provides kids with the opportunity to see stunning panoramas across the globe, including their video of the ice floe on the Vistula River in Poland.

26. Buckingham Palace

It’s the official residence of the Queen of England, and boy, is it opulent! Get a peek inside the gorgeous Grand Staircase, White Drawing Room, Throne Room, and Blue Drawing Room.

27. The Great Wall of China

See one of the wonders of the world with this amazing, thousands-year-old fortification system known the world over. This virtual tour has four scenes available (you have to pay to get access to all 14). The bird’s-eye view of Mutianyu pass is a highlight.

28. Easter Island

Most of us recognize the giant stone statues of Easter Island, but what’s the story behind them? Nova’s online adventure “Secrets of Easter Island” delves into the mystery with a virtual tour.

29. Son Doong Cave

National Geographic lets you explore the world’s largest cave, located in Vietnam. Use the interactive map to enjoy the fully immersive experience (sound on!).

30. Ancient Egypt

You don’t need a time machine! Discovering Ancient Egypt has a ton of free resources, but it’s the interactive pyramid map and 3D temple reconstructions that really give it a field trip feel.

31. Back Through Time

Virtually visit Turn Back the Clock , a museum exhibit that ran for two years at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago. Through compelling personal stories, innovative interactive media, and pop culture artifacts, the exhibit takes guests through seven decades of history—from the dawn of the nuclear age to significant policy questions our leaders face today.

No, really! You can absolutely “go” to the red planet. With Access Mars , you can see the actual surface of Mars, recorded by NASA’s Curiosity rover. Trust us—don’t skip the intro. And if your kids liked that, check out this 4K tour of the moon . These may go down in history as some of the best virtual field trips your students get to experience.

33. The Battleship New Jersey

Take a virtual tour of this historical battleship located on the Camden waterfront. This battleship has traveled more miles than any other!

34. The Vatican

No need to travel to Rome! Take in the amazing art and architecture located in the Vatican Museums with these 360-degree views.

35. Space Center Houston

Download the app and climb aboard the virtual tram line! Take a virtual walk through the Space Center Houston with informational stops along the way.

36. The Louvre

Virtually visit museum rooms in the famous Louvre located in Paris. Even check out The Louvre kids’ site for student-friendly galleries and stories. You can’t visit The Louvre without seeing the Mona Lisa , so check out their immersive Mona Lisa experience available in the app store.

37. Ellis Island

This interactive tour of Ellis Island lets students explore places like the Baggage Room and the Stairs of Separation through short stories, historical photographs, videos, and audio clips. Students can also hear the stories of real kids who recently immigrated to the United States, explore colorful charts and graphs with immigration data, and watch a 30-minute movie that includes a Q&A with National Park Service Rangers who explain what coming to America was like for many immigrants.

38. Plimoth Patuxet Museums

Travel back to the 17th century with options for free, on-demand, digital resources or a live, 1-hour virtual school program led by a Plimoth Patuxet Contemporary Indigenous Museum Educator. Students explore Wampanoag daily life and history; discover the real history of Thanksgiving and the legend behind it; meet a 17th-century Pilgrim; get an interactive sneak peak into 17th-century wardrobes; and learn about simple machines and water power at the Plimoth Grist Mill. There are also options for virtual hands-on history workshops, including Wampanoag Pottery and Write Like a Pilgrim.

39. Children’s Museum Houston

When you can’t visit the museum in person, 3D virtual field trips to the Children’s Museum Houston are the next best thing. All videos are produced and curated by museum educators and feature hands-on activities that can be done in the classroom. Topics include nutrition, math, states of matter, forces and properties of water, and more.

40. Museum of the American Revolution

Beyond the Battle Field is a virtual field trip for grades 2-8 hosted by Lauren Tarshis, author of the I Survived historical-fiction series for kids. Students will meet a museum educator as well as the museum curator, and explore artifacts and documents from the American Revolution. Plus they’ll hear the stories of teens who served during the war. There’s also a Classroom Kit available with a vocabulary list and discussion questions by grade level.

If you liked this roundup of the best virtual field trips and want more resources like this, be sure to  subscribe to our newsletters.

Plus, check out the best field trip ideas for every age and interest (virtual options too) ..

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68 Best Virtual Field Trips for Kids

In the Classroom

Here you will find a list of the best virtual field trips for kids, ranging from preschool and kindergarten to elementary aged children.

These virtual field trips for kids will leave your kiddos learning about animals, history, community helpers, space, national parks, sports arenas, and farms all over the world! The interactive tour with live webcams are a great way to give the kids a closer look at outer space, an animals natural habitat, and our natural world.

Whether for homeschool, preK, kindergarten, first grade, or second grade, you can quickly find great virtual field trips below with the easy-to-find categories. If you’re looking for a middle school and high school appropriate virtual reality field trip, there will be a few to choose from. Otherwise, these are geared towards the younger children. Can’t find what you are looking for? Leave a comment at the end of the post, and I will gladly search for a fun virtual field trip for kids.

Free Virtual Field Trips Zoo and Animals

• San Diego Zoo : Live animal cameras and instructional activities
• Butterfly Garden : Learn all about butterlies with this 9 minute video of the most beautiful butterfly habitats in the world.
• Animal Shelter : This 8 minute video shows the Kidvision kids learning about the animal shelter and how to adopt a pet
• Emerald Hills Animal Hospital
• Dinosaur Exhibit
• Conservation Biology Institute and the Smithsonian’s National Zoo

The Best Virtual Field Trips to a Farm

During the Fall, most elementary grades take a field trip to a farm. The most popular guided tour school groups are animal farms, apple orchards, and pumpkin patches. Below are virtual field trip experiences your kids will love!

• Dairy Farm : Complete with a downloadable companion activity to get your kids prepared for the virtual field trip of a dairy farm.
• Animal Farm
• Condee Horse Farm:  Meet Shorty in this 8 minute virtual tour of a horse farm.
• Dutch Hollow Farm : 50 minute tour of a dairy farm
• Tailview Farm : A 47 minute tour of the Tailview Farm recorded in 2020
• Bonnie Plants : Home Depot takes kids on a multi-part virtual field trips to see gardens and plants
• Egg Farm Field Trip

Virtual Field Trips Aquarium

• Seattle Aquarium
• Monterey Bay Aquarium Live Cam
• Mystic Aquarium
• National Aquarium

Community Helpers Virtual Field Trips for Kids

Most elementary social studies curriculum integrates community helpers! These virtual tours will support your lessons by offering an interactive experience.

• Ft. Lauderdale Children’s Theater
• Airport : Sit in a cockpit, learn how to fuel a helicopter, and visit an airplane museum
• Construction Site
• Bank : Visit the SunTrust Bank with the KidVision kids
• Television Station : An 8 minute video touring a TV studio with Penny. Learn about green screens, sound and audio boards, and much more.
• Recycling Center : Here’s an 8 minute video touring a recycling center
• Library : Learn about putting books in alphabetical order, how to check out your favorite books, and all the other fun parts of a library.
• Post Office : Learn how to mail a letter
• Fire Station
• Whole Foods Grocery Store
• Police Station
• Boston Children’s Museum

Virtual Field Trips to Food and Candy Shops

• Ice Cream Parlor : Visit Jaxson’s Ice Cream Parlor and learn how to order from a menu, choose your favorite toppings, and more sweet fun!
• Chocolate Factory : Take this fun tour with the KidVision kids and Ms. Penny to see how chocolate is made – from the bean to the candy
• How M&Ms are made
• Bakery:  A 7 minute video that will take you to a bakeshop and show how cupcakes are made

Virtual Field Trip to Space

The live videos of space exploration are excellent educational activities.

• Visit the Moon : This 23 minute video will take you on a NASA virtual field trip to the moon.
• Kennedy Space Center
• Virtual Tour of Mars (Access Mars)
• Slime in Space
• Google Earth interactive map to get the google street view of any location in the world, such as the Great Lakes, the Liberty Bell, Mexico City, New York City, or the beautiful Yosemite National Park.
• International Space Station

Virtual Field Trips for Learning History

• Pilgrim Life:  Learn about games and chores of pilgrim children in the 1620s
• George Washington’s Mount Vernon
• White House : Take a virtual tour of the white house
• Statue of Liberty
• Railroad Museum : Learn about railroad safety in this 5 minute video by Kid Vision
• Smithsonian National Museum of History :  Click to see different areas of the museum as you and the kids walk through this virtual tour.
• Great Wall of China : Although the history behind this extraordinary exhibit is beyond early childhood curriculum, the kids will love the 360-degree view. This virtual tour of the great wall of china would be great when teaching different cultures.
• Mount Rushmore
• Plimoth Plantation: Perfect for your Thanksgiving activities and lessons for kids
• Empire State Building Live Cam
• Ellis Island

Amazing National Parks Virtual Tours

• Yellowstone National Park
• Grand Canyon
• Amazon Rainforest
• African Safari in Etosha

Sports Virtual Field Trips

• Baseball Stadium : This 6 minute video will take you on a virtual field trip to a Baseball Stadium. Meet the team mascot, throw a pitch, and much more.
• Bowling Alley:  Join the kids as they go to a bowling alley, learn how to pick out the right ball, and have fun with some strikes!
• Play 60 Football Stadium Virtual Field Trip for Kids

Virtual Field Trips to Oceans

• Hawaii : Learn about Hawaiian art, music, and dance.
• Artic : Explore the arctic for kids and learn about arctic animals and climates
• Coral Reef : See sea turtles, octopus, eels, and more as you explore the coral reef.

Virtual Field Trips to Kids Museum

• Children’s Museum of Atlanta : This was rated amongst the top world-famous museum choices for kids
• Explore STEM and STEAM projects at the National Children’s Museum

I hope you’ve enjoyed this collection of these best places for virtual field trips for kids. Be sure to bookmark this page, so you can easily access it throughout the year. If you’d like to join the Little Learning Corner email crew, sign up HERE to get something new, fun, and helpful every week!

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• By: Samiha Nawar Tarin Last updated on: May 13, 2024 9 mins read

12 Benefits of Virtual Field Trips Every Educator Should Know

Virtual field trips are the smartest way to bring the world to your students without the cost & hassle of arranging a field trip.

Many of your learners would never have the opportunity to go to interesting places outside of your native city.

And there would be hundreds of obstacles you will face if you plan out-of-capacity field trips.

Virtual field trips can provide opportunities and experiences that many of your students might always dream of.

Not just saving you from field trip costs and hassle or just fulfilling your tour dreams, another benefit of virtual field trips for teachers like you is that the teaching experience is relaxing and enjoyable.

Let’s go through the benefits of virtual field trips with some great benefits you can get by using it as one of your lesson plans.

Why should educators use virtual field trips in the classroom?

Not just mere words, let me show you some proven data from research.com that indicates how effective field trips are in terms of increasing your student’s knowledge base.

See how good student feels as they are rating “virtual field trips” really high :

Not only about feeling amazing, most of the students learn more properly when the process goes with the term “ Learn with fun”

The neurologist Judy Willis demonstrated how enjoyable experiences increase the levels of dopamine and endorphins in our brains.

Dopamine, known as the “ feel-good hormone ,” can make learning feel pleasurable and rewarding. These hormones play a crucial role in effective learning.

Now I am going to going to explain the benefits in five categories :

Learning Benefits of Virtual Field Trips

Let’s go through 3 learning benefits of virtual field trips now:

1. Self-perception of learning

Virtual Field Trips are full of learning potential .

Even though virtual field trips can’t take your students to different places physically, they can make learning more engaging and hands-on.

When done well, virtual field trips can make students feel like they are there, teach them new things, and get them excited about the topic.

Virtual field trips allow students to customize and adjust the experience to fit their personal needs and preferred way of learning. For example, students can often pause the virtual activities or go through them at their speed.

You can read this research paper on the learning impact of VFT to get a deeper knowledge of how impactful learning VFT can bring to your classroom.

2. Helpful in K-12 education

After looking at many different research studies, scientists at the University of Sao Paulo found proof that virtual field trips can help teach students from kindergarten through 12th grade.

They found multiple studies where using virtual reality headsets for virtual education trips helped students learn better.

The researchers found educational VR provided significant benefits beyond just engagement. It led to improved skills-based learning outcomes as well as better knowledge recall and comprehension compared to non-VR settings.

3. Exposure to Experts

With pre-recorded virtual field trips, your students have discussions and interviews with subject matter experts.

Students are often excited to have the opportunity to talk directly with the explorer. If you can manage video conferencing on your field trip with platforms like Skype or social media channels, your students can post their queries and receive real-time responses from the experts.

Here the benefit of virtual field trips for students is that it’s a small step towards active learning. 

Your students can see a place with their own eyes and ask questions to an expert who has been there and experienced it. 

Your students are far more likely to remember a topic when they can find the opportunity to engage, participate, and experience it themselves.

Engagement Benefits of Virtual Field Trips

We know what you are thinking!- My students will only look at a screen, where and how engagement between your students will come?

Here’s your answers :

4. Engage Student’s Senses More

Instead of just listening to a teacher talk, virtual trips can allow your students to see realistic visuals, hear sounds, and even interact using hand motions or controllers.

For example, on a virtual trip to the rainforest, students might see vivid 360-degree videos of the dense foliage and bright colors. They could hear the sounds of birds squawking and monkeys howling.

5. Embodied Interaction Increases Student Engagement

The researchers discovered that being able to interact and experience things is extremely important for keeping students engaged. This kind of interaction is called embodied interaction.

When students can use multiple senses and truly interact with the learning material, they tend to be more excited about and involved in their learning process.

We all know how boring it can be to just sit and listen to a lecture without any way to participate meaningfully.

Accessibility Benefits of Virtual Field Trips

Virtual field tours break down barriers and below I listed down some accessibility opportunities that Virtual Field Trip open up :

6. Students with mobility restrictions

Virtual field trips allow students who have difficulty moving around or traveling to still experience going on a field trip.

They can join from wherever they are without needing to physically go to a new place. This is a great benefit of virtual field trips for students who are always on the go.

7. Students who are immunocompromised

For students whose bodies have a hard time fighting off illnesses, virtual trips are safer and easier than physical ones. You can avoid risking your differently able students getting exposed to germs or catching something by traveling.

8. Students can access it from anywhere

No matter where your student lives or what their situation is, they can take part in a virtual field trip.

As long as they have a computer or device with internet, they can virtually go on a trip from their home, school, hospital, or anywhere else.

So, VFT is a great way to get fewer empty seats in your classrooms.

Collaboration Benefits of Virtual Field Trips

V irtual field trips share a sense of community collaboration. Now let’s go through some collaboration benefits of VFT :

9. Expanding Geographically

Virtual field trips allow your students and you to explore places and connect with people from all around the world, without having to travel there physically.

They can virtually visit museums, historical sites, national parks, and even other countries or cities that would normally be too far away or too expensive to go to in real life.

This expands the learning experience beyond the local geography and community, opening up opportunities to learn about diverse cultures, environments, and perspectives from a much broader geographic scope.

10. Share And Adapt the same virtual resources

Virtual engagement and remote collaboration can indeed help you to facilitate a spaced, interleaved, and practice-oriented approach to deep learning. Your students can share virtual resources among themselves which will increase their soft skills of collaboration and teamwork.

Financial Benefits of Virtual Field Trips

11. cost effectiveness.

Virtual engagements obviously eliminate the need for travel, which is a big bang savings. This is one of the big benefit of virtual field trips for teachers.

Also, you can play role a in saving the environment by reducing carbon emissions from flights and road transportation of physical field trips.

VFGs can potentially cut off some of the issues that physical field trips can create.

Traditional field trips principally those of an international nature have several disadvantages. Because of the costs often many students cannot afford to participate.

Also, There may be gendered issues, cultural and language barriers, logistical issues, security issues, and problems in creating accurate risk assessments without prior visits by staff (Ternan, Charlkley, & Elmes, 1999 ).

Last But Not Least Benefits of Virtual Field Trips

12. simplifying teacher experience.

For teachers like you, organizing a traditional in-person field trip can be very complicated and stressful.

You need to plan transportation, lunches, chaperones, and permission slips, and juggle their regular teaching schedule around the trip day.

With virtual field trips, these kinds of hassles go away. You don’t have to worry about buses, packing meals, or finding enough parent volunteers.

You can schedule the virtual trip anytime that works best for their class schedule.

You can offer more to students while putting in less effort.

Creating your own VFT

To create a virtual field trip for your students, First research well for the type of content your students are mostly attracted to.

Then start making your virtual trips. Here are a few things you’ll need:

First, you’ll need cameras to capture 360-degree photos or video footage of the places you want to virtually visit.

Next, you’ll need software that allows you to stitch those 360 photos/videos together into a seamless, immersive virtual tour experience.

WPVR offers an easy-to-use interface that allows you to create virtual tours rapidly, even if you don’t have any prior experience or expertise. You can put together a basic virtual tour in under 5 minutes!

If you need assistance, WPVR provides helpful resources like YouTube videos & documentation for setting up and using it properly.

Become an Innovative Education Leader

With virtual field trips, you can provide your students with something better than dull regular classes.

Also, in this fast-paced growing world, you need to take some extra steps to teach our students more than traditional teachers do.

To research well and pick the content idea, you can go through the Discovery Education portal . then just plan your trip and then use a reliable tool like WPVR to help you make your virtual field trips.

Frequently Asked Questions

Faq1. what is a field trip as a teaching strategy.

-A field trip is an educational activity where students visit a location outside the classroom to observe, experience, and learn about something first-hand, enabling experiential and hands-on learning.

FAQ2. What is the advantage of the field method?

-The field method allows direct experience, real-world context, increased motivation and engagement, skill development, and interdisciplinary learning by conducting research or observations in authentic settings.

FAQ3. How successful are virtual tours?

-Virtual tours have proven to be a successful educational tool, offering advantages like accessibility, safety, cost-effectiveness, flexibility, and engagement. While not a complete replacement for physical visits, they provide a valuable complement or alternative to traditional field trips.

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Virtual Field Trips

If a trip on the Marine Science Floating Lab is not possible, students can still explore the world of the ocean with our Virtual Field Trips . Without leaving the classroom, students can see what lives in the ocean and discover why it is important for all of us to take care of the marine environment.

Each Virtual Field Trip focuses on one of the activities that students participate in when they are on board the Floating Lab, which has been operating since 1974 through the Los Angeles County Office of Education.

Each Virtual Field Trip contains:

• a video – Each activity video is approximately 13 minutes long, but using the built-in pauses will extend the length and allow students to interact with the content.
• student worksheets – Handouts have students record and analyze data from the onboard experiments and identify the marine organisms they see.
• post-video activities – One or more activities can expand the content of the Virtual Field Trip video.

Register or Login for Free Access to All

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Teacher Instructions

The Teacher Instructions provide guidelines for presenting the Virtual Field Trip videos and indicate alignment with the Next Generation Science Standards.

Introduction and Wildlife Observation

Get an overview of the Floating Lab activities with this brief 5-minute video for both teachers and students. As the boat motors through the harbor, students can look for and record the various marine wildlife encountered.

Plankton, the base of the food chain, is collected and then viewed under an optical microscope. Students learn about and identify phytoplankton and zooplankton and discover plankton’s importance to the health of our environment.

Fish and Invertebrates

A trawl net is towed behind the boat to collect a representative sample of fish and invertebrates. Students discover the morphology and adaptations of some of the sea creatures brought up in our net.

Bottom Sediment

After a special device “grabs” sediment from the ocean floor, students examine the sediment’s characteristics as well as the organisms that live in this benthic zone of the ocean.

Water Clarity, Color, and Temperature

Using scientific equipment, students measure the clarity, color, and temperature of the water in the harbor. Then they determine why tracking these characteristics is important.

© Think Earth Environmental Education Foundation. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to teachers and other not-for-profit users to download and use the instructional materials and videos. No portion of the videos or other materials may be copied and used for any commercial purposes.

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May 23, 2024

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

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Hospitals see the potential in virtual nursing, but are still learning how to use it

by Sarah Gantz, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Philadelphia-area hospitals are rolling carts outfitted with video screens and virtual cameras into patient rooms with the hope that remote nurses can reduce patients' risk of falling, pulling out tubes, or hurting themselves another way.

One remote nurse can do the work of up to a dozen in-person staffers by watching a bank of cameras stationed in patient rooms , and sometimes interacting with patients via video. Research has found these so-called virtual sitters can help reduce patient falls, because the nurses on the other end of the camera are not moving from room to room, but solely dedicated to watching patients' every move.

But virtual sitters can also introduce their own safety risks: Jefferson Abington Hospital was cited by state inspectors in March for using virtual monitors in behavioral health patient rooms, which hospitals are required to keep free of anything that patients could use to hurt themselves, such as shade pulls, extra bedding, and power cables. Inspectors said that patients could have used the virtual monitors' 8-foot-long power cords to strangle themselves.

Jefferson hospitals follow national guidelines that deem virtual sitters acceptable in behavioral health units, a spokesperson for the 18- hospital system said. Still, Abington administrators removed the carts and assigned staffers to watch the patients, making the incident a teaching moment.

Elsewhere in the region, health systems are also learning through experience how to best use virtual sitters and nurses—technology that rose in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, when hospitals needed to limit interaction and staff were stretched thin.

Penn Medicine nurses have found the effort required to maneuver the bulky equipment sometimes offsets the time that virtual nurses would save for on-the-floor staff. And in South Jersey, Virtua Health is testing whether its virtual nurses can take on more of the duties typically assigned to in-person nurses.

"Everyone is trying to figure out how to use the technology to improve patient care and safety, and we're all learning as we go," said Bill Hanson, Penn's chief medical information officer.

Penn: Hype meets reality

Penn initially hoped mobile virtual sitters would reduce the need to assign staff to one-on-one observation duties, said Ann Huffenberger, a nurse and the director of the Penn Center for Connected Care. Penn has six hospitals, from its flagships in Philadelphia to medical centers in Lancaster and Princeton, and each has 12 virtual sitters.

"Everyone is thinking the technology is going to create such efficiency. We bought into the hype," she said. "It didn't really work out for us in that manner."

Nurses found that patients requiring one-on-one observation weren't a good fit for a virtual sitter. Many of these patients are disoriented or prone to confusion and less likely to take direction from the virtual nurse, whose voice may even leave them more agitated, said Huffenberger.

Patients admitted for behavioral health concerns also get in-person sitters, instead of virtual sitters, because they may act suddenly and endanger themselves. Staff can respond to an alert from the virtual nurse within seconds, she said, "but even in 20 seconds, it might be too late, if they're high risk."

The mobile units are helping to monitor less risky patients who can still benefit from a closer watch.

Virtual sitters work well for patients at risk of falling or trying to remove a wire or tube, but who will follow instructions from a voice coming from the screen, Huffenberger said. For instance, if a patient at risk of falling starts to get out of bed, the virtual nurse could ask them to remain in bed, then call the nurses' station for help.

Huffenberger said Penn is considering transitioning its mobile virtual sitters to wall-mounted screens. Nurses often lose time troubleshooting connectivity problems, tracking down fresh batteries, or simply locating a cart that's not in use.

Installing permanent, wall-mounted virtual sitters has its own logistical challenges. It would require construction in patient rooms that are always in use, and regulatory approval.

Virtua: From sitter to admin work

Virtua Health uses mobile virtual sitters to monitor patients at risk of falling or pulling out service lines. Staff who were spending hours watching just one patient can now take care of multiple patients in the unit, said Catherine Hughes, the New Jersey health system's chief nurse officer.

Now, Virtua is testing whether virtual nurses can take over some of the administrative tasks nurses do, such as interviewing patients when they're admitted, reviewing medications, and giving discharge instructions.

The virtual nursing pilot at Virtua's Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Camden and Willingboro Hospital in Burlington County also makes it possible for family members to virtually attend meetings about discharge or medication instructions that they may otherwise miss, Hughes said.

Through the pilot, Virtua learned that clearly explaining the virtual monitors to patients is critical. Once families learned they could ask questions through the virtual nurse, they were less likely to call the nurse station and reported feeling more involved in their family member's care.

Jefferson: Virtual knocks and other tweaks

Jefferson has also found that its virtual nursing program works best when patients and families feel connected to the nurse at the other end of the camera.

When Abington Hospital tested out a new virtual nurse program last year, the health system found that small tweaks to the technology made patients more comfortable. The cameras were programmed to turn toward the wall when not in use, so patients wouldn't wonder whether it was constantly watching them. And instead of just flashing on without notice, programmers added a "virtual knock," similar to a provider knocking on the door before entering.

Jefferson plans to extend the program to more of its hospitals this year.

Such expansion will help patients at Jefferson's smaller hospitals to access specialists without being transferred to another hospital in the system, said Colleen Mallozzi, a senior vice president and chief nurse informatics officer at Jefferson.

Jefferson's hospitals also use virtual sitters—the mobile carts with screens that can be used to monitor patients remotely—but they don't help with medications, check-ins, or discharge.

The incident at Abington Hospital has been a reminder that each patient's needs are different, and the best way to keep each safe may vary, Mallozzi said. Behavioral health patients, in particular, may have complex mental and physical health needs.

"What we're finding is there's no replacement for the humans where the humans are needed," she said.

2024 The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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