Hundreds of students from The Arnewood School were taking on a virtual trip around the world and universe, thanks to Google Expeditions cardboad viewers.
Hundreds of New Forest school students were whisked away to the Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu and even the solar system – and all without leaving the classroom.
This virtual trip around the universe was made possible when Google paid a special visit to The Arnewood School in New Milton.
The internet giants were in the school as part of its Google Expeditions tour, where it is aiming to take a million children around the world through its virtual cardboard viewers.
And more than 400 Arnewood students took part in this memorable event.
All year 7s visited volcanoes from around the world, while year 8s covered the Antarctica, the solar system and the seven new wonders of the world.
Students also ‘swam’ under water with sharks, saw the breath taking beauty of the northern lights and went down under to Australia.
And the sixth form also participated and they were given the chance to explore the Big Apple when they ‘visited’ New York.
Headteacher, Nigel Pressnell, said: “This was a fantastic experience for our students to see how technology can take us to places we have never been before.
“Although virtual reality can never replace the same real world experience, this is still an amazing tool to bring remote places to life without having to leave the classroom.
“Advances in technology can really boost learning and I’m grateful to Google for introducing this to our school.”
Google Expeditions enables teachers to take their classes on virtual field trips, immersing students in experiences that bring abstract concepts to life and giving students a deeper understanding of the world beyond the classroom.
A box is provided that gives schools the tools needed to travel: a tablet for the teacher and cardboard viewers and phones for every student.
The teacher selects a destination and then the entire classroom jumps there automatically just by looking through the cardboard viewers.
Several organisations have contributed to developing the programme, including the Wildlife Conservation Society, PBS, American Museum of Natural History, the Planetary Society and the Palace of Versailles.
The trips are all collections of virtual reality panoramas using 360° photo spheres, 3D images and video and ambient sounds.
They are annotated with details, points of interest, and questions that make the trips easy to integrate into the curriculum already used in schools.
Year 7 student, Gabriele Jeruseviciute, said: “I really enjoyed the Google Expedition as we got to learn about volcanos by going on a virtual trip, which was really fun.
“We looked at the different types of volcanoes, how they were formed and how they erupt. The whole class really enjoyed it and found the experience really interesting.”
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