Risinger, C. Frederick. “Using Online Field Trips and Tours in Social Studies.” (2010)

While not focusing directly on art, music, or literature, classroom teachers, students, and supervisors can find many virtual tours of museum offices, and agencies that do have art content. The use of virtual tours can be extremely effective--whether used as an entire classroom experience (such as the teacher guiding students through a tour using a computer projector), or as a separate assignment where the students do the tour on their own. Many teachers also use virtual tours for individual and group projects. Students go on their own virtual tours and report back to small groups or write an evaluative essay about the tour. In this article, the author presents websites that contain lists of online “virtual” field trips to art museums around the world. The sites allow teachers or students to choose which “trips” they want to assign or take--either as a whole class activity or as individual assignments. The author recommends that teachers check out the sites and develop a list to submit to their students.