Building Virtual Campus Culture with Live Virtual Field Trips

1. Introduction and Session Overview (10 minutes) Content: Overview of common challenges and successes in building virtual campus culture and engaging students in synchronous activities. Engagement: Brief discussion and live poll to gauge participant experiences with student engagement and successful strategies. Process: Participants share personal experiences with engagement issues and successes in their virtual schools. 2. Partnership with BOLD and Banyan Global Learning (5 minutes) Content: Presentation of the experimental partnership between BOLD and Banyan Global Learning, focusing on how virtual field trips address specific challenges and enhance virtual campus culture. 3. Live Exploration of a Virtual Field Trip (15 minutes) Content: Demo of a live virtual field trip, highlighting its role in creating social connections and addressing specific challenges mentioned in the introduction. Engagement: Interactive participation in the virtual trip demo, followed by group reflection on the experience and its potential applications. Process: Real-time engagement with virtual guides and breakout discussions on integrating this approach into their own settings. 4. Collaborative Strategy Design (15 minutes) Content: Participants work together to create actionable plans for integrating live virtual field trips into their schools to build culture and engagement. Engagement: Hands-on collaborative activity to design strategies, with emphasis on creating engaging synchronous experiences. Process: Small-group work in breakout rooms, followed by brief presentations of immediately implementable plans. 5. Measuring Success and Iteration (5 minutes) Content: Discussion on how to measure the success of implemented strategies and iterate for continuous improvement. Engagement: Quick brainstorming session on success metrics and potential adjustments. Process: Whole group sharing of ideas. 6. Q&A and Wrap-Up (10 minutes) Content: Final thoughts on building virtual campus culture through live virtual field trips and open floor for questions. Engagement: Open Q&A, reflection, and sharing of implementation intentions. Process: Peer-to-peer interaction through Q&A and brief sharing of action plans.

This resource highlights the benefits of virtual field trips in fostering engagement and building school culture, particularly in remote or hybrid learning environments. https://virtualfieldtrips.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Research-Supporting-the-Many-Uses-for-Virtual-Field-Trips.pdf