Ball State University and two telecommunication majors will help students across the country experience the building blocks of America during the electronic field trip to Philadelphia, beginning today at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
The electronic field trips give children a national park experience that is diverse, exciting and relevant to the curriculum they are learning in their classes, Jamie Patten, vice president of communication for the National Park Foundation, said.
"People from the foundation and park services work with Ball State to plan the curriculum," she said. "The work done with Ball State and the park systems helps us find places that will show the diversity and heritage of our country."
The Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are some of the historical treasures students will see and learn about in the first trip.
Ball State University and the National Park Foundation, an organization that preserves and enhances the legacy of the nation's national parks, helped sponsored the electronic field trips.
Ball State's Center for Media Design and the National Park Service also contributed to the $1.5 million field trip budget, Mark Kornmann, director of Outreach Programs at the Ball State Teachers College, said.
"When we created the electronic field trips in 1996 we were looking at ways to connect Indiana schools to places students might not get the opportunity to see," he said. "The field trips are a way to connect the classrooms to our national treasures."
Two junior telecommunication majors, Kris Knight and Jeremy Morrison, helped organize the electronic field trips.
Knight has worked with the trips for two years doing camera work, editing and other tasks, he said. He was asked to work with the trips their organizers, and he said he has enjoyed the opportunity to see the sites and get professional experience.
"This is a professional work setting," Knight said. "I and one other student have been immersed with the type of work we want to do and that is television."
The trips are done simultaneously with schools on all educational levels across the nation, Patten said. Students can get online or call in to a live panel of experts to have their questions answered and interact through a live broadcast where they can ask questions to the tour guides, she said.
"They can also do an online poll where, for example [with the Hawaii trip], a guide will ask if the students want him to hike up farther to the peak of the volcano or go to a cave," Patten said. "The kids will get to choose which option they want him to do."
Kornmann said one benefit of the electronic field trips is students get a closer look at the sites and can gain access to some of the behind-the-scenes action.
Knight said he would not have chosen to visit Philadelphia if it were not for the electronic field trips. The professionals working with the electronic field trips have paid for everything, including his food and hotel stay, he said.
"The experience has been great and we have had so much access to sites," Knight said. "I have been able to step into Assembly Hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed and I have been able to go under the Liberty Bell."
Patten said the university uses technology to enhance the education students receive from texts and teachers.
"National historic parks are all of our history and represent the beginning of freedom and democracy," she said. "The electronic field trips provide the opportunity for students to learn about that history and tie that learning into their everyday lives."
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