This week I went on a live field trip to the San Diego Zoo! Click the link here if you want to check it out.

The San Diego Zoo’s website has numerous live animal cams to check out. With this technology, you can see the animals in real time without leaving the comfort of your home or classroom.

Here are some of the animals you can check out!

• Hippos
• Baboons
• Polar Bears
• Penguins
• Koalas
• Apes
• Tigers
• Elephants
• Giraffes
• Platypus
• Burrowing Owls
• Condors
• Pandas (archived pre-recorded footage – not live)

There are a lot of benefits to online virtual field trips that I had not considered in the past. Virtual field trips eliminate the cost of busses, chaperones, tickets, food, and all other expenses. They also eliminate the time of traveling that take away from learning.

However, I felt the experience of going on an online field trip to the zoo was not the same as actually going to the zoo. I was missing the excitement that the atmosphere of the zoo brings. Not hearing the animals and crowds make noise or walking through the gift shop took away from the experience. While I didn’t have to smell the unpleasant smells of a zoo and saved myself from tired and hurting feet, those are experiences that were missing.

I think virtual field trips to the zoo are amazing. They’re easy to pull right up on the screen in the classroom. However, I feel as though the most integral pieces of a lesson might not stick if they experience is lacking for the students.