Google's new 'Expeditions' kit allows for teachers to take their kids on trips all over the world while not stretching the already tight budget. The focal point of the kit is cardboard—specifically Google Cardboard viewers that require being hooked-up to smart phones to begin the process of sending students on a virtual tour.

"The Google ‘Expeditions’ program is essentially a box of VR [virtual reality] equipment, shipped to schools containing everything the class needs to embark on a VR field trip. Cardboard viewers and smartphones for the students are supplied along with a tablet," according to RoadtoVR.com. 

Because of the increasing proliferation of smart phone use, Google has chosen to launch the initiative that requires Cardboard viewers to sync to them. The viewers themselves, being made simply of Cardboard, should be cost efficient though the price has yet to be revealed. 

The smart phones will hook up to one main tablet, controlled by the teacher. "Teachers can control the VR experience, so all the pupils see the same thing, and Google is working with [organizations] to create the virtual field trips," said the Daily Mail. 

Partnerships with museums and space experts will allow Google to create virtual trips underwater, to Mars, to the Great Wall of China, and more. 

"The Planetary Society, the Chateau de Versailles, the Smithsonian and the American Museum of Natural History are on board with the new program for a rollout this autumn," the Daily Mail article said.

The process itself will be easy for teachers and students to partake in because the Cardboard headsets are put together in an easy three-step process. Registration is available to request the kit in your classroom now.

To read more about Google 'Expeditions,' click here.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

05/29/2015