A virtual trip to the NC ZOO

On Wednesday, April 28, 2010 Kimmel Farm's kindergarten and fourth grade students participated in a collaborative learning experience. Kimmel Farm Elementary and Asheboro High School's Zoo School teamed to provide a mutually beneficial virtual field trip with a focus on polar animals and animal adaptations.
Asheboro High School students were the teachers, and created a slide show presentation to share with Kimmel Farm Students, which we showed on our flat panel plasma display. Our video conferencing was accomplished using Skype. It was great to see students working together to teach and learn and it was the first attempt at pulling off a truly 21st Century learning experience. We also Ustreamed this over the Internet so classrooms all over our building and worldwide could tune in to see what was possible.
The experience wasn't without it's technological issues, but overall it demonstrated what kind of learning community we strive to create here at Kimmel Farm Elementary. This was a powerful way to engage students and create an opportunity for Asheboro High's Zoo School students. Special thanks goes to Heather Soja, head of the AHS Zoo School, for working with us for quite some time in getting planning this event. We hope to continue to provide these kinds of experiences for our students and enjoyed partnering with AHS!