3 Steps to Creating an Awesome Virtual Museum in Class
You're spending an afternoon browsing the exhibits at an art museum. If you're anything like me, you'd probably appreciate the art a lot more if you could bring someone along that could explain the history and nuances of the pieces on display. Now imagine pointing a device at the painting and seeing it morph into a dynamic video giving you all the information you wanted about the art.
Educational Virtual Museums Developed Using PowerPoint
During ISTE 2010, I had the privilege of learning about a new method of using non-linear PowerPoint. Michelle Lynn of Fox Creek Elementary in Highlands Ranch, Colorado along with Jessie Bertman, Kim Eikenberg, Lindsey Moore, Katie Patterson, Angel Wolf, and their students presented a poster titled "Interactive Primary Lesson or Non-linear Moon Phase PowerPoint." Their students combined a graphic of moon phases with the non-linear technique to create a project that demonstrated their understanding of their science content. You can see some examples of their student work at After viewing their presentation, I realized their were many other ways to use the platform to teach or reinforce cross-curricular content.
5 Interesting Virtual Museums and Activities for Students
As field trip budgets are increasingly trimmed at schools everywhere, teachers will need to find some alternative virtual activities for students. Here are five museums that offer excellent virtual tours and activities for students. The Vatican Museums website hosts a fairly detailed virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel. The tour allows visitors to zoom in on small areas and details of the interior of the Sistine Chapel. Visitors to the virtual tour can turn 360 degrees to view the interior of the Sistine Chapel from various angles.