The virtual field trip is an untraditional mode of exposing students to a new experience. The lesson requires thoughtful planning to create meaningful content that inspires students’ interests while exposing them to French culture and history. This is easier said than done as the lesson cannot simply take on a PowerPoint of images or videos. Rather, the content must also include "tour guide-like" storytelling to make the places come alive while inviting the student audience to become apart of the theatrical experience. The exposure derives from the meaningfully curated theatrical nature and visualization of these places which relocates the students to a new world. 

After exploring how to use the virtual field trip function on Nearpod, I began looking for content related to the French Revolution. Fortunately, Nearpod had a ready-made virtual field trip on the French Revolution. However, the materials needed to be adapted to provide greater depth and depiction from different angles of each destination. I explored multiple angles of the Bastille, Palace of Versailles, and added the Napoleon war monument. The additional lens on each site immersed students deeper into each destination and provided greater geospatial context. Moreover, I adapted the lesson with emotional check-ins, a KWL chart, and added a reflective piece to the informational poster. The additions were made to enhance student’s critical thinking skills and activate prior knowledge which is fundamental to drawing connections during the visualization portions of the lesson. 

The final group poster enabled students to discuss the various places they discovered and pick one they found most interesting to contextualize. Students worked in groups of three to create an informational poster that depicted important concepts through facts, imagery, and the reflective paragraph. 

The virtual French Revolution field trip highlights student academic gains and anecdotal experience relating to cultural exposure. The group poster activity demonstrates students’ application of knowledge to a specific figure/landmark. The reflective pieces highlight the visual comparisons students made between historical images and modern French society. One group acknowledged the difference in architectural design depicted in our unit to the modern visualizations found in the virtual field trip. Another group made a connection between the value of memorializing monuments of figures and landmarks to show appreciation for the historical legacy; even though, some leaders did more harm than good. The poster activity and writing reflection provide context to what students learned and appreciated most about the experience. 

The formative assessments drive the learning portion of the lesson, but the anecdotal testaments to the experience are critical to recognizing the cultural exposure to students. The Google Meet transcript highlights the back and forth student banter during the virtual field trip lesson. The class of 16 students immersed themselves in the experience by visualizing commonly known characteristics of a trip to France.  Student statements such as "y'all packed?", "Gotta go get some water!!", "First class omg!!!", and "ya'll look over there!!" are a few examples of how students took charge of their experience. In the beginning, one student remarked how "this is the closest I'll get to Paris!" and ended the lesson with "This trip was totally radical! about to tell my mom I just came back from France.", while one student responded with "Tell her we going back Friday!!!". The anecdotal evidence found in the live Google Meet chat elevate the type of impression the experience had on students. Herein, the evidence of whether the lesson effectively exposed students to a new experience shines.

The wide-ranging benefits of exposure to cultural enrichment enable students to seek out additional travel opportunities which may perhaps lead them to France one day.  Although the experience was a virtual field trip, our class creatively found ways to mimic the realism of an authentic trip to France. The theatrical and visual nature of this experience inspired students to envision themselves in a place they have never been before. As a result, students walked away with a unique perspective on French society, ingrained in the cultural legacy of the French Revolution.