Google launched an app earlier this year that allows teachers to create virtual reality field trips using Google Cardboard VR. Now, the company is getting a little more hands-on and taking the Google Expeditions initiative straight to the classroom.
Google has announced the Expedition Pilot Program, which will see it go on a tour of sorts, brining all the hardware necessary to classrooms around the world.
“Starting today, we’re bringing this experience to thousands of schools around the world with the new Expeditions Pioneer Program. During the 2015/2016 school year, we’ll be bringing “kits” containing everything a teacher needs to run a virtual trip for their class: ASUS smartphones, a tablet for the teacher to direct the tour, a router that allows Expeditions to run without an Internet connection, and Google Cardboard viewers or Mattel View-Masters that turn phones into virtual reality headsets. Although nothing replaces hopping on the bus for a field trip, there are some places that are just out of reach (hello, Chichen Itza!). Virtual reality gives teachers a tool to take students places a school bus can’t,” says Google.
The Expedition Pioneer Program will begin in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil.
Google has announced a handful of content partners, including PBS, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, David Attenborough’s production company Alchemy VR, and the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Teachers can sign up with this form. Google says it’ll try to hit as many schools as possible, but space is limited. If selected, it’s free.