More than 500k students have taken a virtual field trip with Google Expeditions.
Google has announced a new dedicated Android app today for their Expeditions Pioneer Program, helping to bring virtual reality field trips closer than ever to students around the globe.
Google is also introducing two new Expeditions with the addition of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and Buckingham Palace.
The virtual field trip to the Great Barrier Reef was designed and produced by Sir David Attenborough and Alchemy VR, transporting students deep into warm tropical waters to discover what life as a clown fish looks like or how it feels to be surrounded by a school of young snapper fish.
In collaboration with the Royal Collection Trust, students will also be able to tour Buckingham Palace, visiting all the historical rooms while learning their significance with the Paintings Curator. The Palace has also made the tour available on YouTube 360 and appears to be shot with a Google Jump camera.
Expeditions kits that are shipped out to classrooms include headsets and hardware for the students and teacher. Kits are often made up of a mix of an Android smartphone, a tablet for the teacher, Google Cardboard or Mattel’s View-Master VR viewers, and a router to connect all the devices to run the Expeditions app.
Since September when Google kicked off the Expeditions Pioneer Program, over 500,000 students have taken a virtual trip to places all around the world.
Select schools and educators can now sign up for the Google Expeditions beta to install on their own Android phones and tablets. They will be able to download the app to their own Android phones and tablets, use it in class, and provide Google with feedback about what features and places they would like in the future. For more information about the beta, you can sign up here.
