Going Places with Google Cardboard

This post was originally shared in Thursday notes in December 2015. It is written for parents, but the same ideas can easily be applied in your classroom!

Going Places with Google Cardboard

This week I had the opportunity to visit Egypt with a class of 6th graders. Actually, their teacher arranged for his class to virtually visit Egypt using Google Cardboard. Google Cardboard viewers are affordable (they can be $10 or less – and yes, they are made of cardboard); they look like the nostalgic toy ViewMaster! The “pricey” part of the experience is a smart phone! But by using the free Google Street View app, you can choose literally any location in the world, put your smart phone in the viewer, and experience an incredibly realistic 3D, 360° view of your chosen location. While helping the social studies students, one boy, with the viewer up to his eyes, reached out with his hand, pointing in the air and asked if I could see the people on camels in front of the pyramid. I had to remind him that I couldn’t because I wasn’t really in Egypt with him! That’s how realistic and immersive the experience of Google Cardboard is! Some ideas for using this at home:

• Preview where you are going for a family vacation
• Show your kids places you have visited that they have not had the chance to see
• Plan a virtual field trip for a weekend
• Look up locations students are learning about in social studies class
• Look up settings for novels
• Visit historical sites or the Seven Wonders of the World

There are other apps available to be used with Google Cardboard – just check the app store for your smart phone! Happy virtual travels!