Skype wants to help teachers take their students to places they have never been before

Instant messaging and video application has added new virtual field trips to its "Skype in the Classroom" platform, to help teachers take their students places they have never been before.

Skype's virtual field trips is a feature of "Skype in the Classroom"- a digital classroom where teachers all around the world can expand on their existing units of study through unique live learning adventures.

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, U.S.A.

 With new field trips added to existing ones, Skype says teachers can take their students places they’ve never been before, from expeditions to Iceland and Antarctica, to trips to museums, historical sites and aquariums. Students can virtually go six feet under the sea, explore a new continent, journey to any number of National Parks, etc.

Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, U.S.A.

Skype says its digital classroom offer teachers and their students exciting features: Students studying climate change can hop on a Skype call with a scientist who’s seeing it firsthand from the Arctic circle. 

Literacy teachers can also bring in one of their favorite authors to talk about the writing process over. Teachers educating students about a particular country can as well collaborate with a class from that country on learning projects or Mystery Skype.

Teachers all around the world can register for free on the Microsoft Educator Community in order to access these educational experiences for their classroom, and spread the word by sharing  with their colleagues, Skype says.