Virtual Tours Tutorial

Introduction | View Published Trips | Creating Topics and Subtopics | Optional Features

Introduction

The UEN Virtual Field Trip (http://www.uen.org/tours/) has two main sections - the public section where folks can view published field trips and the toolkit section where registered educators create the field trips.

View Published Trips

To view a list of the Virtual Field Trips that have been published, visit http://www.uen.org/tours/ and use the Take a Field Trip button.

Getting Started

Teacher Tips for Creating a Virtual Field Trip

image of a camera

Here's the abbreviated list of things to do to create a virtual field trip.

Organize your images and text. (Think about how you can organize your tour into topics and subtopics.) Images need to be digitized and saved in either the .gif or .jpg formats and must not have any spaces in their file names. Only post images that are copyright free or that you have permission to post.
You must be registered with the Utah Education Network. (Visit http://my.uen.org) After you log-in, you can either create a new field trip or continue editing a previously started field trip.
Create the buttons for the field trip by adding Topics. Create Subtopics so that you can include the content or text that supports each Topic.
Use the html <p> tag to add paragraph breaks to long pieces of text. Add one or more images and keywords to each of the topics.
Create Topic Activities if you want to have links to outside Internet web pages.

Organize

Planning your Field Trip

Think about which Topics (buttons) and Subtopics make sense. It's a good idea to group the field trip contents into 3 to 5 different main Topics.

For example, if the field trip is about an actual location such as the "This is the Place State Park" the main Topics could be the 3 main physical areas of the park (visitor center, monument, and the village) and then a fourth Topic could have information about the park's history and park hours.
Or if the field trip is about a process, such as using a digital camera, the main Topics could be the camera buttons, setting up the camera, and using the camera.

Completing this organization-work before beginning the computer-work will make the actual creation process go much smoother. It's a good idea to create a simple sketch of how the field trip will be organized. For example, this may be what a sketch would look like for a field trip called "What's Cool About My County."

Text and Images

Organize your images and text.

Use a word processor to write the text for each of the elements. Don't worry about the visual formatting, but do a grammar and spell check of the text.

Create/find/save images for a field trip. Images need to be digitized and saved in either the .gif or .jpg formats and must not have any spaces in their file names. The best option for collection images is to use your digital camera.

Decide which images will be displayed with each Topic. Although Topics can have more than one image, only one will be the "main" image and the remaining images will be displayed as links.

Copyright Issues

Get the proper releases and copyright releases signed.

When visiting a location, request permission from the location's authority to publish the images and information on the web.

If student faces will be included in the images, make sure to have parental permission to publish the student's face. Also, if a student's work will be included in the field trip (either text or drawings), have a permission release signed by the student's parent or guardian.

Logging in to the Virtual Field Trips Toolkit

Go to the Virtual Field Trips main page and use the Create a Field Trip button and then the Log-in to Toolkit link. Use your my.uen login.

Field Trip Name

Beginning the Creation Process

After logging in you will see the option to create a new field trip or to select an existing field trip. Make that choice from the popup menu then use the Continue button.

If the choice is to begin a new field trip, the toolkit requests information used to create the new tour. Fill in the name describing the field trip and select an appropriate core area relationship.

The Main Editing Menu

Use the Continue button to reach the Editing Menu. The links on the left side of the screens are listed basically in the order you need to follow to successfully create a virtual field trip.

Editing the Field Trip's Name

Begin building your field trip by selecting from the options listed in the Editing Menu. To change the name of the field trip, use the Title link. Edit the name and then save the changes.

Welcome Message

When a field trip is published the Welcome Message and the optional Welcome Image are on the first page that visitors will see when viewing your field trip.

Use the Welcome Message link from the Editing Menu. Add text that will welcome visitors to the field trip and describe what the field trip will be about. It's a good idea to put in credits and information about the author in the footer.

To control the way the text is displayed when it's published, use a few simple HTML tags to tell the browser how to render the page as it's displayed. For example, to make a paragraph break, use the <p> tag. That will instruct the browser to put a blank line before and after the tag.

See How the Field Trip Looks So Far

To preview the field trip as it will look when it's published, use the Preview Tour link in the Editing Menu. A new browser window will open. After looking at the preview close the window to return to the Tour Editing screen.

Creating Topics and Subtopics

The bulk of a field trip is created using the Topic, Subtopic and Topic Activities links.

Topics and Subtopics

Adding a new topic will create a page label and a navigation button. Subtopics will be links under teach topic. You can create multiple Subtopics for each Topic.

Topic Activities

Activities contain one or more links to Internet resources (along with optional guiding questions).

Optional Features

A field trip can have a quiz button, a posting board button, and buttons for related Internet resources.

Tour Quiz

Use the Quizzes link to create a quiz for your Field Trip. (The default choice will always be Don't Include Quizzes.)

Creating a Postboard

Use the Postboard link on the Editing Menu if you want visitors to be able to share their comments and feedback with the editors and other field trip visitors.

Standalone URLs - Buttons to Related Internet Resources

A field trip can have buttons that display other Internet resources. Use the Standalone URL link from the Editing Menu.

Customizing the Field Trip's Look

Use the Look and Feel link from the Editing Menu to select your field's display and color options.

Sharing your Completed Field Trip

Whether or not the field trip is officially published, editors can use the preview URL to view the finished product and to share with others.