Students in French/Spanish Teacher Jen Murphy’s eighth grade French class experimented with Google Cardboard’s virtual reality viewer to explore iconic landmarks in Paris. Google Cardboard is a student-friendly virtual reality platform that allows users to view content from their smartphones through the viewer lenses through the Google Street View mobile app. For the world language department, Google Cardboard’s virtual reality allows for exciting classroom opportunities for students to immerse themselves digitally in a destination across the globe.
Ms. Murphy’s middle school students visited the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Louvre Museum, Pont Neuf bridge, Notre-Dame Cathedral, Gare du Nord train station, and Sacré-Coeur church. As they explored the sites of these Parisian monuments with Google Cardboard, the eighth graders were in awe and frequently exclaimed “Wow!” and “This is so cool!” Students detailed their observations about the monuments, and those notes will guide Ms. Murphy in how she will structure their unit to support their interests.
Below are some examples of what the students could see through their Google Cardboard viewer.
In April, the class will go on a field trip to Philadelphia and the students will have an opportunity to compare the monuments of the city with the Parisian monuments they observed virtually.