Students from Keaau Elementary on Monday used the internet to share a trip to Kilauea volcano with students both islands and an ocean away.
Taking part in the virtual field trip by dozens of Keaau students to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park were students from Peterson Schools in Mexico City and from three Oahu schools: Hale Kula Elementary, University Laboratory School and Nanakuli Elementary’s Hawaiian language immersion program, Ke Kula Kaiapuni o Nanakuli.
They also took part as the Keaau Elementary students and staff chanted to the goddess Pele while wearing Google Glass, which broadcast their excursion online.
The students’-eye view was possible through the “Grab & Go Glassroom,” a wired pack that fed the video to those watching from afar, according to a news release from the state Department of Education.
For the University Laboratory students, it was a return favor for their February trip to the Honolulu Zoo which was streamed to laptops of Keaau Elementary students. DOE officials said students from both schools partnered to produce videos and other projects about birds they saw at the zoo.
Monday’s volcano adventure was shepherded by Matt Patrick, a research geologist with the US Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.
Following the chant, the students took their remote cohorts on a hike down and across the Kilauea Iki crater.
Patrick also fielded a variety of questions from Hawaii and Mexico students including “How do you know when volcanoes will erupt?”, “What’s the speed of lava?” and “What do you have to study to be a volcanologist?”
The experience is part of the state Department of Education’s digital curriculum program known as Access Learning. Keaau and Nanakuli are among eight pilot schools to explore beyond textbooks and classroom walls through provided laptops and teachers trained on the latest educational tools.
This comments section is a public community forum for the purpose of free expression. Although Big Island Now encourages respectful communication only, some content may be considered offensive. Please view at your own discretion. View Comments
