History in real-time

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This article was published 28/01/2021 (1857 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Nathalie Beerman’s ninth-graders took a trip to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights last week — but despite attending school more than 400 kilometres northwest of the tourist attraction, no school bus shuttle was necessary.

The students at Goose Lake High in Roblin didn’t even have to leave their desks to tour exhibitions about human rights atrocities and observe thought-provoking pieces of artwork in the Manitoba capital.

A growing number of teachers is taking advantage of virtual field trips this year, as COVID-19 protocols ban educational outings to galleries, museums, and science centres.

Since September, upwards of 2,300 students from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Ontario, British Columbia and the United States have participated in guided tours and real-time lessons hosted by the museum.

Goose Lake High doesn’t typically send Grade 9 students to the museum because it’s a 10-hour round-trip, taking into account bathroom breaks, and overnight excursions are often organized for older students, so Beerman said a virtual visit made perfect sense.

“Teaching’s been very hard (during the pandemic). I know it’s been very, very hard on the kids, too, so this was a nice opportunity to do something different and be connected to… a community outside of Roblin,” she said.

Last week’s live 45-minute video tour of the museum complemented what Beerman’s students have been learning in social studies about the Holocaust, residential schools and the legacy of civil rights activist Viola Desmond, whose portrait accompanies the museum on the $10 note.

Beerman said the tour prompted discussion among students — especially after they learned about recent events, including the 2013 activism of a Black student in the United States who spoke out against her school’s segregated prom.

“These short trips are really big conversation starters,” said Graham Lowes, a former Winnipeg teacher who developed the museum’s virtual field trips and now works there as a digital education specialist. “It’s not just to see the museum, but it’s to start thinking about what are human rights and what do they mean to me.”

The virtual programs originally launched in fall 2019, but the pandemic has resulted in an uptick of interest, Lowes said, with four to five field trips taking place daily.

The museum restarted tours this month; public health orders shuttered operations in late October.

Run by guides who use an iPhone, camera stabilizer and videoconferencing platform to take students on a tour of artifacts, the virtual field trips focus on everything from museum highlights to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 

The 30- to 60-minute-long sessions are free for Canadian students.

Grade 9 student Francheska Pechay and her classmates at Maples Collegiate took a virtual trip during the post-winter break remote period. Pechay, 14, called the lesson a “refresher” on basic human rights.

She said she has since put visiting the museum in person on her bucket list.

While the social aspect of field trips, as well as the ability to explore Winnipeg, was missing from the online outing, Maples Collegiate teacher Jason Allard said it allowed for a break in the repetitive remote learning schedule.

“You’re not going to replace the excitement of going on a field trip with a virtual meeting,” said Allard, who typically plans a social studies trip to the museum and The Forks walking tour every semester. 

“That being said, I don’t think it has to be one or the other. It’s an interesting lesson. It’s interesting to have an outside voice walk you through a lesson, someone who’s even seen as an authority. There is value in that.” 

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie