Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators

Is the Tour Better in Person?

After you take a virtual tour of a place on the Internet, answer the following questions to see if the tour met your expectations.

Your name: Theresa Conlon

Date: April 21, 2013

Name of tour site: St. Louis Art Musuem Virtual Tour

URL of tour site: http://www.sacreative.com/demos/virtualmovie/

1. When you were on the tour, could you tell where you were at all times? Yes
2. Throughout the tour, could you always get back to the beginning? Yes
3. During the tour, could you go to any area that you wanted to, or did you have to visit places in a certain order? Yes
4. Was there a map of the virtual tour site available for you to use for navigation? Yes
5. While you were on the tour, could you use any type of virtual reality to view places in 3-D? No
6. If there were photographs on the tour, were they easy to see? Yes
7. When you first entered the tour, could you choose from different options or paths to take? Yes
8. Was there a virtual guide to help you along the virtual tour? Yes
9. Were there any links to other Internet resources that would better help you understand the subject matter of the tour? No
10. Was there a place to ask questions or leave feedback about the tour? No
11. Did the tour make you want to learn more about the topic? Yes
12. Did the tour allow you to visit a place that you would never be able to visit in real life? No

In your own words, describe taking a virtual tour and compare it with a real tour you have taken.

This site is meant to be used by teachers for preparing their students for an upcoming visit to the museum. The tour provides an overview of various collections at the museum and examples of different works of art. There were introductory videos for each collection, but for some reason, the videos did not always play, or there would be a great deal of buffering. While this site has some good information on it, I would hardly call it a virtual tour.