Almost 20 million students from schools in 49 states and 3 countries are signed up to take a virtual field trip to Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, courtesy of Ball State University and the National Park Foundation.
On Oct. 17, Ball State will broadcast the Electronic Field Trip, including live tours, in-class activities and an online panel of experts.
According to Ball State spokesman Anthony Romano, students watching the field trip will be able to e-mail and call in questions for park rangers to answer.
While Ball State has been giving electronic field trips since 1996, this will be its first visit to the area.
"As far as I know, this is the first trip to Philadelphia," Romano said.
Another new aspect of this particular broadcast will be the inclusion of "webisodes," two- or three-minute video pieces that highlight an area of Independence National Historical Park. There will be four webisodes before and four after the event.
