Digital Field Trips in World Language Education
Most students love field trips. You're out of school, get to visit a cool museum or event nearby, and can bring home some sweet souvenirs from the gift shop. I remember those days: I'd mark them on my mental calendar from the day I found out and would race home to get my permission slipped signed.
There is, however, the flip side of the field trip that is easy to forget as a 10-year old — the teacher's side. Did I mention collecting permission slips? How about coordinating bus transportation, arranging tours, finding chaperones, procuring tickets for the events, purchasing bright neon shirts with your school's name, checking student dietary restrictions, monitoring weather conditions, planning sub work (oh yeah...), ensuring students are engaged, monitoring behavior, following local customs, and making sure you come back with the same number of students that you left with?
Now I remember why I was always so hesitant to plan field trips for my students. For better or for worse, it's a lot for teachers to plan, on top of all of their other day-to-day obligations.
But hey, it's 2025, and we have a lovely resource called the internet that can facilitate other types of 'field trips,' which, while lacking the authenticity of a real-world experience and the buildup of 'the big day,' can ease the logistical pressures that teachers face and still provide an enjoyable and learning-filled experience for students.
For better or for worse, field trips are a lot for teachers to plan, on top of all of their other day-to-day obligations.
Below we'll take a look at how to design digital field trips and see some examples of online resources for different global cultures. Finally, we'll see how you can use Extempore to assess your students upon their return.
Designing Digital Field Trips
As you plan your digital field trip, you'll want to make sure that, like anything else you do in the classroom, your field trip has a clear purpose. What do you hope students get out of this experience? What purposeful tasks can students complete while browsing these digital locations? How will this 'trip' contribute to your overall unit?
A few other things to keep in mind:
- Target Language preparation: Consider whether you want your students to explore the site in the target language or in English (if possible). If you opt for target language materials, make sure to introduce (frontload) target vocabulary that students will encounter.
- Content knowledge preparation: Cultural sites and museums can require some historical background to best understand exhibits and performances. Consider assigning some readings to your students before exploring these digital locations.
- Post-excursion follow-up: Your students will have a lot of takeaways and new insights from their digital excursion. What are they going to do with this new information? Think about designing a task that involves students sharing what they learned and reflecting on the values displayed in your target culture. We'll see some of examples of these on Extempore below.
Now that we're all prepped, let's take a look at some possible destinations your students can visit and some potential tasks that you can pair with these virtual voyages.
Frida Kahlo Museum (La Casa Azul) - Mexico City, Mexico
At the Frida Kahlo museum's website, your students can tour the famous artist’s home and studio, exploring her life, work, and cultural influence. Available in both English and Spanish.
Salvador Dalí Theatre-Museum - Figueres, Spain
Salvador Dalí played an important role in the rise of Surrealism in the art world. At his eponymous virtual museum, students can observe his art and interpret authentic Spanish texts.
The Louvre Museum - Paris, France
Have your students explore one of the most famous art museums in the world. With tours in French and English, the Louvre can help students explore art, history, and culture.

Palace of Versailles - Paris, France
At one of France's most iconic historical locations, students can observe and learn all about the formal royal residence of Louis XIV.
Visit the Palace of Versailles
The Vatican Museums - Vatican City
Language learners can explore the Sistine Chapel and the vast collections of classical art and religious artifacts held in the Vatican Museums. This tour provides rich opportunities for vocabulary lessons in art, history, and religion.

Museo Nacional del Prado - Madrid, Spain
Within Madrid's Museo Nacional del Prado, students can explore art from Goya to Velásquez while being immersed in Spanish language and culture.
Guangzhou Museum - Guangzhou, China
One of the largest cities in sourthern China, Guangzhou is home to over 18 million Chinese people. At its namesake museum, students can be exposed to authentic Chinese texts while also exploring culture artifacts related to history, art, and local traditoins.
The Great Wall of China - Beijing, China
At this virtual tour of one of the world's most famous landmarks, students can travel along the Great Wall of China, learning about many aspects of Chinese history and travel.

Anne Frank House - Amsterdam, Netherlands
A virtual tour of the Anne Frank House, located in Amsterdam, allows students to learn more about the life and residence of the noted diarist. Available in Dutch, English, Spanish, and German.
Tokyo National Museum - Tokyo, Japan
Explore Japanese art, history, and tradition. Students can practice a variety of language skills by navigating the site’s exhibits.
Visit the Tokyo National Museum
Assessing Students Post-Trip on Extempore
A lesson is not complete without an assessment. Once your students 'come back' from their virtual field trips, have them respond on Extempore to questions about what they learned. Consider relevant, real-world tasks that would elicit spontaneous responses. For example,
- How does the architecture of the Palace of Versailles reveal French values during that time?
- Choose one piece of artwork from the Salvador Dalí museum and discuss how it showed his ideals and values.
- Based on your exploration of the Great Wall of China, what might be some misconceptions that people might have about this famous landmark?
Below, find some sample examples that you could make on Extempore and assign to students.
Presentational Speaking
In the example below, students reflect on their learnings from a virtual visit to the Great Wall of China. They can then respond in Mandarin to the prompt to illustrate their knowledge.

Interpretive Reading
In the example below, students play the role of mediator by helping others understand what the exhibit shows through interpreting target language texts.

How else might you assess your students on Extempore after a virtual field trip? If you're not sure, you could even Ask Tempo.
