HOW TECHNOLOGY CAN IMPROVE YOUR NEXT TRIP
Technology has changed our lives a lot in recent years and certainly has changed the way the world operates. Everyday things are a lot more easily accessed online, which is much more convenient when running a busy household. We can pay our bills, order food or shop online, with just one click of a button.
How students learn in the classroom has changed too, with most teachers and students these days relying on technology and Internet access to complete in-class learning, teaching and homework. Like the convenience of education and shopping online, Orbit World Travel can also help best prepare you to improve your next school trip, by providing you with some useful website links and apps.
Students can now research online a particular place of interest and collect all relevant information before travel, and then compare that information with what they learn on a guided tour during the visit. This could be just a discussion while travelling to your next destination or students could write up a summary about that visit, focusing on what compares and contradicts their research findings, through their first-hand experiences.
Our destination guides available on this website could help in this research. If travelling by plane, students can research airport and flight information. They will be able to prepare a wish list of movies to watch, know the duration of travel on each flight, calculate local time of arrival and departure from each airport, check prohibited items on board a flight, all by using the app “Can I pack that?”.
You can also be prepared and download maps of the places you plan to visit, and then save those areas from Google Maps to your device, to use later while on tour, even without Internet access. This is a great help, especially if you are having a free day and you have planned your own activities. Simply searching online on how to do this will bring up step-by-step instructions. An alternative would be to use the Here WeGo app, which can be used without an Internet connection.
The TravWell app will help you plan for safe international travel. It allows you to organise your trip by providing destination-specific vaccine recommendations, a checklist of what you need to do to prepare for travel, and a customisable healthy travel-packing list. The app also lets you store travel documents, keep a record of your medications and immunisations, and set reminders to get any required vaccine booster doses or take other medications while you’re travelling.
WHILE ON TOUR
Stay connected with parents and families. Create a group to include your loved ones, so you can instantly send photos, videos and updates while you’re travelling. Using the Group Travel Videos app or Tripcast, a living travel journal for your family and friends back home. You can also check what the weather for your next city visit is, so you can best prepare and pack accordingly.
Use Google Translate or Doulingo to communicate with locals and bring a smile to their faces by using simple phrases in their language. Don’t forget to also check the local foreign exchange information, local phone and Internet providers of your next destination.
Even when travelling, safety comes first. The mobile app bSafe lets you share your location with friends and use an alarm function to alert them if any trouble happens.
Localeur is a restaurant and activity review app, which helps when planning student travel, once you and your group have arrived at the destination. If your students want to know what the locals are up to, Localeur will also show them just that.
AFTER RETURNING HOME
Share your feedback using the SurveyMonkey app, and answer questions about the highlights and experiences on your tours. You can also create a journal to include your amazing experiences, by using some of the available online apps like Penzu, Diarium, Glimpses and Journey.
We all agree that technology has forever changed the way we travel, and travel changes and educated us every time we go away.