Students at Penn State are taking a virtual field trip to a nearby rock outcropping, and early research suggests they’re getting as much out of the experience as the traditional in-person trip they’ve taken in the past.

Alex Klippel (Image courtesy Penn State.)

Alex Klippel, the university’s professor of geography, helped create the virtual field trip to the Bald Eagle rock formation in central Pennsylvania. Klippel and his colleagues are taking notes while students go on both physical and virtual versions of the trip.

In fact, Klippel and several other professors together have published research that lays out a framework to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of immersive virtual field trips.

Read the full story at Hypergrid Business.