As a kid growing up just outside of Boston, our elementary and secondary schools would frequently take field trips to historic landmarks and museums. Boston is packed with history, and we were very lucky to be able to experience this first-hand as part of our public education.

I will never forget the excitement of it all. I’ll tell you, it wasn’t all about the places we visited, it was about the whole experience. I know that I’m dating myself here, but when I was in elementary school, we weren’t allowed to bring soda (which around Boston it was called tonic) on field trips. Instead, I remember buying a little packet of tablets called “Fizzies” that could be dropped into water to create a carbonated concoction reminiscent of grape soda, cola or root beer. Add to that a peanut butter sandwich and some cookies, and I was all set for the day.

The buses would pick us up in gigantic groups, each of us making sure to be sitting next to our best buddies. We went all over the place. There was the trip to Concord to visit Walden Pond to see where Thoreau wrote his classic “Walden,”  a trip to where Louisa May Alcott lived when she wrote “Little Women,” and, of course, The Old North Bridge, the site of the Battle of Concord which kicked off the Revolutionary War.

There were also the numerous trips to Boston museums. My favorite memories were the Egyptian mummies at the Museum of Fine Arts, the planetarium at the Museum of Science and the Fogg Museum at Harvard University in Cambridge. But probably what stands out most would be the trips that brought us further away, learning about colonial life at Plymouth Plantation and Sturbridge Village, and our one day bus excursion to New York City to see the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building and a short visit to the United Nations to see how representatives of our planet get together to help the world run smoothly.

Field trips were awesome.

Unfortunately, with steep budget cuts taking place all over the country today, school districts just don’t have the funds to pay for field trips like they used to. If there’s any extra money, it most likely is allocated toward keeping that extra teacher’s aide rather than spending it on sending busloads of kids on a day of fun and adventure. It’s sad but true. Kids today just aren’t able to experience field trips like we used to.

Baylor University in Texas is stepping up to help. If you can’t bring the student to the museum, bring the museum to the students!

To do this, Baylor has committed to purchase a VGo robot, a four-foot-tall telepresence robot which allows a user to see through its camera, hear through its microphone and interact through its speakers. Rather than simply providing a virtual tour of museums, art galleries and libraries, the teachers and kids will actually be able to ask questions of the tour guide, making it a personal experience for the visitors. This seems like a great idea that will be able to provide the children access to many places that they might never be able to visit.

I just hope we can figure out how we can make sure that the kids today get to go to some field trips too, because, as I said, it’s about the experience, not just the place that you visit that makes it so memorable.