Earlier today in a year 5 classroom in London, Sundar (our CEO) led 23 students on a field trip to the International Space Station, giving them the chance to learn about astronauts and space scientists.

Google Expeditions enables teachers to bring their students on virtual trips to places like museums, heritage sites, underwater, or even outer space — immersing students in experiences that bring abstract concepts to life and giving them a deeper understanding of the world beyond the classroom. Through partnerships with education companies such as TES and Twig, we’ve created more than 300 Expeditions and over 100 new lessons, which can be used alongside existing curriculum.

In addition to the 1 million students who have already taken an Expedition with Google Cardboard since we first introduced the Pioneer Programme, today we’re announcing our aim to reach another one million students in thousands of UK classrooms by the end of this school year.

We’ve already received feedback from thousands of teachers in the UK who believe that Expeditions can help improve literacy and writing skills, and create excitement that complements and enhances traditional teaching methods.

The Google Expeditions team will be hitting the road to visit thousands of schools across Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast, Newcastle and Inverness in the next few months. The programme is free for any school in the UK and teachers are encouraged to sign up here.