Reaping The Benefits Of Educational Travel

Students can gain a lot from taking educational trips. Educational travel benefits for students include:
- enhancing their learning by enabling them to see places rather than just read about them
- catering to a variety of learning styles
- the chance to experience new cultures and locations
- the ability to try new hands-on activities that might not be available in the classroom
- the chance to reinforce language learning.

Discounted Educational Travel

If you are not a student or are studying in a school that does not qualify for the International Student Identity Card (ISIC), there are still options for discount educational travel. Travelers between the ages of 12 and 25 can apply for an International Youth Travel Card (IYTC). Like the ISIC, the IYTC offers discounts on educational travel. These include discounts on eating out, shopping, staying in hotels or hostels, discounts on communications and reduced admission to attractions. This is a useful card for young people to get before starting an educational travel tour.

Leading The Group In Educational Travel

When traveling with an educational travel company, the group leader is usually the teacher who is supervising the educational tour. The group leader is responsible for monitoring students' behavior on the tour. Sometimes a group leader works with a tour manager of an educational travel company and then runs a teacher-led educational tour. In this case, the group leader will also be responsible for accommodation, meals, travel and sightseeing, with the help of staff from the educational travel company.

Traveler Insurance Explained

As a student, the type of traveler insurance you need will depend on the type of trip you are taking, the location you will be visiting and the duration of the trip. To start with, students may need to decide between single trip and multi trip traveler insurance. There are also traveler insurance policies to cover students who plan to visit different countries for different lengths of time. Some insurance providers also provide specialist traveler insurance. Some examples are:
- traveler insurance to cover students who only need insurance for flights. This type of insurance is likely to cover travel for a limited duration, loss of luggage and cancellation or curtailment of flights.
- traveler insurance for those who are studying abroad. This might include cover for a laptop, PC, camera or other study-related electronic device
- coverage for students planning a skiing trip. This type of traveler insurance policy can cover a range of winter sports and activities, as well as equipment, emergency medical care and a lack of snow.
- traveler insurance policies for extreme sports such as abseiling and microlighting.

Many traveler insurance policies have conditions and exclusions, so it is worth reading these carefully to make sure the level of insurance cover is appropriate for the chosen activity.

How To Plan A College Travel Tour

Planning a college travel tour is hard work, so once teachers have decided on the destination it is advisable to work with an educational travel tour organizer. To choose an educational tour company for their college travel tour, teachers should ask about:
- The educational tour operator's experience of organizing youth travel
- The educational tour operator's professional memberships
- Public liability insurance and consumer protection
- What is included in the college travel tour package
- The educational tour operator's cancellation policy

Slices of History

Educational student tours to Washington, DC usually include the Smithsonian Institute. This is the largest collection of museums in the world and includes:
- The National Air and Space Museum
- The Hirshhorn Museum (contemporary and modern art)
- The Freer, Sackler and Renwick galleries
- The Museum of African Art
- The Natural History Museum
- The American History Museum
- The International Gallery
- The National Postal Museum
- The Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture
- The National Portrait Gallery

Visits to any or all of these museums will improve students' education and enhance all educational student tours. Check with your tour guide or educational travel tour group for information on discount museum passes and group rates.