Google wants students everywhere to begin experiencing the world in virtual reality, specifically by using its low-cost Cardboard headsets and a free field-trip simulation software known as Expeditions. The search giant announced today that it's offering Expeditions, which comes with a box of headsets and software teachers can control from a tablet, free to schools who want to deploy it in the classroom, according to The New York Times. It is both a way for Google to further develop its do-it-yourself VR kit and also an opportunity to make Google products a fixture in education systems around the globe.

Google first announced Expeditions back in May when it launched a new version of Cardboard that would work with Apple's iPhone instead of solely on Android handsets. At its I/O conference, Google showed off a 16-camera GoPro rig that could film 360-degree scenes for use in VR, but Expeditions also relies on existing Google Street View images to help construct the field trips. The locales vary, from the standard museums and art galleries to tours of the Italian city of Verona to better connect with Shakespearean characters and the former headquarters of Lehman Brothers to give a first-hand lesson in financial crisis management. In total, Google and its early education partners have developed about 100 VR field trips, The New York Times reported.

Google and its partners have developed around 100 VR field trips

In a broader sense, Expeditions is another effort from Silicon Valley to get a foothold in the classroom, which Google arguably started back in 2006 with its Apps for Education program to give free software to schools. Facebook announced this month that it's working with California's Summit Public Schools to transform their personalized learning strategies into free, publicly available software. Expeditions is in some ways a logical next step after Microsoft's Skype, which has long allowed teachers and students to teleconference with individuals on the other side of the world. Now, a standard smartphone slipped inside a pair of cardboard goggles is enough to teleport students to any destination.