UNIVERSITY Academy Keighley students are over the moon about their latest hi-tech lessons.

They were able to visit the surface of the moon after the Beechcliffe school borrowed virtual reality teaching tools.

They were able to try Expeditions, a new project launched by Google which offers virtual reality tours of sights and locations to help students engage with their learning.

Students also visited the Great Barrier Reef to see its marine life up close, popped along to the Palace of Versailles for a history tour, and went up Everest to reach the heights of geography.

The journeys, which were taken without the students leaving the classroom, were arranged by the academy's Strategic Leader for e-Learning, Mark Turvey.

He said: “This was an amazing opportunity for our learners not only to try new technology, but to experience a wide range of locations and places to help open their eyes and minds to the wider world.

“In the space of two hours we’ve been under the sea, to the summit of Everest, toured the streets and Barcelona, and stood on the surface of the moon!

“The students' reactions, from year seven right through to year 13, has been a joy to see, and I think the sense of wonder and excitement they got from seeing these places will stay with them for a long time.”

University Academy Keighley was one of the first schools in the area to try out Expeditions due to its involvement with the Google Chromebook initiative and its status as a Google Reference site.

Google Expeditions, launched in America six months ago, runs as an app on a smartphone, which is then inserted into a headset to give the students a 3D experience of their chosen location.

The app is directed by the teacher so that points of interest and important facts can be identified for the class.