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One of the newer resources I find to be very valuable in the classroom is Google Earth. Google Earth allows people to search a particular address and see an actual photo of that area. Although Google Earth is 6 years old (it was created and adopted by Google in 2004) it is still a 'newer' technology and people are still trying to incorporate it more and more into everyday life.
I personally find Google Earth to be a very resourceful tool for the classroom. In field, the classroom I am in has a large laminated poster size Google Earth image of East Lansing. It was brought in and hung up for their social studies unit where they learned about locations. The students learned about North, South, East, and West and how to read a map. They learned how to find places if you know the crossroads or what it is near in relation to other things. My CT put this poster up on their wall and the students had to find where their school was. As a class they drew a red circle around it so they could easily find it. Throughout the day, the students were asked to go up and find where their house is. I was up at the map and I had to help them figure out how they could find their house. Some students found their house in relation to the school. Others would find crossroads or larger landmarks. Once they found their street they were able to count the houses or look for certain things to find their house. When they found it, they put a thumbtack on it. By the end of the day, every student had found their house and the map of East Lansing was filled with thumbtacks. Students thought this was the greatest thing! Not only could they find their house on their own, but they could actually an image of their house. They could also see other students who lived by them and see where other houses were in relation to theirs.
This activity was a perfect example of how Google Earth can be used in the classroom. Students can actually see a photograph of their houses and the area they live in rather than looking on a regular map. This gives students a more realistic view of where they live and students need that. Maps are pretty abstract to students. Even as an adult I have a tough time reading maps. Google Earth can give a more realistic approach to an abstract idea.
I also explored Google Earth for the new technology project and I too found Google Earth to be very beneficial for the classroom. I think Google Earth is one of the many representations of how far we have come technology wise.
ReplyDeleteI talked about this in my blog.. but Google Earth is a resource that teachers can use to virtually show students what different places look like around the world. Its like bye bye to social studies textbook pictures.