The newest version of Google Earth is really amazing. GoogleEarth is an online program that allows the user to visually search any place in the world and to see this destination in real life photography taken from satellites in space. The program is like a photographic GPS that you can use for any place in the world. Using the search engine you can type in any city, any address or destination and GoogleEarth will take you there! There is also a street view option on GoogleEarth where the satellite image can maneuvered so the user can literally walk the streets of the destination they have chosen. GoogleEarth also has an app for smart phones which is great for when the user is actually in the destination they have chosen because then they can instantly maneuver their way through a new town or city. GoogleEarth also has navigation tools such as a compass and the ability to zoom in or zoom out for the user to get their bearings as to the layout of the destination. The fact that GoogleEarth is 3D is also great because the visuals offer a more realistic view of what the terrain looks like. GoogleEarth is much more efficient and useful than traditional methods of people finding out about a travel destination before they decide to go. I remember my mom calling a hotel in a certain area we were going for vacation and asking them to send her information on the attractions in the area. My mom would also buy traveling guides and videos to places like Disneyworld because they offered tips like how far away good hotels were, where to eat, park your car, etc. Now with GoogleEarth finding this information is free, with no phone calls, and you do not even need to leave your house. A limitation that GoogleEarth has is that it does not give detailed information about the places the user is viewing on the screen. I think GoogleEarth could be improved by offering hyperlinks to things such as hotel websites, restaurant menus, etc. This way a user can learn a lot more about the area they are researching before they get there!
GoogleEarth can also be used in lesson plans for students to learn about other countries, cities, etc. The students will be able to find out things such as the terrain, climate, whether area is rural, urban, developed, or underdeveloped. Students will find the program easy to use and will have fun searching things such as their own address.
Lastly, another limitation I saw with GoogleEarth is when I put in my own address I only saw an empty lot instead of my house. My parents house is less than 10 years old so I can tell that this is an old picture, so I also think that GoogleEarth needs to update their satellite images more often because the earth's terrain change a lot in less than 10 years.
I like the ideas you had about incorporating Google Earth into lesson plans. I never thought about using it for science lessons to identify certain aspects of an environment. I think just having Google Earth up on the screen will help kids engage and focus in on the lesson.
ReplyDeleteI love Google Earth! I think it would be great in a classroom. It's a great way to just get students excited to learn about different places. When I was messing around with it, I kept saying "Wow! This is so cool!" and other things like that. The technology that we have is so spectacular! Incorporating it into the classroom is a must!
ReplyDelete