Developing a course using the web

Using Google Earth

Using Google Earth requires that the program be loaded on your computer. The program is free from Google and loads fairly fast but if you are using a computer controlled for the protection of a network, as classroom or lab computers should be, then you would not be able to do this. I would assume it would have to be your machine. It seems it is also important that the machine you use be fairly recent.

Once you have a machine with the program loaded you can visit the earth and find placemarks. Saving the placemarks makes them easy to find and use in class. Have a look at the Google Earth Community for insights on how many groups as well as educators are already incorporating this tool in their work. For some places you do not need a placemark. Typing in the name, Pyramids, for example, will take you right there. Once there you can explore from near ground level or any height you like and with the tools available you can look from all directions both compass and height. Once satisfied that you can literally show students where something like the Pyramids are, and going there from Alaska is a really neat way to do this, you can look from there to other sites to show their geographical relationships. From the Pyramids for example you can easily visit the Sinai Peninsula. But you can also switch to the web and use something like YouTube to add a video of the site. For example, with regard to the Pyramids have a look here:

You can also use Google Earth to look up addresses. I have asked students who would not mind our doing this where they are from and then used Google Earth to zoom in on their neighborhood. How thrilled they have been to be in class in Anchorage but be able to see their home town and even view their house. One student gave her address in Samoa and was thrilled to be able to describe to other students her favorite beach and so on. What a thrill!

In a sudden burst of imagination it occurred to me to use YouTube to look up using Google Earth in the classroom and here is an example of what there is: