Google Earth

Buongiorno!!!

Yes i have just been to Italy for lunch, what a day!! Talk about addictive - google earth is great. What a fantastic way to make children more aware about the world we live in. Through google earth children can gain an insight to how big our world is and learn about other countries. Not only can you travel around the world, it is easy to just look up an address. Siemens, 2004 states that 'technology is altering (rewiring) our brains. The tools we use define and shape our thinking.' Google Earth is a great tool to introduce to students and allow them to extend and refine their knowledge. He also acknowledges that 'how people work and function is altered when new tools are utilized.' Imagine how well a yearone class would work if they could see their house on the computer by just typing in a few words?!!

Google Earth could be used in the classroom in a numerous ways. Starting in the early years, it could be as simple as explaining what a bird's eye view is, showing what their street/house looks like from the sky. Moving into the upper years of primary, google earth is a great way to introduce a geography lesson. It is an interesting and useful tool which allows you to be the funky teacher who makes goegraphy lessons fun!! By allowing students to use google earth it broadens their awareness of what our world looks like and how far away countries are from each other. It would also be a great way to introduce time differences between countries. Google Earth provides a visual aid to demonstrate the distance between countries, making the learing experiences more meaningful by being able to see the world. According to Siemens, 2004 'connectivism provides insight into learning skills and tasks needed for learners to flourish in a digital era.' This highlighting the need for more technologies to be used in the classroom, one of those being google earth.

I would love to here how people are using using google earth in their classroom, let me know.

Well im of now to jetset around the world, i;m thinking France for dinner.........

References:

Siemens, G. (2004) Connectivism:A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. Cited on August 17. Retrieved from:
http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm