“Wow” with Google Earth

(cross-posted at TechLearning)

My second graders hit the “wow” factor this week: I started working with Google Earth with them. Class after class… “Wow…”

I started the lesson by first taking them to Google maps. Many of them have seen their parents use the tool to get driving directions. When I turned on the satellite images, they perked up. When I took them to the “Street View” they became very focused. When I finally opened up Google Earth and “flew” them to NY City (complete with 3D buildings) and then to the Grand Canyon (brought to life with the “terrain” overlay), then I got the “Wows…” Not exclamatory, but quiet amazement. And I’m right there with them. Wow…

The world isn’t really flat, and neither should maps be. Globes are an improvement and definitely decorative, but nothing can compare with the experience that Google Earth offers. Spinning the world around, zooming in, flying from Destination A to Destination B brings an engagement and attachment that I never experienced as a kid with maps.

There’s a “Friends” show (American) where the character Joey is having trouble reading a map of London. He solves the problem by “stepping into the map” (quite literally) and this makes all the difference for him. I guess we’d say that Joey is a kinesthetic learner. Google Earth allows students to not only “step into the map” but also to see actual cars and buildings and license plates (in Street View). Students fly off to Disney World just by typing it into the search and dropping down to where they can see the Epcot Center. They screech in delight because they recognize the building (“I’ve been there!”). They turn on hundreds of overlays to interpret the world from different angles/topics: pollution, news, health, weather, population, etc.

Google Earth is a better tool than a traditional globe or map for the “Joeys” in our 21st Century classroom. Perhaps we will call them “digital kinesthetic learners” (those that learn/understand better in a virtual space, such as a video game), but clearly, Google Earth will benefit all learners as it helps us to realize and understand our world in ways never before possible.

And… when was the last time you heard a student say “Wow…” over a traditional globe? It looks kind of silly over there in the corner, collecting dust, while students huddle around the computer manipulating, constructing, interpreting, designing, “mashing”, customizing, navigating, and dissecting with this new “globe.”

Oh yeah… and don’t forget the flying.