Week 5 - Google Earth

This week I decided to focus on using Google Earth as my nominated tool for animation and simulation. Google Earth is a website that lets you see into the world through imagery. It is very easy to use, you just need to type in a place or more specifically an address and Google Earth will show you images of the place. This can help the students see the world and feel as though you are standing in that particular place.

Positives:

• Students can feel connected to places through Google Earth, rather than images off the internet.
• There are possibilities of connecting with another school in a different part of the world and use Google Earth to visit their place and for them to see ours.
• It is very user friendly and the images are very clear.
• It is readily accessible from your desktop once the software is downloaded and is also free.
• It presents a lot of information in a geographical context.
• It can be an excellent research tool for students to describe a particular place.

 Negatives:

•  Students may limit themselves to only using Google Earth and not use other resources in geographical projects.
• The teacher will need to be well educated into using the different aspects to Google Earth.
• There is not much information on the places being searched, mainly just imagery.
• It can be quite difficult to navigate once you are on the ground level and could find yourself getting lost.