Journal 6: Google Earth

Google Earth is "a desktop application for Mac, PC, or Linux computers that allows you to navigate planet Earth from multiple views. Google Earth combines satellite photos and maps with a search engine to allow you search to find directions and specific addresses or general locations and services." (Marziah Karch)

I learned from a discussion about Google Earth that there are many lesson plans that can be derived from the use of Google Earth. Many students benefit from engaging in the use of this and it truly can make learning fun. It can be included in lesson plans for almost all subject areas, and the discussion on this included links to usable lessons. A very helpful resource!

As one member of Classroom 2.0 states "Google Earth is a good resource because it can be used asynchronously and the files can be downloaded or emailed. The students also learned how to annotate their work and add citations." So not only is it fun, they are learning to use other aspects of technology. The lessons given were geared towards Middle School & High School, but could be modified for the lower grades.

Journal 4

Making Field Trips Podtastic!
By Aliece M. Weller, John C. Bickar, and Paul McGuinness

In this article the authors discuss the benefits of using podcasts on handheld wireless computers as a guide during field trips. An experiment was done on a group of kids at the Boston Museum of Science using this technology, and kids were sent from station to station with their hand held computer and headphones, listening to the podcast and answering short quiz questions. Once the question is answered correctly, the next podcast is "unlocked" and they are sent to a new station or area. They can take pictures as they wish and make observations in their journals on the handheld. This technology in essence adds to the multi-sensory experience of the field trip be it the Zoo, Botanical Gardens, or a Museum. It's range is endless. This requires a lot of prep work on the part of the teacher as they need to create each podcast for the fieldtrip, but the benefits are huge to the students, according to the authors.

How would a teacher go about getting funds to purchase enough sets for their entire class? I'm not sure! The computers used in the experiment were Toshiba Pocket PC e750 which can cost around $200 each. This seems very costly, and I as a teacher would worry about the kids damaging them.

Would the use of handhelds take away from the overall experience on the fieldtrip if the students were solely focused on the technology? Perhaps at first, but I'm sure once the students got used to it, it truly would enhance the learning experience and fieldtrip overall.