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Blog Post #5: Digital Tool Tutorial


If you are anything like me, you are constantly looking for your next adventure. From Maine to India to Chicago to Los Angeles to London and everywhere in between, I want to see and hear and taste and feel and do it all. Unfortunately, however, I am a teacher, which means that neither my schedule nor my bank account necessarily support international jetsetting on a whim. Still, however, when I feel that travel bug bite, I know just the antidote to help scratch that itch: Google Earth. What I have found, however, is that Google Earth is a fantastic digital tool that we can use with our students to show them the big, beautiful world, and help them become global citizens.

Google Earth is an engaging, culturally responsive digital tool that you can implement in your classroom to take your students on virtual "field trips" (and do your own exploring as a teacher... and maybe some  fantasizing about a tropical vacation). When undergoing the training for my Google Educator certification, I was introduced to the idea of using Google Earth as a digital learning tool with students. You can use Google Earth to create "Projects," which are lists of destinations to which you can easily navigate and explore using the aerial views of the city and the street view feature. 

In my classroom, I use Google Earth to take my students on a virtual field trip about whatever text we are reading in class! Especially when studying global literature, it's a really fun and engaging way to help my students better understand the significance of physical setting in relation to a story.

Google Earth is included for free in Google Suites. As well, multilingual learners can use the Google Chrome Translate extension to easily translate the webpage to their home language if they so wish. 

Below is a short video explaining how to use Google Earth to take your students on a virtual field trip. Enjoy!

LINK TO VIDEO: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14FBDFkmG2V4rhlZU99kvZEErFAEfMFaU/view?usp=sharing






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