Today's (December 12, 2017) CUE Workshop session was on Google Earth and Google Maps, lead by Kyle Brumbaugh. I enjoyed learning more about what these "apps" have to offer; and, how their features may be used in my classroom. Following is a brief summary of what I learned and how I might apply it to lesson design:

GOOGLE MAPS:

Well to begin with, I now see the world...our planet, through a new set of eyes. Google Maps really can be viewed as a virtual/digital/living book of history. With its limitless web links and resources, Maps may be used to provide a new perspective on historical events. History can virtually come alive as students explore events through searching either locations or dates. Students can "see" where an event took place, what it looked like then and compare to what it looks like now. Maps can be shown in "layers' that may be titled and used to create a Slide of new-found information about a topic. Some such topics could include: California earthquakes (old and recent); California fires (old and current); oil spills around the world and communities impacted; or, track an Explorer's path and plot their journey as well as measuring the distances they traveled across the globe. One really cool example that was shared on the presentation was to track the journey of a natural resource to an end-product. This would be such an AMAZING activity/assignment for my Earth Science class when we cover our Material Resources Unit. I can't wait to push in some search/discovery assignments like this; real-world connections makes for a much more meaningful learning experience!

Another really engaging activity would be to create a "Scavenger Hunt". I've already got plans for this one since I already do something like it in my Science class. This could be done in a couple of ways:

• Provide students with a latitude and Longitude for a Teacher-determined point and students would have to locate the point and learn about it. I see this working well in an "Iron Chef" activity which would create some excitement as students raced against the clock and other classmates to find their location. Lat/Long numbers may be found by: clicking on a place/location; a Lat/Long "address" appears. NOTEWORTHY INFO: When the numbers come up, there will be several digits to the right of the decimal. The instructor mentioned that if it's 4 (or more) digits, that there is an accuracy of pin-pointing your location to within 11 meters!
• Create a "layered" learning activity whereby the student must go through a series of Mapping layers that lead to other sites for more discovery and exploration about a topic. For example, I might in working on our Volcano Unit and I want my students to learn more about types of volcanoes. I might create a Slide/Doc with hyperlinks that 1st leads them to a news article when Mt. St. Helens erupted; the next link might go to a YouTube video showing time-lapse photography that shows how the topography changed just prior to and following the eruption; then, lead to a point on the map so the student might see how it looks now and learn ow the community was impacted by this event.

LOVE these ideas and I can't wait to create some really innovative and engaging activities for my students!

GOOGLE EARTH:

This app has a lot of similar features and uses as Maps; however, can I just say "Tour Builder"?!! (A tutorial to this very special feature may be found HERE ). What a GREAT way to use technology to learn about different people and places. This feature has such great cross-curricular opportunities as you explore a "Tour" already created; or, by creating a new one. Some applications for this might be:

• Have students Build a Tour / Timeline about their lives. They could begin at their place of birth and end with where they are now (our school/their home). The places in between could be an assortment of memories like vacations, or places visited, people visited, streets they've lived on, schools they've attended, restaurants they've enjoyed, or a myriad of other large-or-small events in their life.
• Used alone, or in-conjunction with Maps, a Tour could be set up to take a Virtual Field-Trip. Maybe you're studying about Spanish explorer's, you could start with an Image and link that to a part of the tour that show where they settled in North America; this might be linked to other explorers to show a timeline or make comparisons to other journey's and routes. This could then link all trade routes and types of trades that took place; etc. The possibilities are endless.

Once a limited-access resource, Google Earth is now available on Chromebooks, opening up learning opportunities to districts/schools/students that offer 1:1 access. Another feature that the instructor demonstrated was the "I'm Feeling Lucky" icon which, when clicked would take you to a "mystery" location to learn new things about - another tool that I'd like to include into an "Iron Chef" activity. Students might be asked to learn specific things about this location as they work against the clock.

While playing around with Google Earth, I see that, after searching and selecting a point on the Earth, I can zoom in and take a look around. There are buttons that allow me to control how I view the space. I can see a 360 view both from the air (birds-eye) and from the street level. I can move along paths at each site and can even take pictures. This is a great way for students to create their own images of a location they've searched. They may either save and upload the picture, or can see the Lat/Long and include that for others to find. I notice that there are small icons in the "birds-eye" view that show me where other viewers have stopped to take a picture. If I click on one of these icons, it pulls up a small frame, showing details about its location.

Project ideas:

• Scavenger Hunt: (Described earlier)
• Plan a Road Trip: I will use this to incorporate both geography, natural resources, history and math
• Who's in your Classroom?: Create individual timeline maps of their lives and display in Slides; can track timelines on a map and see where and/or when paths might have crossed; or, can use this to build community in the classroom and foster a better understanding about each other through diversity.
• Digital Breakoutedu.com session: I want to investigate this further for additional applications/ideas.
• Iron Chef / SAMR model activity

Reflection:

This workshop was another example of a very well-laid-out session by another very experienced and engaging instructor who obviously enjoys his role as an educator. Unlike the workshops on "familiar" Google apps, that I use daily, this demonstration moved a bit quickly for me; and, since I was viewing on my PC vs. mobile device (or vice-versa), some of the tabs/buttons that the instructor's screen showed, were not appearing on mine. This just, unfortunately, is where there are differences depending on how one might be using the app. Aside from that, however, I found that (once again) I could envision a plethora of uses for these applications in my classroom. With a bit more playing around and and exploration; and, likely viewing some YouTube tutorials, I would be able to produce some very exciting and engaging platforms wherein my student's might enjoy learning about their curriculum in a far more innovative way.

WHAT I LEARNED:

• I learned how to mark and label a point on a map
• I learned how to find the latitude and longitude of a location (and what that means)
• I learned how I might create a trail, path, or "tour" using links and points plotted on a map
• I learned that I can save these in "MyMaps", creating titles and adding in features such as: web cam, videos, pictures, etc.
• I can use Maps or Google Earth to bring cross-curricular activities into my classroom
• I learned how "Street View" "Mobile" allows you to use your mobile device to take a 360degree view of there you are. The "orange dot" and circle allow you to line up your phone's camera viewer with the appropriate position so that the 360 image looks put-together rather than multiple shots
• I have SO MUCH MORE TO LEARN!!

CONFUSIONS / QUESTIONS

I really don't have any that come to mind. I know that when I play around with this more, I am certain that I will; and, I will likely seek out some of my fellow cohort members for help as needed.