Google Earth can be used in the classroom to create virtual tours for students. Teachers can record tours using the movie camera icon to create placeholders for students to explore. Tours can then be uploaded to the school's learning management system. Some potential activities using virtual tours include creative writing assignments based on literary locations, assessing transport options between points on a tour, developing communication systems based on terrain, and measuring environmental changes over time by using the time slider tool. Additional plug-ins are also available to enhance tours, such as adding natural sounds or exploring underwater terrain.

1. Google EarthIntegrating ICTGoogle Earth in your classroomCreated by Miriam Tanti

2. Create a tour Use movie camera icon and then press Record.

3. Upload tour to your school LMS

4. Using Google Earth and your IWB can add a tactile dimension* Creating a tour ensures that students are able to explore the places identified. Use the yellow pin to create several placeholders in your tour.With your tour you can …

5. Take students on a virtual tour … a great way to familiarise students with the sights before an excursion

6. Literary tour #1 – get students to explore the places within the tour and use landmarks, cars, properties to write a creative writing piece

7. Literary tour #2 – use the path tool to document the literary journey and then audio software (e.g. voicethread) to narrate the story

8. Transport unit – students are to view tour, assess the terrain, research the best form of transport to get from point A to point B, use online databases to compare costs and time and then propose and justify the most feasible form of transport for the tour.

9. Computing – students are to explore the tour, assess the terrain, landscape and develop a suitable communication system

10. Use the time slider to view imagery of a location at different instances of time

11. Antarctica unit –Time slider #2Compare Antarctica 1963 to Antarctica 2010. Use the line tool to measure parts of Antarctica that are no longer snow covered – explain why this has occurred and then use line tool to predict the area of the snow covered region of Antarctica 2030. Explain why this loss has occurred and strategies to prevent it.

12. Design unit – Locate address or coordinates for vacant block of land. Students are to research architecture, building codes, etc of local area. Use Google sketch-up to design building for land.

13. Add-ins (.kmz files)- Wild Sanctuary : archive of natural sounds- Google Lit Trips : literary tours- Ocean plug-in : explore underwater terrain

14. IdeasThis is a work in progress – please feel free to post a comment or email me with other Google Earth in education ideas.