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I’ve been quite open regarding my love for Google, so this edtech tip should not surprise anyone.

GoogleEarth is a great tool for education (more than just hunting for your house and seeing if you can count the missing shingles from your roof).  One great idea that I’ve passed on to a few of our teachers is using GoogleEarth as the starting point for creating Scavenger Hunts and WebQuests.  Depending on grade level, student ability, and comfort level of the teacher these can be as simple or as complex as you want.

The Scavenger Hunt

Most of us have done scavenger hunts before.  You’re given a series of items to find and the first to find all of them wins.  Usually the items are goofy: pictures of you next to someone wearing a striped pink sweater, a ceramic platypus, or a bass fishing trophy.  With a younger audience you could use the scavenger hunt to look for 3-D buildings, important sites, constellations (don’t forget the sky function!) and more.  For example, giving the kids a list of places to find will help them build an understanding of geography, land mass, location, mapping skills, and more.

The WebQuest

A WebQuest “uses the power of the Internet and a scaffolded learning process to turn research-based theories into dependable learning-centered practices.” Basically there are four steps:

1. Guidance- The teacher provides guidance by supplying questions, resources,and research options that will lead to a differentiated method of authentic assessment.
2. Exploration and Discovery- Using various technological resources, students are guided through the discovery process by using the questions and resources provided in the assignment.
3. Transformation and Application- Once the student has completed the questions and research, they can then apply their newly discovered information and grow as students.
4. Presentation and Assessment- using a well defined rubric, the teacher needs to be able to assess if the students were successful in gaining the desired knowledge and whether or not the assignment was sufficiently successful.

Creating a WebQuest in GoogleEarth is done by creating a collection of placemarks, providing sufficient questions and resources (the older the audience, the more freedom can be given), and setting expectations and authentic assesment methods that will demonstrate the success of the assignment.  Creating the placemarks is simple, entering the data requires a rudimentary understanding of a couple HTML commands, and then you save the collection as a KMZ file that can be sent to users.  (For an excellent handout on creating placemarks, click here.)

For example, I created a small KMZ file for a WebQuest on the National Mall in Washington DC (click to download KMZ file).  By launching the file it will add the placemarks and information that I have put together to guide a student through some basics over the National Mall.  The final assessment of the assignment would be to take the information gleaned from the assignment and use it to reach an educated conclusion (such as focusing on the importance of the three monuments and the numerous speaches and protests which have taken place in the National Mall.)

Resources

There are a number of great sites for creatin webquests and using GoogleEarth.  Also look for sites where teachers share their KMZ files for you to use but don’t forget to contribute back to the community!

Geo Education Home - Find helpful information on using Google Earth, Maps, Sky, and SketchUp in your K-12 classroom.

Google Earth Blog

Google Earth Hacks - Google Earth Hacks provides links to interesting content found or created by users like you and gives you quick access to check things out in Google Earth.

Google Earth Lessons - GELessons.com - A Free Public Resource - Providing Teachers with the tools needed to enhance their instruction using Google Earth®, the free program that brings the world to the classroom! A Website By and For Teachers.

Google Lat Long Blog - News and notes by the GoogleEarth and Maps team.

Google Lit Trips - KMZ files for literature tours in Google Earth.  Map important locations in the Aeneid, The Grapes of Wrath, MacBeth and more.

Making Movies with Google Earth

Ogle Earth blog

Real World Math - Using GoogleEarth to teach math lessons.

Spreadsheet Mapper 2.0

Using Google Earth - Learn tricks and tips to explore your world more effectively in Google Earth.

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