Google Map

Finally feeling better and now working to get caught up on my life! So, here is my Blog for Google Earth. This is another fun activity that can easily translate into a lesson for my students as they transition from high school to adulthood. I began by installing Google Earth. Not much to tell there, just click the link, load the software, and begin using. Once I had the software loaded onto my desktop, I went into Google Maps to my saved map, clicked on the KML link, and there it was a minute later in the software on my compute. KML stands for Keyhole Markup Language. It is a file format, or language schema, specifically used for geographic data. Here is the map I downloaded: My Map

I have never used Google Earth, although my step-dad and my son both use it. My step-dad does cave and wilderness rescues for the West Virginia, Pennsylvania area, and so you can see why he would use it quite often. So, in this lesson I learned about a piece of free software that I can use with the Google Maps site, which I use often. I also learned about KML files and spent a bit of time reading about them. It was very interesting reading. I also found a lesson I would teach. I am not a subject teacher, so most of the lessons didn’t pertain to what I do in the high school. However, this lesson is a good lesson for any subject: Google Lesson

Porting, or transferring the map from Google Maps was very easy and could be used in not only classes studying Geography with in the Social Studies curriculum but in classes such as mine, where we are seeking a visual of the surrounding area of students’ homes to assist in finding job sites. I will tell you that it just so happened that after I had created our last lesson in Google Maps, I had a student come to me in class with the issue of needing to get to job training for a new job. We pulled up Google Maps on the Promethium board and the students stood around the board collaborating on the best route to the training site and the transportation options. Talk about just in time training for me! It was great.

The NETS-T standard that was applied for me in this lesson was facilitating and inspiring student learning through technology. We were able to take Google Map and solve a real-world problem with a student using digital tools. We did this in a collaborative setting, which allowed us to learn and solve as a team!