Google Earth is now available as a web based application. While Google Earth has been around for quite some time, it was as a download program which meant it wasn't accessible for Chromebooks and some other devices. You can now access Google Earth on most devices through Google Chrome-your web browser. You can click on the Google Earth Link or go to earth.google.com. Google Earth has some cool features like the Voyager which brings you to pre-made journeys with information about the destinations. Take students on a guided tour of exotic locations around the globe. Feeling Lucky allows you to head to random locations and learn about places you may not have even heard of before. My Places - search for and book mark, or click on feeling lucky and add those to your places to create your own travel adventure. This creates something similar to Voyages, but doesn't have all of the detailed information that comes with a Voyage adventure. One really cool feature about Google Earth is you can move from birds eye view to street view, and as you move around the globe Google Earth gives keeps the global perspective by showing you the earth as it sits in space. Below is a quick overview of Google Earth. I have only been able to explore it for a few minutes. I will update this post as I figure out new features.
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This week I had a chance to explore GoAnimate a little more in depth. I was working at an elementary school when I came across student writing samples hanging in the hallway. I chose one of those samples to be the basis of a GoAnimate project. My hope is to demonstrate a way to use technology to bring student work to life. What inspired me was the fact the students drew pictures to go with their stories and those were hanging next to the writing. In a previous post I mentioned using GoAnimate or other tools to have students talk through their thinking or explain their work samples, especially in art class, or it could be with posters or other student samples. This time I simply wanted to bring a story to life. A lot of times teachers have asked students to create book trailers, in this example the entire story has become a short movie. I used the text to speech function, but think it would be powerful to have students read their own stories as they create the video. There is an option to have them do a voiceover which would put their voice in their video. I shared this with the teacher of the student author whose story I used and she asked me to share it with the student. When I came into the class and shared it with the student, the rest of the class gathered around my computer to watch. Several asked if I would make one for them. My reply was a polite no, but I will teach you how to make one. Next week we will be working on these and I will share some of the products students create. Another example I created for a class that is creating a travel experience itinerary. I created this simple example to show them how they can interject the visuals of the locations of their destinations and could add a little movement to enhance the video all within GoAnimate. The students have researched their destinations, explored potential places of interest, and have figured out travel and lodging. They will use GoAnimate to create a video highlighting the travel experience. Students will also create a Google My Map to help their customers visualize the trip. They will create pins of the various cities and places of interest the vacationer will travel as part of the excursion the student has planned. With each pin the student will be able to add images, information and even videos to help sell their vacation package. These are just a few examples of what can be done with GoAnimate. I will add student samples in the next couple of weeks. I would love to see what you and your students have created to showcase the great things our students are doing.
Accessing BrainPOP is best done through the waffle or 9 dots in the upper right corner when in a Google application such as your Drive or Gmail.
BrainPOP is a tremendous resource that we have in GBAPS. There are lots of content resources available for many content areas that go beyond videos for students to learn about a topic. There are tools where students can map their thinking or understanding of a topic. Recently BrainPOP added Make a Movie feature where students can access BrainPOP content to make their own video products.
Another resource that I think has tremendous potential is the Gameup section of BrainPOP This section allows you to access a multitude of games from numerous game creators like iCivics, Mission US, and many others to provide engaging experiences for your students. In the video below I share how to access the Gameup page and search for games in your content area. As a high school teacher I used some of the iCivics games to help students engage in my social studies content. It provided them with the experience of making decisions and seeing immediate consequences to those decisions. It provided a lot of great conversation that connected to what we were studying and provided a better understanding of the difficult decisions leaders have to make. Playing the game wasn't the significant part of the learning experience, it was the discussions that the game experience lead to.
With all resources, please review how they fit into your content area and meet the standards for your curriculum. Some of the games may ask for logins, please avoid having students login with their google account, email, or names. If they are able to play as a guest, or with an anonymized name they should be fine. If you have questions about this, please contact me or another tech integrator or your LMS. To Learn more about BrainPOP check out the BrainPOP tutorial guide. |
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September 2018
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