Google Lit Trips

I really enjoyed reading the article on Google Lit Trips and exploring the lit trips website. I personally find Google Maps and Google Earth to be fascinating applications, and I think there is a lot of potential to use them in the classroom. Like the women on the podcast I had to incorporate technology into my lessons as part of my teacher training program, and I did this by using Google Earth during a unit study on geography with my second graders. In previous discussions we had talked about our "global address," to help students learn that they live on a street, in a town, in a state, in a country, on a continent, etc. The activity I planned was very open ended. We began the lesson by introducing some of the technical components of Google Maps so that students could then explore their world. Students first typed in their street address and from there found their way to their school. They were directed to find a few more places in their town that they frequent, and then they had the opportunity to explore other geographic places we had discussed in the unit. Students were eager to "travel" to familiar places that they had been with their families, but they also jumped to different locations all around the Earth. This was by far the most excited that I had seen them throughout our geography unit. I think part of their excitement was a result of using a new technology that they could manipulate with relative ease. They also enjoyed seeing places that are familiar to them on the map in a digital format, as well as the opportunity to explore the unknown. In terms of learning goals for the activity, I do not know if the use of the technology helped them solidify the connection to the conversations we had about our global address. I think they benefited most from the freedom they were given to explore different parts of the world, because Google Earth lends itself so well to exploration. In retrospect, if I wanted more specific learning goals to be met I think I would have had to be much more explicit in my instructions and in my lesson focus. Like Robyn said, so much of the success of technology use with students depends on how well you manage the classroom and the materials, and I think this rings true for Google Earth.

Google Lit Trips may offer a more focused way to use Google Earth with students. I found the Lit Trip that Brusca described in the article, and it is a really neat way to make the literature come alive for students. I can see this being a great tool to use in the elementary classroom, especially in connection with interdisciplinary social studies units. My students are in the middle of a unit study on immigration, and a huge component of the curriculum uses picture books to teach about the different facets of the immigration process. We often pull down the world map to point out the places that we discuss, but I think the satellite and street view components that a Lit Trip could add would be valuable enhancements. I would want to point out the places on the classroom map as well so students could make the connection between the digital tool and the paper based map, but I see a lot of potential value in the use of technology.