Google Earth!

With teaching history in mind, the second I saw Google Earth as one of the possible technologies to explore I got excited thinking about how I would use it in my classroom. The first thing I thought of in terms of technological content knowledge (TCK) was how geography was removed from the required social studies classes in Michigan and instead expected to be taught as part of history classes. Google Earth and geography go hand in hand because it is completely full of geographical information, especially on land use patterns such as where humans have settled in cities, where residential, commercial, and industrial zoning occurs, and what land has been cultivated for farming and topography of geographical regions, showing mountains, forests, deserts, rivers, and other bodies of water. These features of physical geography also play a large role in world history with wars, migrations, and entire civilizations being shaped by the location of rivers, mountain ranges, deserts, and bodies of water.

In terms of technological pedagogical knowledge, one thing I thought about was the role of discovery in learning about social studies. Google Earth gives each student the power to play around with maps and discover answers to geographical and historical questions on their own. It would be easy for any type of project or activity based around Google Earth to genuinely allow students ownership over their own learning. They get to be the ones literally looking at the topological features and human settlement patterns instead of having someone tell them about the geography or reading about it. They get to assume the role of geographer and historian themselves. The only drawback to this that I noticed is that navigating around on Google Earth can be tricky and annoying because it can be difficult to control how and when it zooms or moves locations.

The technological pedagogical content knowledge that would bring this all together is exemplified by any history lesson about the role of geography as a force shaping history based around an inquiry model of students coming up with theories about historical events and then looking at the geography of those areas on Google Earth to test that theory. For example, I could do a world history lesson about the rise of ancient civilizations that gives students their location and asks them to use Google Earth to try and figure out why those civilizations occurred in those particular locations. Furthermore, I could also do a US History lesson about the role of geography in famous battles such as Gettysburg, D-Day, or the British attack on Fort McHenry that inspired the Star Spangled Banner, all of which were heavily influenced by the local geography. Such a lesson might also ask students to come up with their own theories about how the geography might have affected the outcome by looking at maps on Google Earth. Finally, I could ask students to connect these conclusions from either lesson to something about geography in their local area that might affect where people in their community live.

Here is an example of an image from Google Earth that shows the themes of settlement based on geography which could be used as a hook for discussion of human migration and the origins of various civilizations:

Original Image: Wajima Aerial View (Google Earth)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kahtava/143086596/sizes/s/in/photostream/
by: Steph & Adam

Release under an Attribution License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/