So far, I have had a great time learning about our chosen medium to present this New Literacy project- Google Earth! I've heard so much about it, but to be honest I had never tried it before this project. I'm learning so much about this resource; it is so great how you can create slide shows and tours that people can follow. It's awesome that you can even make recordings and listen to recordings that others have made!
Something interesting is how much time and effort it took me to become even relatively familiar with this program. It makes me wonder, with all the new technology out there how teachers can possibly keep up. It is fun, but challenging, and I feel like teachers do not receive training for most of the new technology they receive. For example, I know that Charlotte just gave students an IPad- great, until you realize that very few teachers actually utilize the device since they themselves do not know how to work it. I think with new mediums teachers have to make a decision- weigh out the benefits versus the cost of time to learn the medium, since it can take quite awhile to familiarize yourself with any new type of medium enough to where you feel comfortable using the medium in a classroom and lesson based setting.
For me, I think that I would use Google Earth with my classes in the future- especially for lessons regarding different areas of the globe. It is a great way for students to not only go "exploring" without leaving the classroom, but I also like that students can get a sense of just how far away some of these places are as the globe turns. (This would be a LOT of fun to use for a geography lesson!) Overall, so far I think this project is great as it helps us to learn more about a medium for presenting literacy that we may not have previously been familiar with, but now can add to our arsenal of tools for future use in the classroom!
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