There are templates, super simple links to Google drive, images, files, url's and more. Placement is easy to readjust, and pages are very simple to add and navigate. I encourage you to give it a try.
During the summer is the perfect time to learn as much as you can about the latest features Google has to offer. Here's a great site that can help steer your learning to what you can really use.
Are you ready to see overseas, reach new heights and create new adventures?
Google is all you need to TRAVEL BY MAP!
On my adventures this week, I explored Google Earth's amazing platform.
I discovered most of Google's features are user friendly, and exciting to explore, and bring the world right to you wherever you are.
One of my favorite features I've experimented with this week is Google Art Project.
Watch this TED talk video below to check out all the amazing capabilities of walking through galleries, museums, and even looking up close at famous masterpieces thousands of miles away.
"Once you get it, you are hooked!"
Once you see the awesome opportunities this app provides, you will make sure you have it downloaded on your phones, iPads and linked in your bookmarks. You may find it here.
As an art lover, I can see the benefit of the Google art project in so many applications. Just recently, I was talking to a friend about his trip to Berlin. He was telling me of the famous museums and galleries he walked through on his tour around the city. As we were talking, I was able to easily find images he was talking about to have a visual right in front of me, giving our conversation more depth, clarity and enthusiasm.
Google Maps
First, I used Google Maps to type in the city, Berlin.
Next, I was able to use the small person icon to jump right inside the physical buildings with a 360 degree view all around me. It was fantastic!
The excuse no longer exists to say, "I don't know how to get there." Google has changed everything. This luxury is thanks to the countless hours and people whose important job it is to navigate this earth, going to unique locations, and taking pictures right in our own front yards.
I have used Google Maps for a long time for quick and easy driving directions, however I never knew all the functionality beyond telling me which turn to take. I have now learned you can download maps for a specific area, while you are online, to give you the same tools and services later when you travel to a location without service. This is helpful for anyone without unlimited data or limited cell service.
Here's a tutorial how to download your maps for use when you may be offline:
One of my absolute favorite features of Google is Peg Man!
This little icon has the superpowers to transport you onto busy streets, or right inside famous buildings, parks, and even oceans! This tutorial below teaches you the basics you need.
Google Tours exist for many interest groups.
To take it ONE STEP FURTHER, I now know how to Travel by Map for REAL, like the Muppets made me dream of long ago! Google Tour Builder is the ultimate answer to all my traveling prayers.
I have been so impressed by the ease of adding locations, images, captions, and personalized perspectives to any place in the world. As I learned of the smooth functionality of Google Tour Builder, my brain went wild with ideas of how this could be relevant for classroom projects, history lessons, and general interest in current and past events. There is so much to be gained by images of architecture, people, environment, and landscape in places we have never visited physically. Nothing seems impossible with Google.
Here's a tour I created to teach students about the amazing sculptures of Claes Oldenburg. Oldenburg Sculpture Tour
Here is a link to a Jane Goodall tour which includes original pictures of Jane as a child, with artifacts from her time in Africa. It is fabulous to be able to instantly see the forest floor in the Gombe National Park by dragging the little person icon right into the trees.
In addition to land tours, you can even take tours underseas to explore without scuba lessons or gear.
The link below leads you on a tour of different islands, some including underwater 3-d imaging of fish, coral and beaches in a 360 degree tour.
I feel as though every search leads me into a new hallway of knowledge with Google. This week I was most taken with the features I had no idea existed.
Do you love Trivia? Play Smarty Pins
If you love trivia, know a bit of geography, and want to compete, this is the free google game for you! Smarty Pins
Test your knowledge to win at Trivial Pursuit, Quiz Bowl, or just to know you are the best. Learn new facts every time you play.
Do you love to travel, but also love the comfort of your own home? Explore like never before with Google World Wonders Project! This fantastic site leads you to explore places of the world you may never visit. There are so many
ways to view the sites, by 3-d imaging, video, photographs, or word
descriptions. I cannot wait to play with
this project more to see how I can incorporate it into my classroom as we
explore where artists are from, and the scenery that inspires them. Everywhere I click, I learn something new.
This link will take you to lesson plans by Google to incorporate right into your classroom.
Google Art Project provides you numerous ways to explore art from all around the world. You can target your exploration by looking into specific videos showing closeups of famous masterpieces, such as Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night.
Here you can see the thick paint palette strokes as you peer into Van Gogh's famous masterpiece.
As an art teacher, I love the option to search inside different art movements. This helps create connections between artists during the same artistic time of influence. You can search many categories, like those shown below:
