links for GoogleEarth instructional media

Google- Download instructions
http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html

Wikipedia- GoogleEarth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GoogleEarth

Google- Explore the Sky with Google Earth
http://earth.google.com/sky/skyedu.html

The Official Google Blog- Dive into GoogleEarth
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/dive-into-new-google-earth.html

Welcome to Google Enterprise: Earth and Maps
http://www.google.com/enterprise/earthmaps/earth_pro.html

Wiki GIS.com: Using Google Earth http://wiki.gis.com/wiki/index.php/Google_Earth

Google Earth Community
http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php/Cat/0

These resource links are found at http://ichoose2learn.blogspot.com/

Using technology to facilitate K-12 education

The integration of technology with K-12 education has been evolving in the past decade. While the transition to Distance Learning and current technologies have quickly spread in both industry and government training programs, the K-12 school systems have been somewhat slow, by comparison, in embracing these technologies.

In general, the use of the word "technology" today implies the use of the computer as a teaching tool. While the computer has tool of instruction with nearly limitless applications, the use of technology as a learning aid dates back to the beginning of learning, with tools such as the abacus The earliest archaeological evidence for the use of the Greek abacus dates to the 5th century BC. The Greek abacus was a table of wood or marble, pre-set with small counters in wood or metal for mathematical calculations (Wikipedia 2010).

The computer has brought profound changes in the application of technology to learning, but the advent of the Internet in the mid 90s has had an even larger impact on our world- including our learning. The has completely revolutionized the way we find information. Gone are the days of spending the afternoon in the library, unless its a library computer. "Probably the technology tool used most often for student projects is the World Wide Web." (Education World 2009)

Public and private K-12 schools have faced barriers which must be overcome in order to take advantage of technology. One of the ongoing challenges faced by schools is how to train faculty whom may be struggling to keep up with these changes, while still meeting the needs of their students and their organizations. This includes the skills necessary to use the infrastructure support mechanisms, such as Learning Management Systems (LMS), Content Management Systems (CMS) and other complex tools surrounding learning technology systems.

Another element that we face is the change in social interactions. Transitioning from a classroom education to a distance education format can be a difficult challenge for some faculty members who may resist the loss of face-to-face interaction. One possible method to overcome this barrier is the inclusion of social networking sites such as Facebook, Myspace, etc. The use of these popular Internet sites in the K-12 audience causes concern by many due to the proliferation of viruses, and issues such as bullying that have recently been a highly visible topic. On the other hand, the ability such websites offer for collaboration with others, even worldwide has nearly endless possibilities, including research, polling and collaboration together in conjunction with online sharing using Googledocs.


Abacus. (2010, June 10) Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abacus

Linda Starr (2009, September 23) Re: Technology Integration:
Ideas That Work. Education World. Retrieved from http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech176.shtml

Technology and k12vwa

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