Google Street View Just Keeps Getting Better

Google's amazing Street View just keeps getting better and better.  Use this in your classroom to take students on virtual field trips anywhere in the world with incredible 360 degree panoramic views.  Imagery from inside the Colosseum in Rome is newly available in street view, as are a variety of other World Landmarks including the C.N. Tower, Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, and many more.  You can even ski the slopes of Whistler through Street View.

One of my personal favourites is Stonehenge, where it is actually possible to get the 360 degree view from inside the circle that you can't even get if you visit in person!

You can also visit the Street view home page to teach your students how Google creates the Street View images.

All you need is a data projector connected to one of your classroom computers to open up a world of possibilities to your students using Google Street View.

Compare Front Pages from Around the World

The Newseum in Washington D.C. is one of Education Officer Tim Ralph's favourite places in the world, and well worth a visit if you're ever in Washington.  But their website is also an incredible tool for classroom use.  If you discuss current events with your students, you have to check out the Newseum's Today's Front Pages map.

This amazing tool displays interactive maps, organized by continent.  Hover over any of the yellow dots, and you see a thumbnail of the current day's newspaper front page from that city.  Click on the thumbnail to view a larger image or a readable pdf of the front page, as well as a live link to the full website of that newspaper.

This is an incredible tool which could be used by students during independent reading, for group research, or for whole group instruction.  Imagine comparing and contrasting how newspapers around the world report on the same news topics.

Check out Today's Front Page soon;  you and your students will love it

Today's Meet - Back Channeling in the Classroom

Today's Meet is a great online tool that allows teachers to instantly create a discussion room. There is no registration process either for teachers and students, which makes this a great "spur of the moment" classroom tool. You can give the URL of the room you create to students, who can enter the room by typing in their first name.  You now have a simple online shared space where students can ask and answer questions during lessons, engaging in the powerful tool of backchanneling.  Give it a try  .... it literally takes 10 seconds to set up a room!  You and your students will love it!