Using Google Earth to Engage Students with Global Geographic Knowledge

Google Earth projects (or tours) can increase student engagement with geographic knowledge. This is exemplified by the curriculum in Geography 3900 Japan, in which students have worked in groups to create tours. It is also exemplified by a fourth year directed studies project where the student created elementary and secondary versions of regional geography courses for South Sudan using Google Earth.

In the Fall 2022 version of Geography 3900, students shared their tours with university students in Japan. Students who were studying to be elementary teachers at Kyoto Bunkyo University in Japan shared their tours of the Kyoto area with the TRU students, while students in the Geography 3900 class created tours of the Kamloops area for the students at Kyoto Bunkyo University. The students at both institutions then took the tours created by the other institution. Some students from Kyoto Bunkyo University sent video messages to the TRU students in which they described their impressions of the tours. TRU students gave video presentations of tours that the Kyoto Bunkyo students had shared with them. The students from both classes met online as a group once during the term. Some of the students from both classes met in Uji, Japan in the spring of 2023 while the TRU Geog3700 field course was taking place.