10 Excellent Lessons from Google to Help Students Better Use Google Maps in Their Learning

January 5, 2015

Google Maps is an excellent tool to use with students to develop their spatial thinking. Beyond getting driving or walking directions to the other, this tool enables students to discover the world right from their classrooms. It is also a very good way to teach students about geography concepts, distance measurement, map readings and other fundamentals of mapping such as longitude, latitude, locations and many more.

There are actually several ways to use Google Maps with students. Here are some few examples suggested by Google:

• Create collaborative maps
• Create a campus or school district map
• Create a family heritage map
• Get walking directions
• Plan a trip using public transportation
• Get biking directions
• Add or edit places on maps for your community
• Compare neighborhoods and communities across the world
• Understand traffic patterns
• Use maps as writing inspiration

To help students better use Google Maps and tap into its educational potential in their learning, Google Maps offers an instructional module called Google Maps Basics which consists of 10 lessons. The lessons are accompanied by tutorials and video explanations to help students understand and pass the test at the end of the lesson. Through these lessons , students will get to learn how to:

• Create Maps to build supplemental knowledge
• Locate and study Maps for historical context
• Use Maps to study mathematical and science concepts
• Create virtual tours to enhance field trip experiences
• Explore the Google Cultural Institute for use in the classroom

Watch this introductory video about the new Google Maps

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