Before computers were wired into classrooms, and the generous push towards a Creative Commons and Open Access of sharing knowledge, the view through an electron microscope, the image from a satellite, and a slice of the human body were exclusive to a few academics and professionals.
Governments coveted their storehouses of statistical data and the great museums and art galleries of the world were glimpsed only by a lucky few who could physically visit them.
With such amazing tools and resources available to us, it only makes sense to teach our students how to access them.
It also makes sense to use the opportunity to instill a touch of reality into our lessons by asking students to solve real problems. Many of the free interactive sites are simpler versions of those used by professionals; for example, geographers, planners and land surveyors use a proprietary version of Google Earth.
GO IMMEDIATELY TO THE TOOLS AND RESOURCES
GO IMMEDIATELY TO ONLINE SKILLS NEEDED TO USE THE TOOLS AND RESOURCES
SAMPLE STARTING POINTS
- Looking at your home town with Google Earth list 5 geographic features that influenced the choices by the original inhabitants?
- Comparing Community Profiles in the Statistics Canada database, choose 3 different places, compare them and explain - Where would the best place be to raise a family?
- You are asked to hang a show in the local art gallery. What ten paintings in The Louvre would you hang, to illustrate 10 different human emotions of your choice?
