Google Maps

I was surprised at all the amazing things that can be done with Google Maps! You can do so much more than find directions! You are able to look things up on the normal map, or on satellite, and they even have pictures of many of the roads, so as you are looking for directions, you can see what the intersection you need to turn at looks like. Better than that, you can use these same tools as educational instruments in the classroom. If you are talking about a specific place, you can look it up by its coordinates on google map and looks at a pretty current picture of the place. This brings geography to life! Not only do you read the map, but you can actually go there while sitting in your chair! Students can also see where things are in relation to others, and even how to get there.
In many of my classes, we are talking about the various forms of literacy--one of those forms is being able to read a map. Map-reading is very useful in life and helps us to get a better geographic bearing of the world. Google maps makes learning map literacy a fun and exciting experience. It's something that can be done in the classroom, and also something the students can take home to do their own research.