Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has announced that ten educational experiences based on its Google Earth program have been created. This was with the intention of letting learners explore the world using satellite imagery. Some of the organizations that Google partnered with in the effort include Mission Blue, HHMI Biointeractive, PBS Education and National Geographic Society.
“We hope that this encourages exploration and personal education, making it easy to learn using virtual reality,” said Google in an online posting.
Guided tours
Through one such educational project designed for learners by PBS Education, students experience a guided tour following in the footsteps of famous 17th century French explorers who assisted in mapping out the diverse waterways in North America. These waterways include River Mississippi and the Great Lakes.
In another project which National Geographic Society developed, learners can accompany Paul Salopek, a journalist as he walks for 21,000 miles in Africa trying to retrace the footsteps of the first human beings to have left Africa and spread to different parts of the world.
To develop the educational projects the Voyager tool from Google was used. The tool allows educators as well as other organizations to create similar experiences for students using Google Earth.
Technology conference
The educational experiences that are employing Voyager were announced during the International Society for Technology in Education event that was held in San Antonio, Texas. At the same conference Google also revealed that Expeditions, a virtual reality tool which lets learners explore the world in the comfort of their classroom in a way that is similar to a field trip, would be expanded to give students and teachers more choices in the classroom.
In order to do this students need to make use of Google Cardboard viewer. Google will also be unveiling a do-it-yourself mode which will allow just about anyone to take a virtual trip without requiring any outside help. Some of the solo excursions that are available include exploring China’s Great Wall and the Great Barrier Reef.
Besides Google Cardboard viewer other special classroom kits available for students from Google include ASUS smartphones and Mattel View-Masters which can transform smartphones into virtual reality headsets.
On Monday shares of Alphabet Inc fell by 1.42% to close the day at $972.09.
