New tool - Google Earth

One of the tools I explored was GoogleEarth. Nicely presented information helped me see this as a potentially useful Web 2.0 tool for my Spanish classes. The privacy issue does concernc me but I think knowing it has this concern will help me prepare my students in advance and set boundaries before we use GoogleEarth. I thought of several possible uses in my classroom, assuming we have addressed the privacy and appropriate issues concern. It would be a great tool for a cultural fantasy trip. Helena Curtain taught me how to use a few simple props and decorations to create an imaginary trip in a world Language classrroom and I think she would love this tool. I could take students on a prepared tour of Mexico City and show them where key sites are, we could analyze the unbeleivable growth of this city over time, and see the street view of places I am not able to physically take my middle schol students. I could see using it to have students plan a virtual vacation to a Spanish speaking country. I even thought about using its images with voicethread (if that is possible (help me tech-gurus)to discuss places or use vocabulary to describe locations and have them be authentic rather than the sketches in our text-only but what they might actually see if they traveled. I will definitely keep exploring this tool for implementation with my students.