Google Maps in the Math Classroom
Google Maps is a tool that I am well familiar with in my personal life. And for the most part, our relationship is a solid one. While I am not as dependent as my friend Elizabeth who I have witnessed ignoring physical road signs in favor of Google’s imprecise directions, Google Maps navigates me from point A to point B on most every occasion. (We will excuse that one alarming time that it turned me down a rural road in Italy that was in fact not a road and nearly got my tiny rental car stranded deep in dirt and gravel.) From mapping the best route to providing traffic and travel time data to locating gas stations to offering reviews on restaurants and coffee shops and much more, it is a helpful and frequently consulted tool in my car. But what about in the classroom? Educator Neil Jarrett (2016) offers five broad ways Google Maps can be applied to a school setting: Descriptive writing of scenes and settings Mapping, creating routes and tutorials Use it to inspire some artwork Conductin...