Tag Archives: Google Earth

Updates from ISTE: new tools to empower our future explorers and digital citizens

Editor's note: This week our Google for Education team will be joining thousands of educators at the annual ISTE conference in San Antonio. Follow along here and on Twitter for the latest news and updates.

Technology is transforming how students learn and the skills they need to succeed.


Today at the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) conference, we’ll be highlighting new tools and programs built to empower students to explore, build and think critically as active learners. Look out for a deeper dive on each of these announcements on the blog throughout this week.

Students as inventors and explorers

  • Recently we announced a new browser-based version of Google Earth that makes it easier than ever for teachers to bring the world into the classroom using Chromebooks. Today we are excited to introduce 10 new stories in Google Earth Voyager, our new storytelling platform, built specifically for the classroom. We collaborated with National Geographic Society, PBS Education, HHMI Biointeractive and Mission Blue to create beautiful, curated Voyager stories which offer students a new perspective on the world. We’re also unveiling new classroom activities for teachers to get started today. This week, Google Earth will become an additional service for Google for Education users, which can be managed by IT administrators through the Google Admin panel.

[edu] earth alamo.png

Google Earth knowledge card of the Alamo, not far from the ISTE 2017 conference!


  • We’re always looking to highlight great educational content on Chromebooks that can be seamlessly integrated into the classroom, while also fostering skills of the future. Today we’re announcing a collection of STEM tools for Chromebooks -- Dremel 3D40 3D Printer and littleBits Code Kit -- that schools can purchase at a bundle discount from their Chromebook reseller. These tools bring engineering into the classroom and help students become inventors.


  • Coming soon, the Expeditions app for Cardboard and Daydream will offer a self-guided mode so anyone can access more than 600 virtual field trips on their own. Students and teachers will be able to pick an adventure to anywhere—from the Great Barrier Reef to the Great Wall of China—and see details on points of interest highlighted on cards. We hope that this encourages exploration and personal education, making it easy to learn using virtual reality.

Students as critical thinkers and responsible digital citizens

  • In addition to the bundle of STEM tools announced above, we are offering a discounted bundle of media literacy apps on Chromebooks, Scrible and eSpark Frontier. The tools are designed to support students as they research and write using contemporary online information and help students form opinions about the media they consume.


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Impact Portraits paint a picture of school success with Chromebooks and G Suite

Today, we’re sharing seven new Impact Portraits from school districts across the U.S. The districts range in size and demographics from Florida’s Brevard County, which covers a diverse coastal area with 73,000 students, to upstate New York’s Amherst Central, with 2,944 students.


One thing these schools have in common: they're using Chromebooks and G Suite to drive measurable improvements in everything from reading skills to AP diploma graduation rates. In the Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township, for example, Indiana’s measure of third grade reading skills has grown by 10% since adopting Chromebooks. Check out g.co/EduImpact to find all of the Impact Portraits, and stay tuned for a closer look at the collection later this week.


The school districts whose Impact Portraits we’re sharing today include:

Look out for a deeper dive on each of these updates on our Keyword blog throughout this week. If you’re at ISTE in San Antonio, visit us at booth #1718 in the expo hall. And check out our teaching theater sessions—taking place in room #214D—where educators and Googlers will be giving short presentations throughout the conference.

Source: Education


Updates from ISTE: new tools to empower our future explorers and digital citizens

Editor's note: This week our Google for Education team will be joining thousands of educators at the annual ISTE conference in San Antonio. Follow along here and on Twitter for the latest news and updates.

Technology is transforming how students learn and the skills they need to succeed.


Today at the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) conference, we’ll be highlighting new tools and programs built to empower students to explore, build and think critically as active learners. Look out for a deeper dive on each of these announcements on the blog throughout this week.

Students as inventors and explorers

  • Recently we announced a new browser-based version of Google Earth that makes it easier than ever for teachers to bring the world into the classroom using Chromebooks. Today we are excited to introduce 10 new stories in Google Earth Voyager, our new storytelling platform, built specifically for the classroom. We collaborated with National Geographic Society, PBS Education, HHMI Biointeractive and Mission Blue to create beautiful, curated Voyager stories which offer students a new perspective on the world. We’re also unveiling new classroom activities for teachers to get started today. This week, Google Earth will become an additional service for Google for Education users, which can be managed by IT administrators through the Google Admin panel.

[edu] earth alamo.png

Google Earth knowledge card of the Alamo, not far from the ISTE 2017 conference!


  • We’re always looking to highlight great educational content on Chromebooks that can be seamlessly integrated into the classroom, while also fostering skills of the future. Today we’re announcing a collection of STEM tools for Chromebooks -- Dremel 3D40 3D Printer and littleBits Code Kit -- that schools can purchase at a bundle discount from their Chromebook reseller. These tools bring engineering into the classroom and help students become inventors.


  • Coming soon, the Expeditions app for Cardboard and Daydream will offer a self-guided mode so anyone can access more than 600 virtual field trips on their own. Students and teachers will be able to pick an adventure to anywhere—from the Great Barrier Reef to the Great Wall of China—and see details on points of interest highlighted on cards. We hope that this encourages exploration and personal education, making it easy to learn using virtual reality.

Students as critical thinkers and responsible digital citizens

  • In addition to the bundle of STEM tools announced above, we are offering a discounted bundle of media literacy apps on Chromebooks, Scrible and eSpark Frontier. The tools are designed to support students as they research and write using contemporary online information and help students form opinions about the media they consume.


Impact Portraits paint a picture of school success with Chromebooks and G Suite

Today, we’re sharing seven new Impact Portraits from school districts across the U.S. The districts range in size and demographics from Florida’s Brevard County, which covers a diverse coastal area with 73,000 students, to upstate New York’s Amherst Central, with 2,944 students.


One thing these schools have in common: they're using Chromebooks and G Suite to drive measurable improvements in everything from reading skills to AP diploma graduation rates. In the Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township, for example, Indiana’s measure of third grade reading skills has grown by 10% since adopting Chromebooks. Check out g.co/EduImpact to find all of the Impact Portraits, and stay tuned for a closer look at the collection later this week.


The school districts whose Impact Portraits we’re sharing today include:

Look out for a deeper dive on each of these updates on our Keyword blog throughout this week. If you’re at ISTE in San Antonio, visit us at booth #1718 in the expo hall. And check out our teaching theater sessions—taking place in room #214D—where educators and Googlers will be giving short presentations throughout the conference.

Source: Education


Using machine learning to help people make smart decisions about solar energy

 A few years ago, when my family was first deciding whether or not to go solar, I remember driving around the neighborhood, looking at all the solar arrays on nearby rooftops. It made me realize: Wow, solar isn’t some futuristic concept, it’s already part of the fabric of my town! Seeing that others around me were already benefiting from solar helped me decide to do the same.

We want to make it easy for people to make informed decisions about whether to invest in solar. Project Sunroof already shows you solar potential and cost saving for more than 60 million individual homes. Today we’re adding a new feature, Project Sunroof Data Explorer, which shows a map of existing solar installations in neighborhoods throughout the United States. Now instead of driving street to street, it’s a little easier to see if houses around you and communities nearby have already gone solar.  
one
Click on “existing arrays” in the upper right corner to see number of existing installations in your region

This feature combines machine learning with imagery from Google Maps and Google Earth to provide an estimate of how many houses in an area have solar. We started by taking in high-resolution imagery of rooftops and manually identifying solar installations. We then used that data as the initial training set for our algorithm. After many iterations, our machine learning algorithms can now automatically find and identify installations in the imagery (both photovoltaic panels, which produce electricity, and solar hot water heaters). Even for machines, practice makes perfect!

2

So far we’ve identified around 700,000 installations in the U.S. and over time, as we continue to train the algorithms and apply improvements, we will be able to find and show more installations. We hope that this new feature will provide policy makers, communities and individuals with more information to help make smarter decisions in their transition to cleaner power sources.

Source: Google LatLong


Using machine learning to help people make smart decisions about solar energy

 A few years ago, when my family was first deciding whether or not to go solar, I remember driving around the neighborhood, looking at all the solar arrays on nearby rooftops. It made me realize: Wow, solar isn’t some futuristic concept, it’s already part of the fabric of my town! Seeing that others around me were already benefiting from solar helped me decide to do the same.

We want to make it easy for people to make informed decisions about whether to invest in solar. Project Sunroof already shows you solar potential and cost saving for more than 60 million individual homes. Today we’re adding a new feature, Project Sunroof Data Explorer, which shows a map of existing solar installations in neighborhoods throughout the United States. Now instead of driving street to street, it’s a little easier to see if houses around you and communities nearby have already gone solar.  
one
Click on “existing arrays” in the upper right corner to see number of existing installations in your region

This feature combines machine learning with imagery from Google Maps and Google Earth to provide an estimate of how many houses in an area have solar. We started by taking in high-resolution imagery of rooftops and manually identifying solar installations. We then used that data as the initial training set for our algorithm. After many iterations, our machine learning algorithms can now automatically find and identify installations in the imagery (both photovoltaic panels, which produce electricity, and solar hot water heaters). Even for machines, practice makes perfect!

2

So far we’ve identified around 700,000 installations in the U.S. and over time, as we continue to train the algorithms and apply improvements, we will be able to find and show more installations. We hope that this new feature will provide policy makers, communities and individuals with more information to help make smarter decisions in their transition to cleaner power sources.

Using machine learning to help people make smart decisions about solar energy

 A few years ago, when my family was first deciding whether or not to go solar, I remember driving around the neighborhood, looking at all the solar arrays on nearby rooftops. It made me realize: Wow, solar isn’t some futuristic concept, it’s already part of the fabric of my town! Seeing that others around me were already benefiting from solar helped me decide to do the same.

We want to make it easy for people to make informed decisions about whether to invest in solar. Project Sunroof already shows you solar potential and cost saving for more than 60 million individual homes. Today we’re adding a new feature, Project Sunroof Data Explorer, which shows a map of existing solar installations in neighborhoods throughout the United States. Now instead of driving street to street, it’s a little easier to see if houses around you and communities nearby have already gone solar.  
one
Click on “existing arrays” in the upper right corner to see number of existing installations in your region

This feature combines machine learning with imagery from Google Maps and Google Earth to provide an estimate of how many houses in an area have solar. We started by taking in high-resolution imagery of rooftops and manually identifying solar installations. We then used that data as the initial training set for our algorithm. After many iterations, our machine learning algorithms can now automatically find and identify installations in the imagery (both photovoltaic panels, which produce electricity, and solar hot water heaters). Even for machines, practice makes perfect!

2

So far we’ve identified around 700,000 installations in the U.S. and over time, as we continue to train the algorithms and apply improvements, we will be able to find and show more installations. We hope that this new feature will provide policy makers, communities and individuals with more information to help make smarter decisions in their transition to cleaner power sources.

Using machine learning to help people make smart decisions about solar energy

 A few years ago, when my family was first deciding whether or not to go solar, I remember driving around the neighborhood, looking at all the solar arrays on nearby rooftops. It made me realize: Wow, solar isn’t some futuristic concept, it’s already part of the fabric of my town! Seeing that others around me were already benefiting from solar helped me decide to do the same.

We want to make it easy for people to make informed decisions about whether to invest in solar. Project Sunroof already shows you solar potential and cost saving for more than 60 million individual homes. Today we’re adding a new feature, Project Sunroof Data Explorer, which shows a map of existing solar installations in neighborhoods throughout the United States. Now instead of driving street to street, it’s a little easier to see if houses around you and communities nearby have already gone solar.
one
Click on “existing arrays” in the upper right corner to see number of existing installations in your region

This feature combines machine learning with imagery from Google Maps and Google Earth to provide an estimate of how many houses in an area have solar. We started by taking in high-resolution imagery of rooftops and manually identifying solar installations. We then used that data as the initial training set for our algorithm. After many iterations, our machine learning algorithms can now automatically find and identify installations in the imagery (both photovoltaic panels, which produce electricity, and solar hot water heaters). Even for machines, practice makes perfect!

2

So far we’ve identified around 700,000 installations in the U.S. and over time, as we continue to train the algorithms and apply improvements, we will be able to find and show more installations. We hope that this new feature will provide policy makers, communities and individuals with more information to help make smarter decisions in their transition to cleaner power sources.

Source: Google LatLong


Dive into World Oceans Day with Google Earth and Maps

This World Oceans Day, explore our oceans and learn from experts leading marine conservation efforts around the world with Street View and Google Earth.

We hope these stories and sights will inspire you to get involved and help protect our vast and fragile oceans. So jump on in, the water’s fine!Start your underwater adventure in Voyager. With the Ocean Agency, tour Raja Ampat, Indonesia’s rich marine center containing 76 percent of the world’s coral species and 36 percent of the world’s reef fish species—more than any other marine region in the world. Then head to the Gulf of California with Dr. Sylvia Earle to see leaping mobula rays and learn about efforts to combat shark finning. Finally, head south to swim alongside the playful sea lions of the Galápagos Islands, one of the most biodiverse and unique places on the planet.

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Once you’ve gotten your sea legs in Voyager, sail on over to Street View for even more beautiful blues. Go tete-a-tete with turtles in the Great Barrier Reef off Heron Island, Australia, snorkel through colorful coral in DA Bai Shah, Taiwan, and enroll yourself in a school of fish in Bali.

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Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef
SV_Oceans_Da Bai Sha.png
Da Bai Sha, Green Island, Taiwan
SV_Oceans_Drop off Tulamben.png
Drop-off, Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia
SV_Oceans_Benwood Wreck.png
Benwood Wreck, Florida Keys, USA
SV_Oceans_Bleached Coral.png
Bleached Coral at Airport Reef, American Samoa
SV_Oceans_Hourglass Reef.png
Hourglass Reef, Bermuda
SV_Oceans_PUE Coral Gardens.png
PUE Coral Gardens, Cook Islands
SV_Oceans_Isla Mujeres.png
Underwater Museum, Isla Mujeres
SV_Oceans_Yamada Point.png
Yamada Point, Onna, Okinawa, Japan

We hope these stories and sights will inspire you to get involved and help protect our vast and fragile oceans. So jump on in, the water’s fine!

Photo credit for header image of Raja Ampat: Jayne Jenkins

Dive into World Oceans Day with Google Earth and Maps

This World Oceans Day, explore our oceans and learn from experts leading marine conservation efforts around the world with Street View and Google Earth.

We hope these stories and sights will inspire you to get involved and help protect our vast and fragile oceans. So jump on in, the water’s fine!Start your underwater adventure in Voyager. With the Ocean Agency, tour Raja Ampat, Indonesia’s rich marine center containing 76 percent of the world’s coral species and 36 percent of the world’s reef fish species—more than any other marine region in the world. Then head to the Gulf of California with Dr. Sylvia Earle to see leaping mobula rays and learn about efforts to combat shark finning. Finally, head south to swim alongside the playful sea lions of the Galápagos Islands, one of the most biodiverse and unique places on the planet.

carousel1_raja1.png
carousel2_raja2.png
carousel3_raja3.png
carousel4_mb1.png
carousel5_mb2.png
carousel6_mb3.png
carousel7_gala1.png
carousel8_gala2.png
carousel9_gala3.png

Once you’ve gotten your sea legs in Voyager, sail on over to Street View for even more beautiful blues. Go tete-a-tete with turtles in the Great Barrier Reef off Heron Island, Australia, snorkel through colorful coral in DA Bai Shah, Taiwan, and enroll yourself in a school of fish in Bali.

SV_Oceans_Heron Island.png
Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef
SV_Oceans_Da Bai Sha.png
Da Bai Sha, Green Island, Taiwan
SV_Oceans_Drop off Tulamben.png
Drop-off, Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia
SV_Oceans_Benwood Wreck.png
Benwood Wreck, Florida Keys, USA
SV_Oceans_Bleached Coral.png
Bleached Coral at Airport Reef, American Samoa
SV_Oceans_Hourglass Reef.png
Hourglass Reef, Bermuda
SV_Oceans_PUE Coral Gardens.png
PUE Coral Gardens, Cook Islands
SV_Oceans_Isla Mujeres.png
Underwater Museum, Isla Mujeres
SV_Oceans_Yamada Point.png
Yamada Point, Onna, Okinawa, Japan

We hope these stories and sights will inspire you to get involved and help protect our vast and fragile oceans. So jump on in, the water’s fine!

Photo credit for header image of Raja Ampat: Jayne Jenkins

Dive into World Oceans Day with Google Earth and Maps

This World Oceans Day, explore our oceans and learn from experts leading marine conservation efforts around the world with Street View and Google Earth.

We hope these stories and sights will inspire you to get involved and help protect our vast and fragile oceans. So jump on in, the water’s fine!Start your underwater adventure in Voyager. With the Ocean Agency, tour Raja Ampat, Indonesia’s rich marine center containing 76 percent of the world’s coral species and 36 percent of the world’s reef fish species—more than any other marine region in the world. Then head to the Gulf of California with Dr. Sylvia Earle to see leaping mobula rays and learn about efforts to combat shark finning. Finally, head south to swim alongside the playful sea lions of the Galápagos Islands, one of the most biodiverse and unique places on the planet.

carousel1_raja1.png
carousel2_raja2.png
carousel3_raja3.png
carousel4_mb1.png
carousel5_mb2.png
carousel6_mb3.png
carousel7_gala1.png
carousel8_gala2.png
carousel9_gala3.png

Once you’ve gotten your sea legs in Voyager, sail on over to Street View for even more beautiful blues. Go tete-a-tete with turtles in the Great Barrier Reef off Heron Island, Australia, snorkel through colorful coral in DA Bai Shah, Taiwan, and enroll yourself in a school of fish in Bali.

SV_Oceans_Heron Island.png
Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef
SV_Oceans_Da Bai Sha.png
Da Bai Sha, Green Island, Taiwan
SV_Oceans_Drop off Tulamben.png
Drop-off, Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia
SV_Oceans_Benwood Wreck.png
Benwood Wreck, Florida Keys, USA
SV_Oceans_Bleached Coral.png
Bleached Coral at Airport Reef, American Samoa
SV_Oceans_Hourglass Reef.png
Hourglass Reef, Bermuda
SV_Oceans_PUE Coral Gardens.png
PUE Coral Gardens, Cook Islands
SV_Oceans_Isla Mujeres.png
Underwater Museum, Isla Mujeres
SV_Oceans_Yamada Point.png
Yamada Point, Onna, Okinawa, Japan

We hope these stories and sights will inspire you to get involved and help protect our vast and fragile oceans. So jump on in, the water’s fine!

Photo credit for header image of Raja Ampat: Jayne Jenkins

It’s Beatlemania in Google Earth

The Beatles' eighth album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, first hit the record stores in June 1967. The album was created at Abbey Road Studios and features classics like “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” and “With A Little Help From My Friends” in addition to the title track. Fifty years later, Sgt. Pepper remains a fan favorite, and is being re-issued with new mixes and tracks. Today on Google Earth’s storytelling platform, Voyager, we’re celebrating not only this beloved, influential album, but the whole of the Fab Four’s monumental contributions to rock ‘n’ roll.

The global Voyager tour highlights significant moments and places in The Beatles’ career. Their journey starts at Liverpool’s iconic Cavern Club, and ends at Strawberry Fields in New York’s Central Park, where a black-and-white tiled memorial honors the life of John Lennon. You can also fly to the Hamburg nightclub where the band performed almost nonstop for 48 days; the New York theater where they made their historic first live TV appearance in America; and India, where they experienced spiritual awakenings in the Maharishi’s ashram.

Join the Fab Four as they tour the globe with Google Earth’s Voyager.

Header image courtesy of Local Guide Austin Ayodeji