Over the weekend of 19-20 September 2015, the Technology-Enriched Learning Initiative (TELI) team participated in the EdTech Team Hong Kong Summit, which provided them exceptional insights by the amazing variety of how Google utilized and maximized their apps and projects for teaching and learning.

Google Views- Bringing you to Grand Canyon and More

Mr. Jim Sill, Director of Global Development for EdTechTeam, went on a tour to the Halls of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles in Versailles with participants.

One of the most inspiring sessions to the team was delivered by Mr. Jim Sill, Director of Global Development for EdTechTeam, on Google Views featuring 360° panoramic photo-taking – a project in which participants go on expeditions and record views for the Google Maps application. There are often places, such as heritage sites, inaccessible by vehicles and made filming of streets by the Google van impossible. Google is therefore recruiting volunteers to carry professional ‘Trekker’ into the bits and pieces of places on Earth. The views collected from places like the Arctic and the Grand Canyon have put all of us in awe, and have also become valuable assets for especially Geography, Architecture and Science students all around the globe to have a glimpse of what the world is like.

Volunteers carry the ‘Trekker’ that consists of 15 cameras
(Source: http://www.google.com/maps/about/images/treks/canyon2-carousel.jpg)

At the same session, teammates also learnt about Cardboard, Google’s virtual reality viewer. It allows teachers to take their students on expeditions to almost anywhere they can imagine. Combining the power of panoramic photography and Cardboard, it looks that that field trips, experiential learning and lab simulations will soon take on a whole new meaning. So what’s your idea about making good use of these new technologies?