A pretty cool feature has been found in the new version of Google Earth. With the recent announcement of the addition of Google Sky, a new flight simulator has been discovered when you press Ctrl+Alt+ A. I had the older version of Google Earth, minus Google Sky, and all I needed to do was download the updated Google Sky version from the Google Earth website.

I am glad that I did not become a pilot because I certainly can not control the simulator. I do however enjoy the ability to fly over local terrain as well as choosing which runway to start off at.

Here is a link for the controls needed to fly.

http://earth.google.com/intl/en/userguide/v4/flightsim/index.html

As far as the implementation, exploration, and integration of Google Earth as a curricular resource and learning tool, Dean Shareski has created a wonderful collection of links and resources over at his wiki. He also presents a session called “Exploring Google Earth…moving beyond the Wow Factor.” Bob Sprankle, with permission from Dean, recorded this presentation at the Building Learning Communities conference and in late July released the session via his Bit by Bit podcast. Here is the link to the MP3 file…

http://www.bobsprankle.com/bitbybit/podcast/bitbybit072907.mp3

Thank you to Dean for compiling the Google Earth resources, and thank you to Bob for your podcast!