More Evidence from Google Earth

Found another tool to add to our webspaces to provide evidence to the students that they DO have an audience for the work they are sharing online. I have posted about this before and a few of you have admitted that it is not just the kids who are curious about who reads their blogs! The tools we have been using so far to track our visitors have felt pretty satisfying, but this latest addition to the blog is fun.

Ok, it's on the top right of the sidebar of this blog; it's a tiny badge I have titled Google Earth traffic. Just click it and you will see why we are loving it! You get taken to the Digital Point webpage and you see place marks on the map of where the visitors come from. Same old, same old you might be thinking.

But no; click on any one of the markers and you are given a link to view the place of origin in Google Earth. And then the fun begins. You really get to see where your visitors hang out. This is so much more fun for kids than a static map, and I bet you like it too!

Tips:
Copy the code from my page and use it on your own space
Slow down the speed of Google Earth and the zoom feels even more spectatcular Before showing it to kids, or on slow connections, have Google Earth open in the background.
The markers only last for 24 hours, so when I planned to demonstrate to a group I put out a call to friends to spare me a click to populate the map.

It almost feels a bit 'creepy-stalker', but I know that my own house does not show when I have visited - it goes to Newmarket where I presume my ISP must come from. However, it does go straight to the school for markers originating from PES, so some must be accurate.