Google Earth

Background Intro
Google Earth is an application that allows for people to take an interactive mapping tour with any place in the world. You can easily navigate the planet to find any city you desire. The program functions on an XY & Z axis that allows you to get a 3-D picture of the earth. When there is a location you would like to inquire about GoogleEarth allows you to zoom in and observe what the physical geography actually looks like.

What knowledge or skills would students need to use the software?
Students need to know their basic cardinal directions, how to use the basic maneuvering interface. This really does not take too long to figure out. For example if you hold down the right mouse button then slide the mouse whatever direction you wish to move it will happen. Also learning how to use the mouse wheel to zoom is an important feature. Rolling the wheel forward will zoom in, rolling it backward will zoom out. Overall the interface is pretty intuitive. As for other features, figuring out what all of the buttons does takes some time to figure out. After about an hour of fiddling around most people should be able to pick up most of the features that Google Earth has to offer. As for additional questions Google offers several tutorials via youTube that allows for anyone to get a quick demonstration as to how to do anything.
As for some other applications students should learn include creating a digital tour, sending information, and choosing what type of layer data they would like to read. One of my favorite features of Google Earth is if you are curious about any particular building in a large city you may click on the building then get a detailed background information such as mailing address, building name, email addresses etc. If the building has a webpage you can even click on the webpage to get further information.
How can you share the products you create with this application
There are two ways in which information can be shared. You can record a digital tour of places. These tours allow you to not only record the places but also a little voice over (with the availability of a microphone). The videos can then be shared one of two ways. They can be posted on a Google Earth forum which requires a special login above and beyond the usual Google username. The other way videos can be shared is through email. After recording a video simply left click the file then email. The receiver must also have Google Earth to download the video to observe the tour.
How could you see the application being used to teach a particular subject matter?
GoogleEarth has near limitless capabilities for teaching history, geography, as well as some physical science classes. In history or geography I would use the program for students to get a better idea as to how geography has affected the settlement of people. For examples I would want students to see how armies could have used the geography to their advantage or what physical factors posed challenges to settlers. Another potential use is to have students compare past pictures to current maps in order to inquire questions as to how places ended up in their current state. Student’s could create a digital map tour of the U.S. and historical sites as a means to get both a historical background of locations with a connection to spatial relationship of political states. I could go on with this all day!
What are some things a teacher could do to help students collaborate using this application?
There is a student forum that students can upload their videos for comments. As for collaborating for some possible editing I cannot find if GoogleEarth allows for students to go back for editing purposes. Most collaboration would have to be done in person. For example I would have students survey a map for places they would like to chronicle in a map tour. They can work together to determine which places they would like to highlight then create the tour together.
What sort of organization or managerial considerations will a teacher have to take into account?
The primary concern a teacher must address is having GoogleEarth installed on computers that are capable of running the program. New software, even when its free like GoogleEarth, is not always easy to install on computers because of the security concerns of the ITs. Additionally the computers available may lack the processing capabilities to run the program. Furthermore teachers must keep in mind several student issues. Time for students to familiarize themselves with the interface must be kept in mind as well as expected time of completion, some students will not be technically capable (as simples as it is) to install the program at home. Finally assessment comes into play.
As for putting the assignment together and detailing submission instructions it is important for the teacher to detail all of the steps for submitting the assignment in a place where the teacher can access the file and grade it. In my case I would have students submit the assignment via Blackboard then use my personal Google Earth to observe and detail comments.