Google Earth geo-education resources for educators and communities: A Transnational Approach from Ireland, Iceland, Finland and Norway

The Northern Environmental Education Development (NEED) project was a transnational geo-education resource development initiative cooperated by four European countries: Ireland, Finland, Norway, and Iceland. NEED supported the development of novel geological information resources, and the establishment of geo-education networks in the four project regions. An analysis of the national geography and science curriculum in each region was conducted. This analysis identified which geographic learning skills were common to each curriculum. The development of innovative geographic information system (GIS) resources to help support the development of geographic skills was considered a potentially valuable outcome of the NEED project. Google Earth was chosen as the technology with which to develop and serve the GIS information and learning resources. The resultant Google Earth learning resources provide free access to geoscientific information about the project regions for educators and students. While the development of these learning resources represents an important step in providing locally relevant geo-educational resources, further research is necessary to determine the pedagogical effectiveness of the learning content.