Google Earth

[ninjabeaver]

WOW

Check this out. Great free education gizmo. Geography loved it.

Google Earth

And also its COMPLETELY FREE. 8)

[Geoff]

Beta is closed. Plus its only free for personal use which will count school use out.

[ninjabeaver]

I just downloaded it at lunch time. Had loads of fun trying it.

You can upgrade to the plus version for $20.

Yeah, I just noticed the personal use thing. Give it a try anyways.

I've found an e-mail address for the Education Initiative for Google Earth and have e-mailed them regarding licensing.

I'll post result when I here anything.

This looks like good news though

[StewartKnight]

I use the Nasa one, Earth wind, its free, and if you use the american satellites, you can all but make out peoples faces!

[eejit]

That sounds good Stewart, but I can't find it. Do you have a link, please?

[andy]

Is it "World Wind" Stewart? Downloaded that - quite fun

Andy

[ninjabeaver]

OK, got a reply from Google Earth from Dennis Reinhardt [den@google.com]

It reads:-

************************************************** ***********

Simon,

Google Earth is free, period! education or other. I expect that students and teachers around the world will be downloading the free version of Google Earth, and as a qualified educator, you are eligible for a grant of Google Earth PRO license, There is not an educational version per se. Just your skill at adapting PRO as an instructional tool.

Review the document (below) and respond to items 1 through 4, that apply to your situation. Send to me your responses and your license KEY number from your 7 day trial. I will issue a PRO license for your use as an educator. Encourage your students to download Google Earth. Downloads can be delayed from time to time due to the massive volume of downloads we have experience since the announcement – so, if you experience a shutdown, know that it will only be temporary.

Good luck – and let me know how your use of Google Earth enhances your success as a teacher.

Dennis.

************************************************** ************

So by the look of it we can also get a free version of Google Earth Pro.


The advantage this has over the Nasa one is that it is only 10MB in size compared to 180mb which is a godsend. It updates itself and via the Internet as well, so as more content becomes available we get it straight away.

[Ric_]

So what do we do to get it?

[ninjabeaver]

Here's the second e-mail so you can apply for a free Google Earth Pro license for use on 2 computers.

************************************************** ************

Qualifications - Google-Keyhole Education Initiative

(June 28, 2005)*

The Program – in two phases:

The Google-Keyhole Education Initiative, in phase one, involves outreach, culminating in the release of a free version of Google Earth on June 28, 2005. Phase one also will provide for the wide distribution of Google Earth PRO (advanced version of Keyhole) to qualified educators, in exchange for their encouraged (but voluntary) participation in phase two. These combined steps, by Google, will provide free access to the Keyhole servers and data bases for students as well as for their teachers, and will foster incentives for creativity and innovation in phase two.

The second phase will involve a transition to applications of Keyhole technology in curriculum development, and will include a wide variety of alliances among the participants, facilitated by the Keyhole Community http://bbs.keyhole.com as a forum for educators seeking ideas and collaborative opportunities with their peers, for the benefit of their students.

Eligibility for Google Earth PRO:

In the first phase, all professional educators affiliated with (employed by) lower, middle, and upper schools; accredited community and four year colleges, universities and graduate schools; selected vocational training programs; certain education oriented NGOs, public access museums and libraries are eligible to receive one free annual license for Google Earth PRO.

Free PRO license application procedure:

To apply for your free license, sign up for a PRO trial license KEY. Go to our PRO web page http://www.keyhole.com/body.php?h=pr...&t=keyhole2Pro and download a trial subscription. Your license will be extended for one year upon receipt of acknowledgement of the license KEY and responses to items 1 through 4 below.

Administrative support:

Your institution’s tax ID and 501C(3)numbers should be provided to Sue Cozzo (scozzo@google.com) upon completion of the transaction, along with an ink-on-paper donation acknowledgement from the institution receiving Keyhole, for tax purposes, and sent by regular mail to Sue Cozzo, Google, Building 41, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043. Customer support is available at prouser@google.com or 1-866-755-2582.

Additional

Additional licenses can be purchased at $300 for PRO and $20 for LT. Premium modules (movie maker, hi-res printing, data import) can be purchased at $200 each or $400 for a bundle of three. (see web site: www.earth.google.com)

Information required:

Please complete the processing by forwarding to me (den@google.com):

1. The e-mail address (log in) that will be used in connection with the Keyhole account.

2. A brief description of the academic institution where keyhole will be installed (URL included). The license may be installed on two computers.

3. Name, title and contact information of the principle faculty member or administrator in charge of the Keyhole license.

4. A brief description of the intended applications of Keyhole, including grade level(s), discipline(s) or subject

We are pleased to provide you with access to Google Earth and look forward to working with you in the second phase of our initiative, where we will call upon you to assist in the further development of useful applications.

*This announcement (June 28, 2005) supersedes all previous announcements of the Google-Keyhole Initiative.

Dennis Reinhardt

den@google.com

Google Earth Team

Education Initiative

http://bbs.keyhole.com/boards/

http://earth.google.com/

http://www.keyhole.com

1600 Amphitheatre Parkway

Mountain View, CA 94043

650-623-5229

************************************************** ********

Sorry for the length of these, but a good free resource should be snapped up.

[Ric_]

So... by goiong through all that, you will receive 2 licenses and you just have to donate a token gesture?

More licenses then cost $300 a piece?

Doesn't sound all that free.

[ninjabeaver]

No no no no no......

The Googe Earth Free can be installed across your network for free.

They will also then give you two Pro licenses for free to give to whomever you choose if you answer the four questions. You need the Pro Trial Key first though and that needs to be included in the reply.

If you need more Pro versions then yes you have to pay, but the free version is superb for student use. It looks good and seems to be quick.

So, I would give perhaps the Pro version to two Geography teachers so they can present a lesson from the Pro version, and then the students can use the free version to do whatever with.

Does that make more sense?

[eejit]

What is the difference between the Free and the Pro versions anyway? - are ALL places at the higher resolution that just the cities have in the free version?

[ninjabeaver]

OK,

Pro Version

Features

Sophisticated streaming technology delivers the data to you as you need it.
Imagery and 3D data depict the entire earth - Terabytes of aerial and satellite imagery depict cities around the world in high-resolution detail.
Local search lets you search for restaurants, hotels, and even driving directions. Results show in your 3D earth view. Easy to layer multiple searches, save results to folders, and share with others.
Layers show parks, schools, hospitals, airports, retail, and more.
Overlays – import site plans, design sketches and even scanned blueprints.
Annotate the view with lines and polygons.
Data import - ingest up to 2000 locations by address or lat/lon.
KML – data exchange format let your share useful annotations.
Optional premium features and data (To purchase, call 866-755-2582.)

GIS ingest – incorporate GIS data in files formats such as .shp, .tab. - $200
Movie maker – export compressed movies (.wmv) of zooms and tours. - $200
Premium printing – print high-resolution images up to 11" x 17". - $200
Premium data – add traffic counts from GDT. - $200
Costar shopping center database. - $200
Industry use:

Google Earth is used in many industries today including:

Commercial real estate
Residential real estate
Architecture/construction/engineering
Insurance
Media
Defense/Intelligence
Homeland security
Public sector and NGO
State and local government
And more…


Free Version

Features:

Free for personal use.
Sophisticated streaming technology delivers the data to you as you need it.
Imagery and 3D data depict the entire earth - Terabytes of aerial and satellite imagery depict cities around the world in high-resolution detail.
Local search lets you search for restaurants, hotels, and even driving directions. Results show in your 3D earth view. Easy to layer multiple searches, save results to folders, and share with others.
Layers show parks, schools, hospitals, airports, shopping, and more.
KML – data exchange format let your share useful annotations and view. thousands of data points created by Google Earth users.
Use it for:

Planning a trip
Getting driving directions
Finding a house or apartment
Finding a local business
Exploring the world

[Geoff]

In short. The pro version lets you do annotations and overlays and you can buy predone overlays and annotations with useful GIS data. Population demographics, land value, geologic information, you name it. You would have to buy in this data seperately however I suspect you may be able to obtain some UK data for free off the government. The Freedom of Information Act being what it is...

[eejit]

Cheers for that. I saw the long spiel on their website, but it was a little too much for me