Abstract
Advances in the Google Earth virtual globe and the concomitant Keyhole Markup Language (KML) are providing educators with a convenient platform to cultivate and assess one’s place location knowledge (PLK). This article presents a general framework and associated implementation methods for the online testing of PLK using Google Earth. The proposed framework and associated implementations can be easily exported to other applications that help assess geographic knowledge, engaging users with content from the physical environment and human systems at both local and global scales in a 3-D virtual-globe environment.
Notes
1. Computer code of GeoQuiz, including source code and instruction guide, can be downloaded from http://www.sirrs.org/GeoQuiz/code/GeoQuiz.zip. For testing one’s place location knowledge of countries around the globe, we refer the reader to the Web site at http://www.sirrs.org/GeoQuiz/en/GeoQuiz.html. Any computer that already has the Google Earth plug-in installed can freely access this Web page.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Liangfeng Zhu
Liangfeng Zhu is an associate professor in the School of Geography Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China. His research interest areas are geographic information science and technology, virtual globes, and geography education.
Xin Pan
Xin Pan is an assistant professor in the School of Physical Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China. His current research interests center on geographic information science and Digital Earth.
Gongcheng Gao
Gongcheng Gao is an assistant professor in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA. His current research interests center on geobrowsers.