Review of "Traveling the Novel" (March/April 2009)

This article describes an interesting way of utilizing computer technology to enrich a reading assignment by bringing in elements of cultural and physical geography, as well as teaching students some useful computer skills. The project described involves students who have been assigned to read Khaled Hosseini's book The Kite Runner, about a young boy who travels from Afghanistan to Pakistan, then to California, and finally returning to Afghanistan. Because the landscape is such a significant feature of the novel, students explore that landscape by using Google Earth to plot certain points in the protagonist's journey, using photos, videos, and satellite imagery to enrich the experience. By placing waypoints and notations on their own versions of a map, students can place relevant quotes from the text at locations where they were said to have taken place in the book.

Q1: What difficulties might arise in conducting a project of this nature?
A1: Though Google Earth is a reasonably accessible piece of software, it is not something that the average user can sit down with and feel immediately comfortable. This would require that the instructor attain a high level of skill with the program; not just to accomplish a similar project themselves, but enough such that they can thoroughly and competently answer students' questions and instruct them in its use.

Q2: What technological hurdles would need to be overcome to make a project like this work?
A2: Because Google Earth is a free product and does not require particularly powerful hardware, this project is not very demanding from a technology or funding standpoint. However, because students would need to spend a significant amount of time on their project, they would need either significant use of on-site computer labs or access to them at home.