Mapwing is a free web-based tool for creating your own virtual tours. If you have a digital camera and Internet access you can build a virtual tour. Mapwing virtual tours can easily be shared via url link or embedding into a blog or website. With Mapwing users can create a map of an area or building and then add placemarks with images along the map. The one feature I would like to see added to Mapwing in the future is the option of adding video to the placemarks along a virtual tour. The virtual tour embedded below demonstrates how a Mapwing virtual tour works.

Applications for Education
Mapwing could be used by students to illustrate the plot of a story. Students could construct the map of a story and then add images along the tour. This would work particularly well with non-fiction or historical fiction stories. The option to add captions to each image on a virtual tour might be a could way for students to create an original story using images they have taken or images they have found on the Internet. Mapwing might also be used by students to recreate their experience on an actual field trip or to tell the story of a family vacation.