As some readers of this blog know, I love maps and I especially love Google Maps. Today, Google made Google Maps Street View better than ever. Starting today navigating Street View is as simple as double-clicking on whatever you’d like to see along the Street View-enabled roads. Prior to this enhancement you had to click and drag along a road to navigate through Street View. This enhancement makes navigation easier and faster. To learn more watch the video embedded below then give it a try on the map of Grand Teton National Park embedded into this post.

Give Street View double-clicking a try on the map below.

View Larger Map

Applications for Education
As I’ve written in the past, Google Maps Street View could be used by students to create virtual tours of an area. Street View offers more views in cities, but as evidenced by the map above, there are definitely some options for using street view in rural areas as well.

Here are some related resources that may be of interest to you:
Geography and Science Lesson Plans Using Google Earth
Google Maps for More Than Social Studies
Create a National Parks Virtual Tour