There is a new mapping tool in town... Google Maps Engine!

For years students learned about the world from a rack full of maps that hung over their chalk board. Lucky ones got to see a picture of the Earth that had been peeled like and orange, and the really lucky ones had maps that could show populations and precipitation as well!

This trend started to change when Google Maps hit the internet. With this amazing tool you could now look up almost any part of the world in seconds and then get travel directions or even make measurements. You could find landmarks and even see satellite images of places. The problem was... there was no way to save anything.

Enter Google Earth. This virtual globe allowed students and teachers to explore the entire Earth and even dive into the depth of the oceans. You could see 3D models of geographical features as well as models of landmarks and other man made features. Cities could be explored and many layers of information can be displayed, and even saved for later. The problem... it was not web based and could not be accessed easily on other computers.

Now we have Google Maps Engine! This hybrid allows you the online access of Google Maps combined with some of the navigation and interactive features Google Earth offers. In addition you have the ability to collaborate with other users via Google Apps Sharing tools. You can save, access, and share your own maps using any computer with internet access.

Check out the video and playlist link below if you want to learn more.

Entire Google Maps Engine Playlist