Using tools provided by Google (Google Earth, Streetview, Google Tour Builder, Google Maps) teachers and students can create powerful virtual tools for visiting different sites around the world that can teach different concepts in Religious Education.
CARFLEO has created a virtual tour of World Religions to demonstrate these tools. Go to this World Religion tour to begin to explore the possibilities. You can also open a file directly in Google Earth if the Google Tour Builder platform is not compatible with your computer.
Update: Google will be discontinuing Tour Builder in July 2021 but similar functions are available in newer versions of Google Earth. You can brush up on the basics of creation tools here or try out this tutorial that will walk you through the process of creating and sharing your own Earth project.
To create your own Virtual Tour go to:
You can also use the Photo Sphere feature in Google Maps or other virtual tours to look inside different churches, shrines and cathedrals:
Basilica of Our Lady Immaculate, Guelph
Church of the Holy Sepulchre – Jerusalem
Moscow’s St. Basil’s Cathedral
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome
Basilica of St. John Lateran, Rome
Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, Italy
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey
Those who have the digital version of Growing in Faith, Growing in Christ for Grades 3, 4, 5 & 6 look for Faith Journeys. These use Google Earth to visit some of the places described in the text.
