Tour Builder

Free!

Tour Builder by Google allows users to create guided tours of different areas that include descriptions, images, and map locations. To begin, users must launch the website and then click the “Create a Tour” option. Users will then enter the name of their tour and their own name before clicking the “Create Tour” option. At this point, Tour Builder loads an introductory template where users can add general information about their tour, including a photo and introduction. To begin creating the tour, users must click the “Add Location” button. By doing so, a new screen will appear and users will have to enter a location. Tour Builder then brings up that location on the map. Users can click the “Add to Tour” option to make that location a stop on the tour. Users can further customize the stop by zooming or clicking and dragging the “Person” icon onto the map to access street view. When users have the exact location they wish to use in their tour, they can click the “Lock this View” button to save it. Users can further customize the information at each location by tapping the “Add Photos & Videos” to insert images and movies into the stop, timeframes for when this stop occurred in the tour, and additional description about the stop. As they enter information, Tour Builder automatically saves their progress, and users can click the “Add Location” button to insert additional stops in their tour. When finished, users must click the “Done Editing” button on the top right of the screen. After saving it, users can return to the main screen by clicking the “Home” icon on the top left of the screen. They can then view the tour they made by clicking the “My Tours” button, and they can click the “Share” button to make their tour available to other users via email or a link. If users wish to view tours created by other users, they can click the “Gallery” button and peruse.

Please Note: Tour Builder was in beta version at the time of this review.

Instructional Ideas

1. When studying an event, teachers can create a tour about it that highlights key happenings related to it. For each happening or event, teachers can create a tour stop and add information. Teachers can then post a link to their tour to a class website and develop an assignment that complements the tour.
2. Teachers can assign students a topic and require them to create a tour related to it. For each stop on the tour, teachers can require students include specific information, such as a certain number of images and facts. When finished, students can post their tour to a class website. Teachers can assign this project in place or in addition to a traditional essay-based assignment.
3. In preparation for creating a tour, teachers can have students view different tours in the Gallery section of this website. Next, teachers can have students analyze the tours by asking what they liked about a certain tour, how a certain tour could be improved, and suggesting one idea they have for changing the tour. That way, when students create their own tours, they will have some ideas for how they wish to create them.
4. At the beginning of the year, teachers can have students create a tour about themselves that may include other schools they have attended, where they have lived, places they have visited, and other similar ideas. Students can then create their tours and share them by posting the tours to a classroom website. Classmates can then view the tours and learn about the different people in the classroom.
5. When studying a piece of literature that has multiple locations, students can create a plot summary of the story using this website. For each location in the story, students can create a stop on the tour and summarize the happenings that occurred there in the story. In addition, they can insert images that represent the occurrences at that location. When finished, students can share their work by posting it to a class website.

Screenshots