Part II in my series on "things I didn't know about prior to attending the teacher2teacher conference in Bow Island" features a twist on a site that I DID know about before: Google Sketchup.

For those unfamiliar with this site, please, please, PLEASE check it out! It has immediate potential for students working on projects around design, architecture, industrial education, etc., and it also provides another avenue for students to represent what they know and work with 'closer to real life' structures than a 2 dimensional format.

Today's blog post, however, is NOT dedicated to all the awesomeness that is Google Sketchup. Rather, it's focus is on a very specific application that can have a tremendous impact on a very specific group of learners -- those with Autism (and more specifically, those kids with ASD whom are spatially gifted).  This little tidbit was passed on to me by Obe Hostetter (@itrt), during a discussion of the application of Sketchup in the classroom.  And it totally. makes. sense.

Check out the video made by Google to promote Project Spectrum -- devoted to showcasing how ASD kids with strong spatial abilities gravitate to 3D modeling programs such as Sketchup:

Vanessa