Monday, October 27, 2008
Google Earth now available for the iPhone
The title says it all really....
Thanks to Ollie Bray for the tip off on this one.
Also on iPod Touch.
Thanks to Ollie Bray for the tip off on this one.
3 wonderful manuals for Google Earth
This is very helpful.There are 3 manuals at Jamie Buchanan Dunlop's DIGITAL EXPLORER site now.
The first 2 are training manuals from Jamie's excellent courses, the third is a manual for using tools for doing FIELDWORK ON THE SCHOOL GROUNDS.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Google Earth Antarctica Food Web
Thanks to Jamie Buchanan Dunlop for passing on information about a new addition to the Discovering Antarctica website: a FOOD WEB ACTIVITY with Google Placemarks.
See it HERE.
See it HERE.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Navigation Buttons in Placemarks
A couple of weeks ago, had a very interesting demo of Google Earth, and since then have been trying to find time for writing it up. While in the middle of doing that, I came across another interesting development.
This video by John Gardiner explains how to add navigation buttons into placemarks, so that users can work through a series of placemarks in order...
Going to have to have a go at this when I get a chance. One for February 2009 when I'm leading a Google Earth day....
This video by John Gardiner explains how to add navigation buttons into placemarks, so that users can work through a series of placemarks in order...
Going to have to have a go at this when I get a chance. One for February 2009 when I'm leading a Google Earth day....
Ollie Bray's SAGT Workshop
Ollie Bray is presenting a workshop at SAGT at the weekend
Here's the blurb from the Conference programme:
The ‘How To….?’ of Google and Geography
Ollie Bray, Deputy Head Teacher at Musselburgh Grammar School
Following the success of previous SAGT Conferences Ollie Bray returns and continues to pick up the theme of ‘small ideas change things’. This year’s presentation will focus on the use of Google Maps and Google Earth in the classroom.
This will not be an Advanced Google Earth Workshop although conference delegates wanting to find out more about GPS and Google Earth tours will be shown a number of examples and sent in the right direction. The main focus of this presentation is to show how Google Earth and Google Maps can be used in practically every Geography lesson. The seminar will include lesson starters, assembly ideas, assessment methods, plenary sessions, hacks, mashups and problem solving activities. Most importantly the session will share developed, tried and tested ideas that have been used, experimented with and successfully evaluated from P6 – S6.
Studies of Google Sky, Google Earth Layers, Google Street View, the Google 3D Buildings and Google Custom Maps will also be covered.
As with previous conferences Ollie will link the presentation into the experiences and outcomes of A Curriculum for Excellence and explore how the concept of place does not just fit into the Social Subjects outcomes.
All delegates will have access to a comprehensive on-line handout and be given the opportunity to carry on the discussion via an on-line community after the conference.
__________
Ollie Bray is Deputy Head Teacher at Musselburgh Grammar School & Geography subject support coordinator for East Lothian. He has won numerous awards for classroom practice & project development, including a Royal Geographical Society Innovative Teaching Award, two Learning and Teaching Scotland ICT Enhancement Awards & a Microsoft / SQA Partners in Learning Award. He has contributed to the publication of four textbooks and various other on-line and off line resources. Recently he became one of the first teachers in Scotland to be appointed as a CEOP Ambassador (Child Exploitation Online Protection Agency). Ollie is a member of the Association of Outdoor Learning, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a full member of the Association of Mountaineering Instructors (AMI). His learning log can be found at www.olliebray.com
Check out OLLIE'S BLOG after the event for all the details, and the presentation that he will use.
Here's the blurb from the Conference programme:
The ‘How To….?’ of Google and Geography
Ollie Bray, Deputy Head Teacher at Musselburgh Grammar School
Following the success of previous SAGT Conferences Ollie Bray returns and continues to pick up the theme of ‘small ideas change things’. This year’s presentation will focus on the use of Google Maps and Google Earth in the classroom.
This will not be an Advanced Google Earth Workshop although conference delegates wanting to find out more about GPS and Google Earth tours will be shown a number of examples and sent in the right direction. The main focus of this presentation is to show how Google Earth and Google Maps can be used in practically every Geography lesson. The seminar will include lesson starters, assembly ideas, assessment methods, plenary sessions, hacks, mashups and problem solving activities. Most importantly the session will share developed, tried and tested ideas that have been used, experimented with and successfully evaluated from P6 – S6.
Studies of Google Sky, Google Earth Layers, Google Street View, the Google 3D Buildings and Google Custom Maps will also be covered.
As with previous conferences Ollie will link the presentation into the experiences and outcomes of A Curriculum for Excellence and explore how the concept of place does not just fit into the Social Subjects outcomes.
All delegates will have access to a comprehensive on-line handout and be given the opportunity to carry on the discussion via an on-line community after the conference.
__________
Ollie Bray is Deputy Head Teacher at Musselburgh Grammar School & Geography subject support coordinator for East Lothian. He has won numerous awards for classroom practice & project development, including a Royal Geographical Society Innovative Teaching Award, two Learning and Teaching Scotland ICT Enhancement Awards & a Microsoft / SQA Partners in Learning Award. He has contributed to the publication of four textbooks and various other on-line and off line resources. Recently he became one of the first teachers in Scotland to be appointed as a CEOP Ambassador (Child Exploitation Online Protection Agency). Ollie is a member of the Association of Outdoor Learning, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a full member of the Association of Mountaineering Instructors (AMI). His learning log can be found at www.olliebray.com
Check out OLLIE'S BLOG after the event for all the details, and the presentation that he will use.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Web 2.0 makes a difference, and some new Noel
Since I started all this blogging and social networking thing, various people have questioned its value, and although I knew that it made a difference it was hard to 'quantify' that difference...
A BECTa report into the value of these tools has now been published...
Becta has published major new research into the use of Web 2.0 technologies, such as wikis, blogs and social networking, by children between the ages of 11-16, both in and out of the school environment.
The reports found that young learners are prolific users of Web 2.0 technologies in their leisure time but that the use of Web 2.0 in the classroom was limited. However, schools and teachers who are innovating in this area have found benefits, such as:
* Web 2.0 helps to encourage student engagement and increase participation – particularly among quieter pupils, who can use it to work collaboratively online, without the anxiety of having to raise questions in front of peers in class – or by enabling expression through less traditional media such as video.
* Teachers have reported that the use of social networking technology can encourage online discussion amongst students outside school.
* Web 2.0 can be available anytime, anywhere, which encourages some individuals to extend their learning through further investigation into topics that interest them.
* Pupils feel a sense of ownership and engagement when they publish their work online and this can encourage attention to detail and an overall improved quality of work. Some teachers reported using publication of work to encourage peer assessment.
The research also found that over half of teachers surveyed believe that Web 2.0 resources should be used more often in the classroom. However, the majority of teachers questioned had never used Web 2.0 applications in lessons, despite being frequent users of technology in their personal and professional lives. Their main concerns involved a lack of time to familiarise themselves with the technology and worries about managing the use of the internet in class.
The reports recommended that teachers should be encouraged to help learners to develop more sophisticated use of Web 2.0 technology and to give them the skills to navigate this space.
Tony Richardson, Executive Director Strategy and Communications, said:
"Some schools and individual teachers have been very innovative in developing their use of Web 2.0 to support learning. However, clearly teachers need the support, time and space to develop skills and practices that will allow them to integrate Web 2.0 into lessons. The report shows that the impact that Web 2.0 can have on the motivation and engagement of pupils. We need to ensure that these benefits are extended to all learners."
All very encouraging, and in many Scottish schools, as was apparent at last week's Scottish Learning Festival, this was flourishing...
Down here in England, perhaps less so. There are some innovators out there...
I'd like to work with those innovative geographers and gather some examples of how people are making use of the social web tools to engage learners.
Please get in touch if you would like to showcase something that YOU do....
Check out NOEL's DIGITAL GEOGRAPHY blog where he has 2 new posts on how to use Google Earth to teach SPHERE OF INFLUENCE...
A BECTa report into the value of these tools has now been published...
Becta has published major new research into the use of Web 2.0 technologies, such as wikis, blogs and social networking, by children between the ages of 11-16, both in and out of the school environment.
The reports found that young learners are prolific users of Web 2.0 technologies in their leisure time but that the use of Web 2.0 in the classroom was limited. However, schools and teachers who are innovating in this area have found benefits, such as:
* Web 2.0 helps to encourage student engagement and increase participation – particularly among quieter pupils, who can use it to work collaboratively online, without the anxiety of having to raise questions in front of peers in class – or by enabling expression through less traditional media such as video.
* Teachers have reported that the use of social networking technology can encourage online discussion amongst students outside school.
* Web 2.0 can be available anytime, anywhere, which encourages some individuals to extend their learning through further investigation into topics that interest them.
* Pupils feel a sense of ownership and engagement when they publish their work online and this can encourage attention to detail and an overall improved quality of work. Some teachers reported using publication of work to encourage peer assessment.
The research also found that over half of teachers surveyed believe that Web 2.0 resources should be used more often in the classroom. However, the majority of teachers questioned had never used Web 2.0 applications in lessons, despite being frequent users of technology in their personal and professional lives. Their main concerns involved a lack of time to familiarise themselves with the technology and worries about managing the use of the internet in class.
The reports recommended that teachers should be encouraged to help learners to develop more sophisticated use of Web 2.0 technology and to give them the skills to navigate this space.
Tony Richardson, Executive Director Strategy and Communications, said:
"Some schools and individual teachers have been very innovative in developing their use of Web 2.0 to support learning. However, clearly teachers need the support, time and space to develop skills and practices that will allow them to integrate Web 2.0 into lessons. The report shows that the impact that Web 2.0 can have on the motivation and engagement of pupils. We need to ensure that these benefits are extended to all learners."
All very encouraging, and in many Scottish schools, as was apparent at last week's Scottish Learning Festival, this was flourishing...
Down here in England, perhaps less so. There are some innovators out there...
I'd like to work with those innovative geographers and gather some examples of how people are making use of the social web tools to engage learners.
Please get in touch if you would like to showcase something that YOU do....
Check out NOEL's DIGITAL GEOGRAPHY blog where he has 2 new posts on how to use Google Earth to teach SPHERE OF INFLUENCE...
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