Sunday, December 27, 2015
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Luminocity3D Urban Map
This amazing map was launched this week and will be of tremendous value to anyone who is exploring the changing size of urban spaces over the years. This means anyone studying GCSE or the current (and new) 'A' level Geography specifications.
It uses the same engine as Luminocity 3D, which I've blogged about previously….
Click on cities to see their growth over time.
It uses the same engine as Luminocity 3D, which I've blogged about previously….
Click on cities to see their growth over time.
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
New features on Digimap for Schools endorsed by...er... me
A couple of new additions to the growing list of features for subscribers to Digimap for Schools.
From the EDINA blog...
The 1950s mapping fill in the mid point time period between the 1890s and current OS mapping. The 1950s mapping are perfect for comparing changes over time and exploring the landscape, urban areas, road network and other features of post-war Britain.
We’ve made a small tweak to the interface to enable the selection of any two time periods, using the buttons and the slider (shown below) you can choose whether to view 1890s, 1950s or mapping from today, and any combination of two maps.
When a decade button is blue, click it to toggle it off and switch on the other map. You can watch a demo video on the Digimap for Schools YouTube Channel
The 1950s mapping is lovely to look at and a wonderful addition to the mapping available in Digimap for Schools. The maps have been provided by the National Library of Scotland.
The other great feature we’ve added, is the ability to add a text box to your map. Until now, users have only been able to add short text labels which is a bit restrictive when you want to write a longer piece of information to annotate the map.
The Text Box tool can be found in the Annotations Toolbar in a sub-menu of the Label tool.
Click to activate the tool and click on your map to add the Text Box. Then simply click in the box to start typing. Resize the box to display as much text as you like!
There's also a quote from a user of the service...
"This new map layer offers scope for further historical comparisons of local areas, and the impact of more recent changes than the previous 1890s addition.
From the EDINA blog...
Today the Digimap for Schools team release two new wonderful features – 1950s OS historic mapping and a text box tool.
We’ve made a small tweak to the interface to enable the selection of any two time periods, using the buttons and the slider (shown below) you can choose whether to view 1890s, 1950s or mapping from today, and any combination of two maps.
When a decade button is blue, click it to toggle it off and switch on the other map. You can watch a demo video on the Digimap for Schools YouTube Channel
The 1950s mapping is lovely to look at and a wonderful addition to the mapping available in Digimap for Schools. The maps have been provided by the National Library of Scotland.
The other great feature we’ve added, is the ability to add a text box to your map. Until now, users have only been able to add short text labels which is a bit restrictive when you want to write a longer piece of information to annotate the map.
The Text Box tool can be found in the Annotations Toolbar in a sub-menu of the Label tool.
Click to activate the tool and click on your map to add the Text Box. Then simply click in the box to start typing. Resize the box to display as much text as you like!
"This new map layer offers scope for further historical comparisons of local areas, and the impact of more recent changes than the previous 1890s addition.
I traced the railway network that used to pass through my village before Beeching's cuts, and looked for clues of the many farms that now lie beneath the urban sprawl of Milton Keynes. I traced the transformation of the Isle of Dogs, and the steady infill of housing in small villages.
The new maps are the latest in the continued improvements that are being made to this essential tool for the Geography department"
Alan Parkinson, Head of Geography at King’s Ely (Junior) School
Wednesday, October 07, 2015
Sad topographies
Via Twitter, I love this set of snapshots from Google Maps (?)
Depressing place names snipped out of the map and taken out of context.
Also reminds me of a tweet from last night of this location.
How about a set of happy places, or toponyms, or people's names, or .....
Depressing place names snipped out of the map and taken out of context.
Also reminds me of a tweet from last night of this location.
How about a set of happy places, or toponyms, or people's names, or .....
Sunday, October 04, 2015
New video on basemaps in ArcGIS Online from the ESRI UK Ed team
Basemaps video from Esri UK Ed Team on Vimeo.
Demo showing some of the base maps available in ArcGIS Online
Saturday, August 29, 2015
New resources for QGIS and Census Data
In 2014, the Royal Geographical Society awarded two teachers an Innovative Geography Teaching grant of £1000 to fund the development of new resources, based on the use of Census data.
I was one of those teachers, and worked with Ben Hennig to create a new education section of the LondonMapper website: a new project involving Professor Danny Dorling, which explores London through a series of cartograms using Census data.
My Scheme of Work explores the LondonMapper website and materials, and uses the idea of future urbanists looking back at London to see how it has changed over the years.
It connects with the other unit that I wrote for the RGS called Mapping London.
The second grant was awarded to Paul Turner, who takes over as Head of Geography at Bedales School in September. He worked with Dr Adam Dennett, a lecturer from UCL who works at CASA.
Paul's website and materials can now be viewed here, and he is keen to connect with teachers who want to trial the materials. You can contact Paul via the site.
There are 10 lessons which act as an introduction to QGIS, and the mapping and analysis of Census data.
I was one of those teachers, and worked with Ben Hennig to create a new education section of the LondonMapper website: a new project involving Professor Danny Dorling, which explores London through a series of cartograms using Census data.
My Scheme of Work explores the LondonMapper website and materials, and uses the idea of future urbanists looking back at London to see how it has changed over the years.
It connects with the other unit that I wrote for the RGS called Mapping London.
The second grant was awarded to Paul Turner, who takes over as Head of Geography at Bedales School in September. He worked with Dr Adam Dennett, a lecturer from UCL who works at CASA.
Paul's website and materials can now be viewed here, and he is keen to connect with teachers who want to trial the materials. You can contact Paul via the site.
There are 10 lessons which act as an introduction to QGIS, and the mapping and analysis of Census data.
Monday, August 17, 2015
Some nice thoughts on GIS in the Curriculum
Two good posts on the Leicester DIGILIT blog from Rob Manger of English Martyr's School.
The first followed Rob attending a course that I led in the city for the GA a few years ago, and covered Google Earth and some other technologies. At the time, ArcGIS Online was just coming out and offered some real promise.
Worth downloading the documents which accompany this post.
The second brings Rob's thinking up to date, with some thoughts on Digimap for Schools. ArcGIS Online and others, including the new CSV upload feature, Raphael Heath's work and the new GeoForm.
Rob has taken a lot of time to develop his skills in GIS, including attending the recent UK ESRI User Conference in London. I look forward to seeing what he and his students produce next.
If you've used Digimap for Schools in your own school, let me know what you've been up to and I'll share it here.
The first followed Rob attending a course that I led in the city for the GA a few years ago, and covered Google Earth and some other technologies. At the time, ArcGIS Online was just coming out and offered some real promise.
Worth downloading the documents which accompany this post.
The second brings Rob's thinking up to date, with some thoughts on Digimap for Schools. ArcGIS Online and others, including the new CSV upload feature, Raphael Heath's work and the new GeoForm.
Rob has taken a lot of time to develop his skills in GIS, including attending the recent UK ESRI User Conference in London. I look forward to seeing what he and his students produce next.
If you've used Digimap for Schools in your own school, let me know what you've been up to and I'll share it here.
Friday, August 14, 2015
CSV upload added to Digimap for Schools
A new feature has been added to Digimap for Schools.
Subscribers can now upload CSV files of fieldwork data/locations and the values will be plotted at the location within the postcode where they were recorded, along with a text label if required.
You can watch a tutorial video here.
Give it a go and let us know how it works for you.
The Add points from a file marker tool allows you to upload a CSV file containing data you have collected and create points on your map. For example, if you have been out on fieldwork and collected data in a spreadsheet or mobile app, you can upload that data and represent points on your map. Your points must have a location element to them, either Easting and Northing coordinates, Latitude and Longitude coordinates or a full GB Postcode. The data you have collected might be recording certain tree species, places you have observed micro climatic conditions, locations of graffiti or the postcode of people you have surveyed in a tourist hot spot.
Subscribers can now upload CSV files of fieldwork data/locations and the values will be plotted at the location within the postcode where they were recorded, along with a text label if required.
You can watch a tutorial video here.
Give it a go and let us know how it works for you.
The Add points from a file marker tool allows you to upload a CSV file containing data you have collected and create points on your map. For example, if you have been out on fieldwork and collected data in a spreadsheet or mobile app, you can upload that data and represent points on your map. Your points must have a location element to them, either Easting and Northing coordinates, Latitude and Longitude coordinates or a full GB Postcode. The data you have collected might be recording certain tree species, places you have observed micro climatic conditions, locations of graffiti or the postcode of people you have surveyed in a tourist hot spot.
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
CSV uploads in Digimap for Schools
I've worked on a range of resources for Digimap for Schools and Digimap for Colleges over the last few years, and am always excited when a new tool is added.
Three new tools were added this week.
You'll need to login and then look at the ADD MARKER dropdown options to see them.
Stickman marker could be used to mark human influence on an area, and colour coded for good or bad impact e.g. in a National Park, or along a stretch of coastline...
Grid Reference marker will be useful for adding them to printed maps which are used for fieldwork purposes, so that they can be used by students, perhaps in association with the OS Locate app.
You can now also add in CSV files of locations.
There is a help page for this function.
Read the blog post to find out more. The upload function won't work if you are using DfS on an iPad
Don't forget that printed maps also now have a north arrow included on them.
Three new tools were added this week.
You'll need to login and then look at the ADD MARKER dropdown options to see them.
Stickman marker could be used to mark human influence on an area, and colour coded for good or bad impact e.g. in a National Park, or along a stretch of coastline...
Grid Reference marker will be useful for adding them to printed maps which are used for fieldwork purposes, so that they can be used by students, perhaps in association with the OS Locate app.
You can now also add in CSV files of locations.
There is a help page for this function.
Read the blog post to find out more. The upload function won't work if you are using DfS on an iPad
Don't forget that printed maps also now have a north arrow included on them.
Friday, July 10, 2015
Field Notes Earth
Field Notes Earth is a new app from ESRI which extracts information from the Living Atlas.
Field Notes-Earth is a small sampling of the amazing questions that can be answered from the Esri Living Atlas of the World. To learn more about Esri content, visit http://livingatlas.arcgis.com
This app shares the power of geographic information through a common language to describe the landscape of the Earth.
1. Choose a place, such as your hometown, to learn interesting facts about population, nature, and physical landscapes.
2. Choose a second location to compare and contrast the differences.
These types of comparisons help us to better understand the differences in our landscapes and allow meaningful conversations on how to manage and protect our resources.
I had a play, comparing different places. This could work for different locations which are provided by the teacher for students to compare e.g. different land-use zones, biomes or different locations within a specific country e.g. population densities, urban areas etc.
Here's some screenshots.
Field Notes-Earth is a small sampling of the amazing questions that can be answered from the Esri Living Atlas of the World. To learn more about Esri content, visit http://livingatlas.arcgis.com
This app shares the power of geographic information through a common language to describe the landscape of the Earth.
1. Choose a place, such as your hometown, to learn interesting facts about population, nature, and physical landscapes.
2. Choose a second location to compare and contrast the differences.
These types of comparisons help us to better understand the differences in our landscapes and allow meaningful conversations on how to manage and protect our resources.
I had a play, comparing different places. This could work for different locations which are provided by the teacher for students to compare e.g. different land-use zones, biomes or different locations within a specific country e.g. population densities, urban areas etc.
Here's some screenshots.
GE Grids
Thanks to Mark Brandon for the tipoff to this article on land use change...
My interest was piqued by the mention of GE Grids.
This is described as follows:
GE Grids is the first free, customizable creator of raster datasets for use with Google Earth. GE Grids creates a user-defined, interactive grid (raster) overlaid on Google Earth image data. This tool circumvents expensive, specialized programs and knowledge, and enables easy use of Google Earth's high-resolution data to create localized datasets.
I need to explore this I think
Using Google Earth to map land use changes in East Africa "free, simple, transparent " #OA http://t.co/G5xftTdPEd
— Mark Brandon (@icey_mark) July 10, 2015
My interest was piqued by the mention of GE Grids.
This is described as follows:
GE Grids is the first free, customizable creator of raster datasets for use with Google Earth. GE Grids creates a user-defined, interactive grid (raster) overlaid on Google Earth image data. This tool circumvents expensive, specialized programs and knowledge, and enables easy use of Google Earth's high-resolution data to create localized datasets.
I need to explore this I think
Thursday, July 09, 2015
New version of ArcGIS Online
A new version of ArcGIS Online was released today.
There are some changes to UI and Workflow, many of which won't be noticeable to casual users, but some additional changes to the tools and mapping options, and also the Scenes, which are an exciting option.
You can read about the changes here.
There are some changes to UI and Workflow, many of which won't be noticeable to casual users, but some additional changes to the tools and mapping options, and also the Scenes, which are an exciting option.
You can read about the changes here.
Sunday, July 05, 2015
Monday, June 29, 2015
Happy 10th Birthday Google Earth
It's 10 years ago since the launch of Google Earth.
I remember seeing it for the first time, and contacting the Google Education team which was then very small, and Dennis Reinhardt let me have a Pro license for a year so I could have a good play. I started preparing a presentation for the Scottish Association of Geography Teacher's Conference in 2005, which is where I first met Ollie Bray (he was finishing his presentation at the time) and also applied for an Innovative Geography Teaching Grant to develop a users' guide to Earth, which became this very blog !
Today, Google announced a few new features to celebrate the 10th anniversary of what many teachers would say is the most useful tool for geography teachers, but which has now been eclipsed a little by other tools, and perhaps some apps too. It's still something I use weekly at least, and used it the other day in fact to explore Ely...
I remember seeing it for the first time, and contacting the Google Education team which was then very small, and Dennis Reinhardt let me have a Pro license for a year so I could have a good play. I started preparing a presentation for the Scottish Association of Geography Teacher's Conference in 2005, which is where I first met Ollie Bray (he was finishing his presentation at the time) and also applied for an Innovative Geography Teaching Grant to develop a users' guide to Earth, which became this very blog !
Today, Google announced a few new features to celebrate the 10th anniversary of what many teachers would say is the most useful tool for geography teachers, but which has now been eclipsed a little by other tools, and perhaps some apps too. It's still something I use weekly at least, and used it the other day in fact to explore Ely...
There's also hundreds of new images for my favourite Chrome extension, and a web gallery too (sort of a super version of Noel Jenkins' Earth as Art activity)
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Volcano Top Trumps map
Here's the map, which shows the locations of the volcanoes in the pack.
Monday, June 22, 2015
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Ash Cloud apocalypse
Raphael Heath is planning his 2nd World GIS activity.
The technology of ArcGIS Online has moved on in the last year, and there is now the appearance of the GeoForm (of which more to come later)
This year, the focus is on an Ash Cloud apocalypse.
The technology of ArcGIS Online has moved on in the last year, and there is now the appearance of the GeoForm (of which more to come later)
This year, the focus is on an Ash Cloud apocalypse.
Between 16 to 20 November get your Geography students involved with a local disaster risk mapping activity. Are you ready for the Ash Cloud Apocalypse. Could you survive? Know your risks!
This is the launch video... more to come on this later in the year....Using Google Earth to snoop on people
I was interested in an article that came through via Karl Donert
It describes how Google Earth is being used to check on people's general activity.
It can show cars parked in drives, home improvements, the appearance of outhouses etc. and then be used alongside other data from social networks e.g. postings from foreign holidays etc.
How much does this give away about your life?
It describes how Google Earth is being used to check on people's general activity.
It can show cars parked in drives, home improvements, the appearance of outhouses etc. and then be used alongside other data from social networks e.g. postings from foreign holidays etc.
How much does this give away about your life?
Friday, May 22, 2015
OS maps as a basemap layer in ArcGIS Online
For those of you who are interested in developing your use of ArcGIS Online, a few new items of interest.
Some new base maps have now been added to ArcGIS Online
You'll need an institutional subscription to see them...
You can see that alongside Watercolour Stamen maps are also ORDNANCE SURVEY maps.
A further development that shows the power of this tool.
Also this week I have been exploring with GeoForms.
These are forms which can be created to connect with a particular feature service layer of the ArcGIS Online platform.... Fill in the form on your device of choice and the data is added to the map in the relevant place...
This is going to use a few apps.
Some new base maps have now been added to ArcGIS Online
You'll need an institutional subscription to see them...
You can see that alongside Watercolour Stamen maps are also ORDNANCE SURVEY maps.
A further development that shows the power of this tool.
Also this week I have been exploring with GeoForms.
These are forms which can be created to connect with a particular feature service layer of the ArcGIS Online platform.... Fill in the form on your device of choice and the data is added to the map in the relevant place...
This is going to use a few apps.
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Monday, February 16, 2015
Free GIS datasets
One issue with using GIS is finding the right data.
Robin Wilson has created a useful list of free datasets to browse through, along with a caveat about the quality of the data they contain.
This was an issue when we worked on training courses for ESRI about five years ago, and is still an issue, although organisations like English Nature and the ONS are now more open with their data.
Robin Wilson has created a useful list of free datasets to browse through, along with a caveat about the quality of the data they contain.
This was an issue when we worked on training courses for ESRI about five years ago, and is still an issue, although organisations like English Nature and the ONS are now more open with their data.
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Do you have your free Google Earth Pro version ?
I've had a free Google Earth pro license for a while now, but a few tweets and other messages today, and a post on Google Earth Blog reminded me that I hadn't necessarily mentioned it here, or recently, so here goes...
You'll need to get it from HERE, and also make sure that you have a license key, which you can request when installing it...you'll also need to connect it to a specific e-mail address and choose a user name.
There are some extra features in the Pro version compared to the standard one... these used to cost hundreds of dollars to access, although I actually had a Pro version back in 2005-6 thanks to Dennis Reinhardt of Google... at the time I was working on the Earth: a Users Guide project, funded by the RGS-IBG, which became this blog.
If you have a previous version of Google Earth you'll need to delete or uninstall it first.
You'll need to get it from HERE, and also make sure that you have a license key, which you can request when installing it...you'll also need to connect it to a specific e-mail address and choose a user name.
There are some extra features in the Pro version compared to the standard one... these used to cost hundreds of dollars to access, although I actually had a Pro version back in 2005-6 thanks to Dennis Reinhardt of Google... at the time I was working on the Earth: a Users Guide project, funded by the RGS-IBG, which became this blog.
If you have a previous version of Google Earth you'll need to delete or uninstall it first.
Saturday, January 17, 2015
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