Life Trips and Thinkingeography

One of the many highlights of today's GA Independent School's Working Group event was the chance to meet Andrew Lee

I have exchanged e-mails and ideas with Andrew for years via a number of online networks, and other channels, and we finally met face to face.

THINKINGEOGRAPHY is Andrew's website, which he is rebuilding to create a unified "look" and updated content.

This site certainly rewards exploration, with a range of intriguing areas, and a nascent online textbook.

One key resource, which Andrew showed us, was the chance to use his LIFE TRIPS resource.

This is a WIKI based resource which Andrew created when he was teaching at the Dulwich School in Shanghai.

This resource is based on the idea that people living in cities across the world follow certain routes in their daily lives, and these routes can be plotted on Google Earth, and additional data such as images and videos can be placed alongside the route information. Of course this information can be added using the basic version of Google Earth, and students can create tours along routes such as journeys to school. Andrew used the Pro version of Google Earth, which means that he also had the option to export videos of the finished product, and it is these videos which make the biggest impact on the user of Life Trips: filmed by Andrew in BANGKOK with an interpreter to give a real impression of being in a bustling city....

LifeTrips with GoogleEarth is a new website attached to a Wikispace which allows you to look at the lives of people in different cities. Using Google Earth it tracks the day paths of people who live throughout the world and helps people connect with people in their own city, or in a city across the world.

The site can be visited by anyone, though school pupils, in association with their teachers may contribute to the site by registering, and then publishing material to the connected Wikispace pages.

This website provides an index for the Wikispace in which the site’s assets reside.

LifeTrips with GoogleEarth is an invitation to communicate.

Visit the LIFE TRIPS PAGE to find out more

He also reminded everyone that GOOGLE EARTH PRO is free to EDUCATORS. It can take a little perseverance, but

Thanks to Garret Nagle and St. Edwards School in Oxford for hosting the event, and giving us an excellent lunch: the sea bass was rather good... and of course to Paul Baker for his energy and enthusiasm...

Thanks also to Tom Biebrach for giving me a lift to and from my hotel...

100th Post

This has been a while coming...

The first item in this post is the completion by Mark Beaumont of his round the world cycle trip. It is not too late to support
The 195 day trip was followed by Scottish geographer Val Vannet, who posted a daily update of where Mark was that day, using Google Earth and a range of other resources to locate him, and check out the amazing geography of the place that he was travelling to...
Check out the ARTEMIS web site, and the GEOBLOGGING WITH MARK blog, which is being labelled up, so that you can use it to explore the world.
Why not MAKE A DONATION to Mark's charities if you haven't already.

Also check out some great resources at the THINKINGEOGRAPHY blog of Dr Andrew Lee, who currently teaches in China. This includes the recent addition of a superb new resource using Google Earth in an exciting and original way, which I have missed out on using this year as I have just finished my China unit, but would be good to have some additional materials for next year.
This is the LIFE TRIPS WITH GOOGLE EARTH section.

Here's the description from the website:

LifeTrips with GoogleEarth is a new website attached to a Wikispace which allows you to look at the lives of people in different cities. Using Google Earth it tracks the day paths of people who live throughout the world and helps people connect with people in their own city, or in a city across the world.

The site can be visited by anyone, though school students, in association with their teachers may contribute to the site by registering, and then publishing material to the wikispace.

This website provides an index for the Wikispace in which the site’s assets reside.

LifeTrips with GoogleEarth is an invitation to communicate.

Check out the movies on people who live in BANGKOK, and the instructions are also provided on the website. This is a super resource.

Also has a great blog, with posts such as THIS ONE.

One to check out...