Plastiki in 3D

I've been following the Plastiki voyage's story for over a year now...

There were delays in the launch, but I am enjoying following the voyage via the website, and also their TWITTER stream...

The PLASTIKI is now available in 3D via the GOOGLE warehouse...

Google Earth and Mike Oldfield

Hergest Ridge was Mike Oldfield's second album, and one of my favourites.

Tubular Bells was the first album I bought, when I was about 11...

Mike Oldfield has been re-releasing his albums in various editions for a while now, and the latest Hergest Ridge release has been given a new cover, with a Google Image of Hergest Ridge on it.

Few years ago, I visited the Ridge, and it's got a special vibe about it....

Ash, Ash baby....

The papers have been full of stories about the erupting Icelandic volcano (one of many....)

Spoke to a Deputy Head at a school in Shefffield today who had 16 staff missing including the headteacher...

This would be a great context for using some of the features of Google Earth, and I will be using those in a training session later in the week (by which time it might be old news of course...)

• Polygons for ash cloud coverage
• Overlays
• Bookmarks of stories of stranded people (on Twitter) - use a Twitter search

Also my #ashabsence idea...

The final point of call is GEarth Blog which has a link to a very useful overlay image of the ash cloud.

ESRI (UK) & GA Strategic Partnership

Over to Aylesbury yesterday to Millennium House for the first meeting in connection with the new strategic partnership between ESRI (UK) and the Geographical Association. ESRI (UK) are also the first GA corporate member.

This has been quite a long time in the planning, and was announced over the weekend, but there will be more on this to come at the GA Conference next week.

GIS is now part of all key stages, and is specifically mentioned in the KS3 Programme of Study.

From the press release:

This new partnership brings together ESRI (UK)’s expertise in GIS (Geographical Information Systems) and the GA’s understanding of the learning and teaching of geography.

With GIS now a compulsory part of the national curriculum, the organisations will combine forces to help teachers respond to the curriculum changes and introduce GIS into geography lessons.

The signing of this first partnership agreement is a new departure for the GA. With funding in place for the next three years the GA can plan ahead, working with ESRI (UK) to introduce the power of GIS technology to schools as part of its mission of furthering the study, learning and teaching of geography. Last summer ESRI (UK) responded to the curriculum changes, launching its GIS for Schools Programme which offers GIS software specially designed for schools and a wealth of resources. In an online resource centre teachers can watch video tutorials and download step by step lesson plans on topics ranging from tracking hurricanes to the spread of swine flu.

“We are delighted and honoured to be working with the GA in this ground-breaking partnership,” said Dr Richard Waite, Managing Director, ESRI (UK). “We believe passionately that GIS brings a new dimension to the teaching of geography, giving students both a deeper understanding of their subject and skills they can take into the workplace. More than 120 schools have now signed up to our GIS for Schools Programme.

Working with the GA and its members we can build on this success over the next three years, encouraging more schools to use GIS and creating a community of teachers who will share their knowledge of GIS, their enthusiasm and their resources.”

As part of the partnership, I will be spending some time working on resources, training and the GIS for Schools Programme. This already contains a growing range of resources.

There are 2 key packages from ESRI.

Digital Worlds (was HIGHLY COMMENDED in the GA awards 2009)

ArcView 9.3 (industry compatible GIS which has tremendous potential...)

There is also the MY GIS support area for teachers....

As part of the day, John Lyon and I were shown the ENTERPRISE LAB. This is a purpose-built room at ESRI UK HQ, which has the ability to be used in a variety of scenarios.

Digital Worlds costs £250+VAT per year, which gives access to the full range of teaching and learning materials as well as training materials, such as a series of podcasts which work through the key skills that are needed to make the most of the software. The key element of this, as with ArcView is the access to a huge range of DATA.

ArcView costs £350+VAT per year, which gives access to further materials

At the GA Conference next week, Dr. Richard Waite of ESRI (UK) will deliver the Public Lecture on Thursday the 8th of April.

Dr Waite will explore what GIS means for teachers and students, explaining why GI skills are becoming increasingly important in the workplace, how GIS can enhance the teaching of a broad range of subjects, and how geography teachers can lead the way.

Google Street View goes nationwide

Images copyright Google

Google Street View has gone national

A huge update of Google's photography means that over 90% of the UK is now covered by the high resolution, 360 degree imagery along most roads in the UK

One of the first things that people would do perhaps would be to look at their own house, and the houses where they used to live....

Just done that myself, and you can see the house where I lived between 1977 and 1988 (ish) above, tho' it didn't look like that at the time...

There was a useful post on Simon Haughton's blog which suggested some geographical ideas for how the newly expanded Street View could be used in the classroom. Here are some (more):

1. Previewing a journey that is going to be made / risk assessments for fieldwork

2. Carrying out VIRTUAL FIELDWORK in an unfamiliar area

3. Investigate change over time in a local area

4. Clone Town / Land use surveys

5. Remodelling the models: transects from town centre outwards to test their validity

6. Comparing distant locations (Primary)

7. Taking a trip to the seaside

8. Play the "When were the images taken" game: look at clues in the state of buildings, traffic and people in the area, to see whether you can work out the time of year, or time of day, or day of the week when the cars must have taken the images...

My street was photographed in Summer, on a week-day judging by the images, but further towards the centre of the village the images turn to autumn...

9. Do a N, S, E and W, or 5 minutes in each direction from home etc.

10. Most URBAN fieldwork could be done in a slightly adapted way using the images, perhaps supported with some Flip video filming / audio files ? (remember that this is NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR REAL FIELDWORK which MUST continue....)

I have been updating a presentation I used last year, when Street View was limited to just a few major cities, which provided ideas for geography teachers on how they might use Street View in the classroom. Will share that here when it is complete....

Predictably, there has been a little kerfuffle in the Daily Mail...

Read the article and comments for a variety of views on the role of this sort of technology...

And just to show another feature: the maps can be embedded into blogs...

Drag the YELLOW PEGMAN onto the map in the appropriate place, and the Street View images will appear....

View Larger Map

Can also be viewed on my iPhone, which is remarkable really... The UK in your pocket....

Storybook Earth

Here's one that got away...
Almost 2 years ago, Tom Barrett and I discussed an idea for a Google Earth grant. They were offering cash to start up projects using Google Earth in innovative ways...

We came up with an idea called STORYBOOK EARTH, which would gather and geolocate children's stories.

If anyone would like to give us some cash to get the idea off the ground, feel free to get in touch :)

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...

Google Earth on a Google Phone...

Google Earth is available for the iPhone as I have already mentioned...

But earlier this week Google unveiled their new Android phone, which has a range of new features and, of course, Google Earth.

A post on the GEarth Blog has more detail on this.... complete with a short movie.

Google Earth on iPhone

Image by Alan Parkinson

For those who haven't heard (or are even remotely interested) I finally decided just after Christmas that what I really needed in my life was an iPhone. I opted for a 16Gb 3GS version in glossy white.

There are many reasons why I finally succumbed to the ever-so-shiny phone.

One of my thoughts was that I had seen geography colleagues using it in interesting ways in the classroom, and outside the classroom (the latter perhaps more than the former) and needed to investigate these by actually using them... and then reporting on them...

There were already some useful posts on the use of iPhones which have been building up over the last year or so since the 3G version of the phone was introduced.

Teachers using iPhones

Noel Jenkins posted an interesting thought on his DIGITAL GEOGRAPHY blog giving his thoughts - he hadn't got an iPhone at the time, but has now.

He has put it to good use with his QR CODE FIELDWORK work: WELLINGTON STORIES.

Had the pleasure of seeing Noel present this work down in Somerset at the end of last year.

Ollie Bray had already posted a series of posts on iPhone in education, originally posted back in 2009

Post 1 of 5 had information on an app called MIND MAKER: a mind mapping app

Post 2 of 5 had a post on TRACK ME app, which uses the GPS capability of the iPhone

Post 3 of 5 on iGLOW (which had a useful tip for adding a new ICON on a screen)

Post 3.5 of 5 on a SEISMOMETER app (which I downloaded)

Post 4 of 5 had information on Geography Fieldwork apps

Post 5 of 5 had information on an app called EARTHSCAPE

I also asked my PLN via Twitter, and got some recommendations. for apps.

Some of the websites which I use regularly also have iPhone apps, so I checked those out as well: FLICKR is my photo sharing APP of choice, and I also downloaded COOL IRIS for viewing them. Also the ANIMOTO app for watching videos I've produced, such as the movie for "a different view", and also Rain Today.

Image by Alan Parkinson

I also started a new iPHONE GEOGRAPHY GROUP on the GA Ning.

Here's the first page of the APPS I have so far. Got a 2nd page underway...

There are also some excellent features as part of the phone itself:

CAMERA and VIDEO CAMERA - obviously useful for story telling and fieldwork...

COMPASS - map orientation etc.

NOTES - no more clipboards

MAPS (using the built-in GPS) - endless potential here...

iTUNES and the iPOD settings for music and video and podcasts (including educational podcasts)

CLOCK: choose the WORLD CLOCK and add a range of cities that you are studying (quicker than the ones up on the wall...)

Also came across George Burgess's GCSE GEOGRAPHY revision app: GEOREV.

Might also check out the CLINOMETER, the GPS Cardinal, the RULER PHONE app, a Swiss Climate Change walk app, GEOTagging, We can take you there etc.

Got the BUMP app too - if you meet up, then feel free to BUMP me... Might get a chance at BETT in a couple of weeks time...

OK, so my iPhone adventure is underway...

And as this IS the Google Earth blog, worth mentioning how fantastic the Google Earth app for iPhone is - so quick and responsive, but still learning the finger movements to get the navigation smooth....

Google Earth Survey Results

A recent survey conducted on behalf of Digital Explorer shows that Google Earth has a significant positive impact on teaching and learning.

The survey was sent out to 481 geography teachers across the UK who had attended Google Earth training courses.

80% of respondents noted an increase in pupil attainment and their understanding of geography since using Google Earth in the classroom.

Similarly, 80% stated that their pupils were more engaged and 90% were likely or very likely to recommend Google Earth as a teaching tool.

“These figures are fantastic and back up what we have heard from teachers anecdotally,” commented Jamie Buchanan-Dunlop. “When we first started using Google Earth and training other teachers, we thought it was an amazing way to engage young people in environmental and global issues and we now have the evidence to back that up.”

Digital Explorer first used Google Earth on an expedition to Morocco in 2006 and since then has trained over 500 teachers to use Google Earth on their own field trips and in the classroom. The software has the ability to make “international learning more real” and “brings the wider world into the classroom” according to teacher comments as part of the survey. Others mention that they “can’t use it enough” and through it “geography is made more accessible and personal”. However, teachers also highlighted that school networks and ICT infrastructure can be a barrier to the widespread use of technologies like Google Earth in the classroom.

“I loved the Digital Explorer training and was full of ideas when I came back to school. The number one factor holding me back is the school network. Images loaded into Google Earth do not load in time and if I put a class on Google Earth it grinds to a halt. All very sad! I have high hopes for better results when we get a new school!” explained one course participant.

The survey was designed and conducted by Sandy Beatty of Sandy Beatty Services Ltd on behalf of Digital Explorer. 481 survey invitations were delivered to the email addresses of the participants of Digital Explorer Google earth training courses held between January 2007 and July 2009.

A full copy of the report can be downloaded from:

http://digitalexplorer.co.uk/press/google-earth-in-the-classroom.pdf

Coronation Street

Coronation Street has been added to Google Street View.

View Larger Map

Could be a useful place to visit with students, perhaps for a literacy task ?

Are there any other soap opera locations in Street View ?

Via Twitter.

Google Earth in Primary Classroom

A new resource created and shared by Graeme Eyre, from the Anglo European School in Essex.

Graeme is also one of the GA's Primary Geography Champions.

Using Google Earth In The Primary Classroom

View more documents from Graeme Eyre.

Language of Landscape Survey - prize draw

The Ordnance Survey Free Maps for 11 Year Olds are arriving in schools - you may already have had yours...

When you get the maps, you will also find a couple of (much sought after) hard copies of a publication called "The Language of Landscape"

The booklet is supported by a series of downloads from the NATURAL ENGLAND website.

I have created a SURVEY MONKEY SURVEY for those who have got their maps, and have also made use of the "Language of Landscape" to help students use the maps: whether inside or outside the classroom (or ideally both...)

Click Here to take survey

If you have used the maps and the book, please fill in the survey.

All completed questionnaires by 1st of December will be entered into a Prize Draw to win a copy of the KS3 Teachers Toolkit title: "Look at it this Way", a copy of the Geography Collective's "Journey Journal" and a few other geographical goodies....

Don't forget to use Google Earth with your OS maps...

Latest Sightseer

The latest version of Google Earth 5 is now available to download: via GOOGLE SIGHTSEER.

Make sure that you have this up to date version....

Also included is a wider range of 3D cities.

Also mentions some GOOGLE HEROES.

A nice additional VIRTUAL TOUR has been put together by VR WEB design.

This shows LONDON.

Collaborative document

Now up to 24 ideas in this collaborative document started by Tom Barrett...