Exploring London - Google Earth may feature...

Delighted to say that I've been awarded one of just two of these awards handed out this year, given out by the Royal Geographical Society, to work on a collaboration jointly with Dr. Benjamin Hennig from the University of Oxford on a project related to the Census of 2011.

Ben is the genius who created the Worldmapper cartograms, and creates maps at Views of the World.
He is now working at one of the finest Geography departments in the world, and it is a real privilege to get the chance to work with him.
Our project is called LondonMapper: exploring a World city through Census Data

The Census 2011 produced billions of pieces of data, and by focussing on London past, present and future we will explore ideas related to London and its place in the world, and guide students on an exploration through the Census data and present them with some decisions that need to be made, which will shape London's future...

Our work will connect with, and expand on the nascent LondonMapper project.

Look out for more new maps like this one

Some more interesting London-based news coming in the next month or so too....

2014 Winter Olympics

Details here of some Google Earth models and other mapping linked with the current Winter Olympics.

Google Earth Time Zones

A useful resource which is one of several shared by Ted MacKinnon on his website.

Richard Treves' tutorials...

I mentioned Richard's work on the recent Google Earth and Beyond course...

Here's a link to the first video from Richard's course, from which you can probably find the others.
Useful additional material.

Saharan Memorial story...

This story has been in and out of various websites for a while, and I've always meant to do something with it, but never had the time...
I don't have the time now, so this won't be a fully fledged resource just yet, but some readers may be unaware of the story.
Start by heading to Google Earth and type the following co-ordinates (or cut and paste them from here) into the address search box on Google Earth.

16°51′53.748″N 11°57′13.362″E

Now go and read the story on the BBC website.

How would you use the story as ISM (initial stimulus material) for a lesson ?
Which topic would it support ?

Google Earth Function Sheet

How many of these do you know ?

Google Earth Function Sheet

SAMR

The SAMR model is a way of thinking about your use of Technology in the classroom.
It starts with Substitution: i.e. just doing what you would have done anyway, but with technology, then moves through Augmentation and Modification to reach Redefinition.
What does Google Earth allow you to do that would not be possible without it, in an educational context ?
Here's a sheet that you could use to help capture your thoughts and/or discussions.
Aim high...

SAMR GE

Wembley way...

I showed the delegates the possibility of adding models from SketchUp into Google Earth.

The SketchUp 3D Warehouse has a range of models, and I showed the WEMBLEY model as an example of what can be added...

ArcGIS Online

Thanks to all those who came along to the GA Google Earth and Beyond course at the Leicester Mercure on Thursday this week.
I demonstrated ArcGIS Online along with Google Earth on the GA course. This is available in free and subscription versions for schools. I am going to be sharing more ideas for this over the next year or so.
Just used ArcGIS to map the POLICE.UK crime figures...
Plot an area around your school.
Go to DETAILED STATISTICS and download the CSV file.
Drag into ArcGIS ONLINE to visualise it instantly....

Some favourite GE resources

I asked my Twitter network to suggest resources for Google Earth that should really be added to the course because of recent additions or developments.

Thanks to the following folks, for the following suggestions:

Keir Clarke suggested Climate Viewer 3D, which makes use of the Google Earth plug in. Has a range of information in addition to climate data, created in a series of layers...

Limestone Landscapes

A useful model for how to put together a piece of work on Richard Allaway's Geography all the Way site. This particular resource is free access, but others are part of the subscription site, which is well worth subscribing to.

There are several Limestone Landscapes included in the original resource, with a particular focus on a walk through the Yorkshire Dales around the classic Malham round.
Download a Google Earth file with some images and a sheet to go with the walk....

Scribble Maps - online and mobile applications...

This tool has improved since I first came across it some years ago - very nice easy shape creation and area measurement automatically done.
Check out the SCRIBBLE MAPS website for the links through, or download the application to a mobile device.

Google Earth Tour Builder

This was recommended by several people.
This video was made by Richard Treves - search the blog for more of his work...

Head to the Google Earth Tour Builder website to get started.

XKCD on mapping

OFSTED and GIS - a reminder....

GIS and OFSTED from GeoBlogs