Esther from Google Maps has been in touch after reading my post about the local history work (see below). She has asked if I could write an article about how we use the mapping service in the classroom. It will coincide with some current work I am doing with my class about our local history. I am hoping to use Quikmaps (a mashup of Google Maps) to locate some old photographs on a current map. Should be fun.
This idea popped into my head in the middle of the night…
They seem to do that a lot. I can’t help but think over a few ideas as I drift off to sleep and I was mulling over the use of old and new photographs that we have been doing in our local history. I wanted to explore the use of GPS and geotagging to help us locate some of the old pictures. Well basically what I have come up with is a conceivable set of Geography/History/ICT based activities that would be great to do.
You would need.
- GPS Receivers – hand held X 5 (one per group)
- Network copy of Robogeo (geotagging software)
- Digital cameras – X 5 (one per group)
- Copies of old photos laminated to be taken out with you
- Optional: portable mp3 recording equipment; iPod, iRiver
Prior to taking the children out you would need to locate whereabouts the old photographs have been taken and add these as placemarks into all 5 GPS devices – or you could just record the placemarks and ask the children to enter the lat and long as part of the task. (This task is assuming there has been some prior work using GPS devices within the school grounds for example)
So what would the task involve? I will break it into different steps. Essentially the main learning objective are
- To understand and recognise the changes that have occured over time to different locations in your local area.
- Use GPS and geotagging software to accurately locate the old photographs onto a modern day map.
The activities would be in this order:
- Locate each GPS placemark and match it to one of the old photographs the children have with them.
- At the exact location take an identical phtotgraph using the cameras – take time to frame the photograph exactly as the older one was taken.
- (After completing all of the photographs) Return to an ICT suite connect both GPS device and camera to computer and load Robogeo software. Match up each placemark (lat and long) from GPS to the photographs. [This can be done for the new set of photographs as well as the older set.]
- Export the finished work into many different formats: Google Earth, Google Maps, to flickr. Embed the map into a class wikispace.
- An added feature of RoboGEO is the ability to associate an audio file with the image. The audio files could be recorded using an iPod or other mp3 device and loaded onto the PC as well.
The activities might need a bit of support but they are certainly not out of reach for upper KS2 children.I am not sure how many primary schools own there own GPS devices though!
Bubblr
This is a lovely little app that could prove to be very useful. As the site suggests Bubblr is:
…a tool to create comic strips using photos from flickr.com. Begin searching images and add bubbles to them. So easy! Just type a tag and and press go!
The specific aspect I really like is the way that you can search for a username in flickr so that you only see those photos. If a class has an account it then allows a classteacher to direct children to a certain resource and certain images to use.
The comic strips are very simple to create as you drag images to a dynamic timeline structure and this linear style scrolling comic book is what you would get when published. Bubbles for speech, thought and just text are available to add and move, add text to. I found it really easy to organise and it could have many uses – for example it would be a good way to illustrate a historical timeline.
Once again the published resource can be embedded into other sites including a wikispace – unfortunately I cannot embed it into a learnerblog for the class blog which is a great shame and I am finding that there are seemingly too many limitations to what can be achieved in the learnerblog environment.
EditGrid
After exploring a whole raft of web 2.0 applications I have been thinking about the application of EditGrid‘s spreasheets that can be shared online. I certainly think that they have the capacity to change the way that spreadhsheets are taught or at least to add an extra collaborative strand. And I suppose I started to think how could the primary ICT curriculum be covered in the use of Web 2.0 apps? Probably pretty well!
Anyway EditGrid allows you to create a spreadsheet (which by the way is a simplified version of excel) and then share your work as you would a Wikispace – I suppose it is a wikisheet; or a spreadwiki or a sheetwikispread!! These spreadsheets can then perhaps be embedded into a class wiki – using the embed media button at wikispaces.
The obvious use would be to deliver much of the spreadsheets curriculum for Year 5 and 6 – but I really like the RTU or Real Time Update feature of it that allows you to see real time changes. I think that simultaneous maths lessons with either whole classes or small groups working together on the same workspace may be an interesting option. There is also the possible use of the spreadsheet between schools in different locations.
Maybe there is someone out there willing to do that ?
Flickr notes tool
Strangely enough I only discovered this very useful little tool of Flickrs yesterday. Adding notes is far more visual than I imagined – I suppose it was a bit daft of me to miss it. But nevertheless this morning I decided to use ti with the children in my Year 6 class and we revised some maths we have been doing. I scanned a good example of the grid method for multiplication and then simply labelled what we saw, this really helped to consolidate the different features. Check it our here.
Such a simple tool – I must make more of it.