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Instructor |
GPS, Geocode & Googlemaps for Learning
The last year has seen an explosion of
new online tools that allow us to attach information to specific locations. Learn
about geocaching, geotagging, and geo-you-name-it as ways to enliven the teaching
of history, math, language arts and (of course) geography. Meets
4/15 & 4/29 Schedule
# 10894
Overview
As
a recent survey shows, young Americans have a lot to learn about geography. This course
is designed to be practical, current, interesting, empowering and thought-provoking.
It is built around active learning and collaborative thinking. When we're done, you'll
have created a lesson plan that makes use of this technology and developed insights
that will enable you to design additional GPS experiences for your classroom.
Audience
This course is targeted at teachers at the K-12 and college levels. Basic familiarity with internet use is assumed. No prior experience with GPS needed.
Learning Outcomes
In this course you will learn how to
- identify opportunities in your curriculum which can be enhanced through the use of GPS
- use a GPS receiver to locate yourself in terms of latitude and longitude
- design a lesson plan that uses GPS and mapping technology while meeting curriculum standards
- Use appropriate software and online tools to display maps, tracks, waypoints and earth images to meet specific needs
Resources
A growing list of course-related links is available and will be maintained after the course is over.
In addition, here are some blogs you might want to follow:
- Cool Google Maps
- Declan Butler, Reporter
- Digitally Distributed Environments
- Geobloggers
- Geocoding, etc.
- Geography 2.0
- Geotags
- Google Earth Blog
- Google Earth Hacks
- Google Maps Mania
- The Map Room
- Mapping Hacks
- Ogle Earth
- Podcacher
- Spatially Adjusted
Course Outline
Session 1: April 15, 2006
- Mapping Ourselves: An Icebreaker
- Overview of GPS and Geocaching concepts.
- Setting up Geocaching.com and Waymarking accounts
- Finding our first geocache | Campus Map
- Sign up for your Moodle account
- A second geocaching adventure
- A selective list of geotools
- Lesson designs that use GPS
- Maps as art
- An ad for Google Earth?
- Hacking Google Earth.
Weeks-In-Between
- Explore the postings in the NYGPS and GPS
in Education Forums and the blogs listed at the bottom left of this page and share
at least two ideas or insights you got from them on the forum on Moodle.
- If you have access to a GPS receiver, go find another cache on your own. Here's
an easy one nearby.
- Read The Spatial
Thinker.
- Bring something to contribute to the class geocache, and a second thing to serve as your personal Travel Bug. See what happened to Joe Hartman's bug from our class in Fall 2004.
- Draft a lesson plan that makes use of GPS
Session 2: April 29, 2006
- Discussion and peer review of your lesson design
- Hiding our class geocache and sending our Travel Bugs on their way
- Here they are!
- Connecting GPS to a computer
- Creating KML files for Google Earth (hint: &output=kml)
- Download Google Earth
- Google Earth Hacks | Ogle Earth | GPS Visualizer
- KoKae Screencasts
Project Due : May 6, 2006
