GTAV Conference 2009 - Using Spatial Technologies without a Fuss!

Spatial technologies have been the buzz word in Geography for a number of years now. We have all tried at some stage to attempt to implement some form of spatial technologies in our classroom with varying degrees of success. The main impediments to the introduction of these technologies have previously been issues with time and cost.

However, this is no longer the case. The importance of spatial information has meant that there are a large number of free, online sites available for use to access and use. The wonderful thing about these sites is that there is minimal preparation needed, and they are generally easy to use (as long as you have the internet!).

This presentation will provide an overview of what spatial technologies are, why you should use them and how they can be used in the Geography classroom. Specific time will be spent on various sites, including Google maps. I will also show you some maps my students have created following a coastal field trip.

So, why are spatial technologies needed in the classroom?

Improving spatial literacy among our students is important. The National Geographic-roper Public Affairs (NG-RPA) 2006 Literacy Study found that six in ten young Americans aged 18 to 24 could not find Iraq on a map of the Middle East; one-third could not find Louisiana on a map of the United States; and most incredibly, when given a hypothetical map and told they could escape an approaching hurricane by evacuating north-west, one-third would travel in the wrong direction.

The image below may provide humorous (but not really!) evidence of this.



Or there is always an oldie but a goody - Miss Carolina 2007.



And her second attempt...



Before we start looking at sites, we must understand what spatial technologies are. The slideshow below was one that I have put together and uploaded to slideshare.

Using Spatial Technologies in the Geography Classroom

View more presentations from becnic.

Funny Movies about GPS





Google Maps and Streetview




Examples of Online Spatial Technologies

The following link will allow you to view and download a document that contains heaps of online resources that you can use in the classroom. We will look at some in more detail today.

Spatial Technology Resources for Teachers

View more documents from becnic.

MapZone
This would have to be the best online GIS site that is available free for students. The activities are clear and engaging, and introduce the students the idea of what GIS is and how it works. The following link - Creating Our Own Digital Landscape - is an example of how I used Mapzone in the classroom.

Sentinel Hotspots
Sentinel is a national bushfire monitoring system that provides timely information about hotspots to emergency services managers across Australia. The mapping system allows users to identify fire locations with a potential risk to communities and properties.

FluTracker
This map and the data behind it were compiled by Dr. Henry Niman, a biomedical researcher in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, using technology provided by Rhiza Labs and Google. The map is compiled using data from official sources, news reports and user-contributions and updated multiple times per day. A great tool to track the outbreak of swine flu.

US Crime Reports.com
This map provides detailed crime statistic data for cities in the US. A great tool to look at patterns and the prevalence of differing types of crime. A pity Australia hasn't put something like this together.

Google Maps

Google Maps is developing into one of the most amazing and accessible sites for Geography teachers to utilise. Using Google Maps you are able to create your own maps using My Maps, add text and images to a point, and then email this tour to someone else.

The following link will take you to a task I created for my Unit 1 (equivalent to Year 11) Geography class - Bec's Classes - Coastal Fieldwork: Your Assessment Task. Using images and data collected from the fieldtrip, my students created their own map. An example of a student's assessment task can be viewed by clicking here - Coastal Fieldtrip Google Map by Stephanie Kosth.

A new Google Map application is the Scribble Map. This allows the user to draw on a google map, place markers and text, create a custom widget, save the file and then send it to friends. The application of spatial brainstorming and sketching in class, saving the file and then uploading it to a blog or the intranet is real.

Your Task

Create a Google Maps 'My Map' of a trip around your local area. As you will not have any photos, use Flickr and the url of these images to practice linking images to a point. The following You Tube movie provides a step-by-step overview of how to create your map. Thanks to Mick Law from Contour Education for creating this.



As an alternative, you could create your own 'Love Map'. See below.



Google Earth also provides a number of opportunities for your class, including the creation of tours. Any maps you create with Google Maps are interchangeable with Google Earth. Mick Law from Contour Education has also put together resources on how to use Google Earth in the Geography classroom. Google Earth Resources for Geography Teachers provides a multitude of resources for Geography teachers on how to use Google Earth in the classroom. This site was established and maintained by a UK Geography teacher.

Other Resources

Mapping Worlds
This site allows you to view various interesting pieces of data (death penalty, women in parliament, cattle etc) with a slightly different perspective. You will be shown a map that changes the size of each country according to its value of that data.

Twittervision 3d
This site is spatial technologies meets Web 2.0. It displays the real time location of tweets from around the world. Very interesting to use if you are looking at the spread of news on geographical issues.

Other resources can also be found on previous blog posts of this blog.

GTAV Conference 2009 - Using Wikis and Blogs in Geography

Today's workshop will provide an overview of some of the technologies I have discovered and how I use them in the classroom. Following a short presentation on what Web 2.0 is, and some of the online tools available, I will show you some of my examples. Then we will set up our own blog, embed You Tube links and look at some other tools that could come in handy.

This year I began teaching at Coburg Senior High School. The school has a unique open plan design which incorporates learning commons rather than classrooms. Student and staff learning is enhanced by an IT rich environment. We do not use textbooks and there are no whiteboards. Teachers therefore need to find ways of teaching that both enhance student learning and use the technology that is provided. So, my challenge this year was to find a way to use some of the Web 2.0 Technology so that is effective in the classroom. My experience is quite limited, and I have learnt by watching other teachers at school, trial and error and using teacher blogs from other schools.

What is Web 2.0?

The following You Tube provides an overview of how Web 2.0 has changed the internet.

What is Web 2.0?

View more documents from becnic.

The presentation above was something that I created. You can then embed this in your blog using a program called Slideshare. Become a member and then upload your powerpoints. This then allows you to clearly display the content on your blog.

There are new Web 2.0 Tools and Applications popping up everyday. It does become quite daunting trying to keep up with what could be useful to use in applying Web 2.0 tools in the classroom. One site, GO2Web2.0 provides a link to all types of tools and applications. You can search these via category or purpose.

Your Task

Following the You Tube movie and presentation, what do you understand about Web 2.0 and the applications it has in the classroom? Using a wordle, brainstorm your ideas.

A wordle is a toy that allows you to create word clouds from the text that you provide. Instructions on how to create a wordle can be found by clicking on here.

An example of a lesson where I used a wordle can be found here.

Blogs



I have found blogging to be one of the best Web 2.0 tools available to me in the classroom. As a beginner, this was the easiest way to embed and link files, as well as provide instant access for my students. A blog also allows students to comment. There are a number of options available if you are interested in creating a blog for you class. Possible sites that I know teachers use are Edublogs or Global Teacher.

The following is a link to my class blog - Bec's Classes. This is my main teaching tool and I usually put together a new post for each lesson.

Video Tutorials for Edublogs are found here


Embedding a Video in Your Blog


The ability to embed movies into a blog is one of the main reasons that blogging is so useful. In my experience You Tube does have the best videos available. I suggest that you subscribe to You Tube, so that you can save favourite videos, as well as upload your own videos to embed on your blog. One issue is that many schools do block access to You Tube. One option is to see if teachers only have access to You Tube so that you can show the video files on your blog. There are also other options available. These include:

• Geography Teachers TV
• Geography at the Movies
• Vimeo
• Teacher Tube
• GeoTube
  

The other issue is finding a video and only taking out the useful sections to embed on your blog. The following application - TubeChop - allows you to chop a funny or interesting section of a You Tube movie and embed it on your blog.

Your Task

Sign up and create a blog using a site of your choice. Once you have created your account, you will need to write your first post. You are to design a Geography lesson on Natural Hazards. This is the introductory lesson, and will need to provide a number of tasks and links. The minimum requirements of this task include:

• embed a movie
• upload a picture
• create a number of links to various sites

Wikis



I have to admit that I am still not an expert on the use of the wiki. It is a wonderful collaboration tool for students when they are working on a project. It is also particularly useful as we do not have a textbook, and over time it allows both the students and myself to create the content and knowledge needed for senior subjects. The settings on a wiki can also be changed so that they are more private than a blog. This allows the only selected students from selected classes to add to them. Wikis are also great tools to use for professional learning teams. Some wiki platforms that you could use are PB Wiki or Wikispaces.

The following powerpoint provides an overview on how to create your wiki.

Getting Started on Wikispaces

View more presentations from Jess Mcculloch.

Podcasts




Podcasts are gradually becoming replaced by videos or vodcasts. However, there are still opportunities for you to subscribe to podcasts or vodcasts via an RSS feed. It is best to link to a Feed such as Google Reader so that you can subscribe to various podcasts and vodcasts. A lesson showing students how to subscribe to RSS Feeds can be found here - Getting Your News Online by Jess McCulloch.





Podcasts can also be recorded by you and uploaded to your blog. This can be done using programs such as Garageband and recorded on your computer. You can also use other applications that link recordings from your mobile phone directly to your blog. One example of this is a application called Utterli.

Other Resources and Tools

The following resources may be useful when putting together your blogs or wikis, or discovering new Web 2.0 technologies for the classroom.

Web2.0 for the Classroom Teacher
Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators - Web 2.0 Tools
Directory of Educational Resources on the Web

Ning - An online social network that could work like a blog in your classroom. Some examples to have a look at in the education context include:
Ning in Education - Using Ning for Educational Social Networks
The Global Education Collaborative
David Rayner's Page Key Stage 3 Geography Ning

Great Teacher Blogs

Jess McCulloch - Notes to Self

Mr Robbo - The P.E Geek

GTAQ Conference 2009 - Keynote Presentation

The keynote at the GTAQ Conference was presented by John Byrne, Adjunct Professor in Urban Design at QUT. The title of his presentation was Matters of Human Well-Being, Crime, Urban Design, Democracy and Sustainability: Any Common Threads?

The first point that I found really interesting was the idea of using urban design to support crime prevention and safety. The CPED - Crime Prevention through Environmental Design provided a bridge between planning and the needs of the police. It also investigates the changes in communities and their demography, and how this impacts on both crime and urban design. John made a very interesting point on the psychology of people and the difference between a caring community and a gated community. The idea that a resident should care about what is going on in the street outside their house is interesting. Would you go outside and help someone if they were in trouble? I think I would like to say yes - but the nature of a gated community has changed this.

John also showed a page from a 1950's planning textbook that compared the difference between a model of what was considered 'bad' and what was considered 'good' at the time. It was really cool to see that what was considered 'good' practice at the time - cul-de-sacs (sic). green space scattered in areas, and dead ends have actually decreased the level of safety in our urban communities. Considering that many residential developers have used this model up until the late 90's is quite scary. The other interesting point is that our homes are no longer of the same structure - the mum, dad and three kids has totally changed, and with it the styles and types of dwellings.

The idea of a sense of connection to the street really made me think. In the CBD, how many buildings have podium carparking (levels 1-4 of a building are car parks) destroy the connection to the street. One building was structured with 11 levels of car parking and John stated that this would not change. The other really interesting statement was the fact that certain buildings trying to be sustainable have so many apparatus on the outside that it is very difficult to see out. What is happening at the base of large buildings in connection with links to the street? How well does the layout of the neighbourhood encourage the active use of the public realm?

The structure of an actual street I found fascinating and I have to admit that I never really thought about it. If a street has houses that do not face each other they are less likely to interact. I had considered the danger of loopy cul-de-sacs, but I had never thought about the way in which houses should face so that this would promote interaction. The actual structure of commercial areas follow this thinking. The then relating issues with traffic congestion are made by the way in which the planning grid is structure. The structure of planning grids in cities is definitely something that I want to look at.

Brisbane does have a connection with the river. However, has planning allowed a connection to this river, particularly taking into account the meander bends. Simply having a path along the river does not allow this connectivity, as street grids cannot run to the river due to developments actually along the river. This is another aspect of urban planning that I had never considered before.

The idea of a nuclei models that have created the 'Westfields' creating a blockage in the community and issues with safety. The comparison of the actual planning and structure of the Brisbane universities was also great. Comparing how large the CBD grid to the size of the universities and how the structure of each faces the community was also an interesting point. If universities want to relate to the community, does their strucure allow this? The urban village at Kelvin Grove does allow for this to some extent. The roads flow through the area, and the actual university buildings are scattered throughout commercial buildings and housing. It is designed about a main street. Some of the actual images John presented of buildings in Brisbane do not allow for interaction with the community. GOMA, the QLD Museum and the Council building in the CBD all indicate a huge aversion interacting with the street.

Public transport is critical in terms of climate change, and the way that urban planning allows for community interaction is critical in improving the use of public transport. John spoke of the actual needs of the commuter - the route, the place, the trip and then the following trip. Public transport planners need to consider the needs of those commuters in terms of the entire journey, rather than just the actual trip on the train or the bus. Community planning needs to take all of this in.

The implications that this design has on health is also important. Obesity and dimentia were mentioned. Can the cty be strucutred to make use laugh? Are buildings designed with colour? Where are kids able to interact with the CBD? What about spiritual areas?

Overall, John has suggested that the social structure and impact of a city is influenced by design. Planners to need to go back to Maslows heiracy. Doxiadis is a planner who looks at the needs of the communities emotions when putting together planning. How well are we planning to meet people's needs? Are we dealing with the social sustainability. CUrrently we have an inventory or shopping list of what we need in a city. John stated that the essence of a city is the public realm and their needs. The question is 'Who owns this place?' Who owns a Westfield? Are the lower socio-economic groups catered for in planning in the CBD? Is there democracy in the city? Does the city allow space for rallies, promoting opinions? What are the connections with the past, the place and with nature?

I found this keynote to be a great thinking tool for how I am going to teach urban planning this term. We have just looked at the various urban land use models (concentric zone, hoyte's sector model and multiple nuclie model). However, the actual interaction of the community in various examples will definitely be my lesson next week. What are human needs and emotions, and how are they represented in urban planning? Thinking..... thinking.....