AGTA Conference - Using Web 2.0 Technology in the Geography Classroom

Web 2.0 technology and social media are now a large part of our everyday lives. The challenge as educators is to use these tools effectively in the classroom, so that they enhance current teaching practice.

In the words of Ken Robinson....



His previous talk - Do School's Kill Creativity? can be viewed by clicking on the link.

Today's workshop will provide a very very quick overview of some of the many tools that are available online (and mostly for free) to use in the classroom. Before we start, we should consider the impact that Web2.0 technology and social media have had on the way we live.




What is Web 2.0 Technology?

What is Web 2.0?

View more presentations from Rebecca Nicholas.

Web2.0 or social media will allow you to innovate in your teaching practice. Here are some examples of how.

1. Providing an Online Resource for your Class

Blogs

Bec's Classes 2010

Creating an blog is not difficult. The video below shows a step by step instruction on how to create a blog using Edublogs or Global Teacher.



And this shows you how to embed a Youtube video (or any video) into your blog.



New blogging sites are popping up every day. Another you can use with the advantage of not having an email to sign up with is 21 Classes.

Wikis

Unit Four Geography Climate Change Wiki

The following video provides a step-by-step guide on setting up your first wiki. This video uses wikispaces however there are other options, such as pbwiki.



Adding to Your Blog or Wiki

Slideshare

Slideshare allows you to upload powerpoint or keynote presentations and then embed them into a wiki or blog.

Videos

Drag on Tape - This is a site that allows you to create mixtapes of your favourite Youtube videos. A demo is outlined below...

Dragontape Demo Video from Dragontape on Vimeo.

Xtranormal - This is a great site that allows students to make their own digital animations by typing in text.

Collaborating with Images

Shwup - Allows students to collaborate and share photos and vidoes online in a secure environment. The answer to the problems associated with different students taking photos on a fieldtrip.

Jaycut - An online tool that allows students to create their own movies using images, video footage and sound. It is very similar to iMovie but you don't need the software...

Nings

Bec's Race Class

This is a great tool, similar to facebook, that allows students to collaborate online. The best way to use a ning is to ensure that you have a purpose and understand what you want out of the technology.

2. Tools to Collaborate in the Classroom

WallWisher

This is a great site that allows you to post and brainstorm information. It is very handy when watching videos or discussing a topic. I used it specifically to diamond rank factors associated with issues.

EdModo - Like Twitter, but can be used in the classroom. Something to consider trialling as you watch a video or discussion in class.

Another example uses the same idea as Twitter - TodaysMeet.
TodaysMeet - Here is an example I put together for the AGTA conference.

Wordle - A brainstorming tool that allows students to create and determine the importance of words associated with a concept. For example, an article from the New Scientist on the Cancun Climate Change talks can be converted to something like this for discussion.



3. Excellent Links to Provide the Content and Activities on Blogs and Wikis

Geography Animated - is a geography teacher's internet site with all things Geography. In particular, the site has links to animations on everything that you can think of. Here is just one example on the formation of meanders and ox-bow lakes.

BBC Dimensions - How Big Is It Really?

Scribble Maps

Gapminder - One of my favourite sites for the year. The best tool to compare data on most gobal topics - more than just population and development.




CIA Factbook in Google Earth

Population and Migration - Flight and Expulsion

Show@World

Other Resources

Education Eye - A search engine that maps educational innovation and categorises news sites by research and practice. A great teacher resource to remain up-to-date.

We are Teachers - A collaborative site where teachers share innovative ideas and teaching practice.

Using Web 2.0 Technology in the Geography Classroom

Today's workshop at GTAV will look specifically at Web 2.0 technology and how this could be used in your Geography classroom.

Overview of the Workshop

• What is Web 2.0 Technology?
• Web 2.0 Technology to Brainstorm, Create Maps and Share Images
• Specific Geography Sites (Google Maps)
  
• Web 2.0 Tools to Collaborate (Blogs and Nings)

So, what is Web 2.0 and why should I want to use it in my classroom?

There needs to be a move towards the use of Web 2.0 technology in the classroom. Studies have shown that students can spend, on average, 31 hours online each week. With current trends, this is set to increase. From my own experience at Coburg Senior High School, benefits of increased student engagement, as well as well developed thinking and questioning due to collaboration online have been obvious amongst the students.

An overview of Web2.0 Technology - What Do You Know?

What is Web 2.0?

View more presentations from Rebecca Nicholas.

The you tube link below is quite long but provides a great overview of what this Web 2.0 technology actually is. It has been put together by Michael Wesch, lecturer in Digital Ethnography from Kansas University. This particular video focuses on the development of you tube as a way in which people can collaborate and share ideas online.



The Machine is Using Us - An Explanation of Web 2.0 Technology



Finding Web 2.0 tools to use in education can be quite daunting, simply because there are so many. The following site - Go2Web20 (use the e-learning tag) is one example of a site that provides access to various programs and tools that you can use to collaborate online.

Tools to Brainstorm

Wordle - One of my favourite tools to brainstorm or show knowledge of a concept. Students can change the colour and style, as well as categorise the importance of words according to a concept.

Tools to Look at and Share Images or Video

Images
Flickr
Photobucket
Rivers of Ice - Images of the Vanishing Glaciers

Videos

You Tube
Vimeo
Geography Teachers TV

Tools to Create Maps

Scribble Maps - A great tool to create your own maps and then save them....

Google Maps



The following sites provide access to ideas, tools and resources on how to use Google Maps and Google Earth in the classroom.

Google For Educators - The official Google Educators site with information on Google Maps, Google Earth, Google Sky and Google Sketchup

Free Geography Tools - This site is a little more high tech and complicated - for advanced users.

Web 2.0 Sites for Geography

Australian Renewable Energy Atlas - A GIS interactive map with differing layers and particularly renewable energy sources and locations in Australia.

Show/World - A mapping site showing the quantity and consumption of resource. Great animations!

Electrocity - A great game comparing the positives and negatives of renewable energy vs fossil fuels.

Footprint Calculator - The best footprint calculator I have found.

Gapminder - A great site for social sustainability. So much information is available in terms of development indicators and explanations of these. A great geography source in general.

Google Sketchup - This is a program that allows students to design their own buildings and then locate these on Google Maps or Google Earth. A great tool to use if you are considering a task that involves designing a 'Sustainable' building.



Collaborating Online

Blogs

A blog allows you to have your own internet site of information, links, videos and images. You can embed videos from you tube or other online movies sources, or you can make your own. A great description of how a blog works is below.



I use blogs everyday in the classroom. They allow me to provide an overview of the work covered, videos, links to great resources and the tasks to be completed. They are easy to make and maintain, however you do need to consider that all information is available to the public. My class blogs are below:

Bec's Classes 2010
Race Around the World 2010

One of the better blogging platforms for education is Edublogs.

Other Resources

Global Teacher - This site provides access to teacher and student blogs across Australia. Great for ideas on how to present your blog, or how to use it in the classroom.

Wikis

The world's most famous wiki is Wikipedia. Wiki's allow users to collaborate and create pages by uploading, adding and editing information. In terms of education, wikis provide the ability for a teacher to allow students to create the content and discuss ideas. Teachers can control the levels of privacy and the levels in which students can add or change information.



Wiki Platforms include Wikispaces and PBWiki.

Other Resources

Wikis in Education
Educational Wikis

Nings

A ning is very similar to social networking sites like facebook, but allow you to control access from the public, and how each student contributes. I have used a Ning in the classroom, and the students found it to be very effective in discussing or commenting on information, movies or pictures.



Bec's Race Class - Leaders

To create a Ning, go to Ning.com and follow the prompts...

A ning for geography teachers - Australian Geography Teachers

Some Other Resources

Schoology - Similar to facebook but something you can use with all of your classes. Watch the introductory video to get an idea.

Twiducate - Twitter, but in a more controlled environment for education.

SurveyMonkey - Survey Monkey is a great tool to create online surveys with your classes. If you want to have more than ten questions, you will have to pay but the survey links, as well as data collection is well worth the costs. Great for Geography data collection.

To Finish.....

You can always find something great on youtube. It is a great way to start a Geography class on, even if it is just for a laugh.....

The Crazy World of Twitter and Geography

Prior to this year, I had no idea what Twitter was, or how it worked. However, this new online digital landscape has provided another avenue for people to share their ideas. Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read other users' updates known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length.

It appears that most people don't really understand what twitter is. A funny overview from the Daily Show.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Twitter Frenzy

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

And why people love twitter....



And an even funnier version - The Trouble with Twitter....



So, what does Twitter have to do with Geography. As I have already discussed on a previous blog entry, 80% of all information on the internet is now stored spatially (by location). Where people 'twitter' and what they 'twitter' about, provides an excellent analysis of what is occuring in specific locations around the world. An example of this is the interactive Superbowl Twitter map put together by the New York Times. The relationships between what people were 'tweeting' about in relationship to the game, where they were 'tweeting' from, and what they 'tweeted' at each stage of the game could be discussed.

The combination of social media sites (Twitter, Facebook, Youtube) and locational information could prove to be a great relationship. The following article from Fortune Magazine Geography, Social Media and Breakfast highlights the movement towards representing the social media sites in a spatial way. The article discusses twittervision and its inventor, David Troy. Twittervision is a map that automatically updates with each tweet around the globe. The 3D version can be found at twittervision3D. (Along the same lines, check out Flickrvision using Flickr images and SpinvisionTv using YouTube).


As the article states, 'watching them (tweets) can quickly start giving you new thoughts about our common life with others on the planet'. Troy is working to take the concept further - to combine postings from Twitter, Flickr, Facebook and other services in a single geographic interface.

So, what does this have to do with your Geography teaching? In particular, the impact that Twitter and other social networking sites have had on providing up-to-date information on natural disasters and world events has been quite remarkable. Disaster managers are beginning to see the benefits of Twitter and other Social Networking sites in saving lives.



Another example is SickCity, a new twitter mashup that uses twitter to map and track human health.

Practical examples on how to use Twitter in your Geography classroom are also available. These ideas - Twitter Alter Ego Idea - has been taking from a Geography Teachers blog - Living Geography. Another awesome example is found on OllieBray.com, Using Twitter and Google Earth in the Classroom to Make the most of the weather. Finally, a great overview - Twenty-One Interesting Ways to Use Twitter in the Classroom.

So, be it a little crazy or confusing, there are some great applications for Twitter in the Geography classroom. So, here I go.... to join Twitter..... and begin tweeting away.

What Really Is Geography These Days?

Yesterday I began planning my first semester of Year 11 Geography. I have allowed the first week to introduce and discuss the idea of 'What Geography is?' before launching into a study of natural environments. Introducing the concept of what geography actually involves is quite different to when I was at high school, or university, or even when I first started teaching.

This is due to the fact that geography and location has become such an important part of organising information on the internet. Rather than searching for a fish and chip shop in the yellow pages, you go to Google Maps, type in 'fish and chip shop' and see which are closest to you. At a recent conference, the keynote speaker quoted that 80% of all information on the internet is now organised spatially. This will only increase as more and more data is added.

An example of spatial organisation of data is a site called '80 Million Tiny Images'. This is a visual (and spatially organised) dictionary of all nouns in the English language. The nouns are arranged by semantic meaning; they are clustered according to broad categories such as plants or people, and then tighter groupings such as flowers or trees. These semantic groupings allocate their spatial location on the page. The creator even uses the word 'map'. A large number of images are then linked to each word. Simple click on the 'map' and the word with associated images will appear. You will notice that they are clustered together according to spatial location and relationships, rather than alphabetically.

Another example is a site that has been put together by marumushi. Marumushi is a design engineer who has an interest in playing with and visualizing lots of data. His site 'Newsmap' is an application that visually reflects, according to category and location, the changing landscape of world news. The map dispalys and reveals patterns in news reporting across countries and the the nature of the most popular headline at the time. This site is great to use in senior geography, to discuss events that have occured, if they have been reported on, and by which countries. You are able to look at a global view, or specific countries such as Australia, the US and the UK. The differing colours on the site represent different news categories, and the larger the writing, the more it appeared in news headlines.

Finally, a third site that organises data and information in a spatial way is 'Buzztracker: World News, Mapped'. Buzztracker is a software that visualizes frequencies and relationships between locations appearing in global news coverage. It is also great as it shows how interconnected the world is. "Big events in one area ripple to other areas across the globe. Connections between cities of thousands of miles apart become apparent at a glance". You will need to remember however, that this site only tracks English-language news sources. A link is provided to add buzztracker to your own site, something to think about putting onto your Geography blog or wiki at school.

These are only three of the many tools that allow you to search or organise information according to spatial location. Others include Tag Galaxy, Arc, Kartoo, Flickr, News Spectrum, Bigspy, Stack, Swarm, Think Map Visual Thesaurus, Google News Cloud and Searchme Visual Search. These are all great sites so take the time to check them out.

The You Tube clip below was a great example of the way in which many of the tools listed above represented the Iraq War. Have a look...



So, to introduce my class to Geography I will use my stock standard content and activities. But I will also emphasise the role of geography and location in organising information, the role geography plays in our everyday lives, and how we are becoming more and more reliant on spatial organisation of information.

That should get some minds thinking.....

Gotta Love Google Earth

This morning I was putting together some documents on how to use Google Earth for teachers and came across this article outlining how software developers have enabled a person on a Wii Fit to virtually surf around the world. (Surf the Planet Using Google Earth and the Wii Balance Board). This is pretty amazing itself, but the applications of this for Geography students is pretty amazing... Imagine spending a Geography lesson surfing, and learning about the differing types of coastlines... I can.



And then the next link 'Google Earth launches online Prado Art Gallery' added another dimension to the use of 3D imaging in Google Earth. If this can be done for art, imagine what else users can look at.. Pretty exciting really. The You Tube Fly through is below.