Teachers Teaching Teachers 05.16.07
Last edited June 6, 2007
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Tools for tonight's show: Yugma, Skypecast +99001110012546850, TeachersTeachingTeachers.org, EdTechTalk.com
Early Inspiration (Fall 2005)

Jon Udell: Google Maps walking tour of Keene, NH
weblog.infoworld.com/udell/gems/gmap2_flash.html

A Google Maps walking tour of Keene, NH, inspired by http://www.gnik.com/maps/google/.


Memory Maps and Other Flickr Projects (December 2005 - Spring 2006)

Flickr: Discussing How to put up a Memory Map - From Susan E in New York City Writing Project
flickr.com/groups/nycwp/discuss/135103/

Susan Geller Ettenheim (December 2005) says:

How to make a memory map
adapted from: blogan.net/blog/2005/04/13/how-to-make-a-memory-map/

So you want to make a memory map, but don’t know how? Here’s a simple guide.
1. Go to Google maps.
2. Zoom in to the area you want. There are two easy ways to do this:
3. The first method is to enter an address in the search field on the Google page. Google will display a map with a red flag marking the address. Unfortunately, the flag may not be in the exact right place (or you might not want the flag; I don’t know how to get rid of it short of starting over). Click the “x” to close the address bubble.
4. The second method is to double-click on the map where you want to display. This centers the map on that location. Then use the zoom tool on the left to zoom in. You can double-click or click and drag anywhere on the map to move the map around.
5. Change to the “Satellite” view by clicking the link on the upper right.
6. Fine tune the position and zoom to display the area you want. The scales of the map and satellite pictures are slightly off. Choose the view you want to use for your memory map, map, satellite or hybrid.
7. Capture the screen. Pressing Alt-PrtScn or shift-apple-4 copies an image of the active window into the clipboard memory or to the desktop as a picture.
8. Paste the captured screen in or open it in Photoshop.
9. Crop the picture>Save for the Web
10. Save the picture to your website folder in the "other" folder.
11. Upload the picture to Flickr. I recommend adding the tags “memorymap memory map” and something to do with the location.
12. Edit the picture’s title and description. Press “save.” Flickr will now display all of your pictures.
13. Select your new picture by clicking on it. Flicker displays it with some tools at the picture’s top edge.
14. Click on the “add note” tool and enter some descriptive text about a location on the picture.
15. Before pressing “save,” click and drag the square that appeared in the upper left of the picture to the correct location on the picture. You can move the square’s corners around to change the square’s size.
16. Press “save.” If you need to change the note’s text or the location of the box after you press “save,” just move your mouse cursor over the box and click. You can now edit the note and move the box.
17. Add more notes. You’re having fun now…
Originally posted 17 months ago. ( permalink | edit | delete )
Susan Geller Ettenheim (a group admin) edited this topic 17 months ago.

Eleanor Roosevelt High School's Map on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
www.flickr.com/photos/susanettenheim/71352077/
This photo of a map has notes. Click on the link above, then move your mouse over the photo in Flickr to see them.

This is a map of the neighborhood of Eleanor Roosevelt High School. Susan Ettenheim's assignment was: "What is it like to be a teenager and go to school in this neighborhood?" 




New York City Writing Project Teachers on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
www.flickr.com/photos/susanettenheim/71372087/
This photo of a map has notes. Click on the link above, then move your mouse over the photo in Flickr to see the links.

This is a map of the area around the Coalition school where we met on Thursdays in 2005 - 2006. We asked teachers in a New York City Writing Project study group, "Tech Thursdays" to add their memories to this map.


Susan Ettenheim's class 902 responds to the 1995 Transit Strike in NYC - Photo Sharing!
www.flickr.com/photos/susanettenheim/73043041/in/p...
This photo of a map has notes. Click on the link above, then move the mouse over the photo in Flicker to see these links.

How did a place on this map change for you this week because of the NYC Trasit strike in December 1995? 








Susan Ettenheim's Neighborhood in Elementary School on Flickr - Photo Sharing
www.flickr.com/photos/susanettenheim/67561045/
This photo of a map has links. Click on the link above, then move ove the photo to see these links.

This is the neighborhood where Susan Ettenheim grew up 3-7th grade. She went to Dover Shores Elementary School from 3rd to 6th grade. It is noted with the red marker on the map. 


Paul Allison's Grove City, PA on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
flickr.com/photos/paulallison/30945445/
There are links on this photo of a map. Click on the link above, and move your mouse over the image in Flickr to see these links.

This was Paul Allison's world when he was a teenager.

Flickr: More Photos from Susan Geller Ettenheim's Classes (2005 - 2006)
www.flickr.com/photos/susanettenheim/
A few posts from our Mapping Community in EducationBridges Elgg (Aug. - Sept. 2006)

Mapping
elgg.educationbridges.net/leebaber/

    Mapping

    Introduction

    This Mapping Community was created after a conversation between Paul Allison (NYC, US), Lee Baber (VA, USA) and Barbara (Bee) Dieu (St. Paulo, Brazil). The discussion took place during a  planning meeting for the 8th grade Elgg called Personal Learning Space (managed by Dave Cormier and Lee Baber). We have decided to begin the year with a mapping theme prompted by Bee's global presentations and student's varied homeplaces. Susan Ettenheim, Chris Sloan, and Kathy Malsbenden are also participating in this group.

    Join in as we continue to discuss and plan for this hopefully vibrant student elgg.

    Mapping :: Weblog :: Quickmaps
    elgg.educationbridges.net/leebaber/weblog/100.html

    August 04, 2006

    Here's an example of Quickmaps. We need to test how easy it is to post on a quickmap like this collaboratively, but so far I'm liking this mashup best.

    What I can imgine is that students could create tours of different places in their hometowns (not where they live). Jon Udell's work like this has been a model for Susan Ettenheim and me in thinking about such projects. 

    Keywords: google maps, mapping, mashups, projects, quickmaps

    [Edit] [Delete]

    Posted by Paul Allison @ Mapping |

    Comments

    1. Hi Paul,

      I love Quickmaps.  I created a quick tour of my town and it was great. I look forward to watching this project grow.

      Cheers.

      - Alex

       

       

      [Delete]

      alex ragone on Friday, 4 August 2006, 20:18 UTC #

    2. Good idea Paul. Would you start a Quickmap for us to test? I like that we can have the students expand on the map with videos and photos or audio as they become familiar with using the tools. Telling stories like Jon Udell did would make it so easy to bring in the interest of parents and communities as the kids tell their hometown stories. 

      [Delete]

      Lee Baber on Saturday, 5 August 2006, 03:13 UTC #

    Mapping :: Weblog :: What maps have we tried so far?
    elgg.educationbridges.net/leebaber/weblog/212.html

    August 23, 2006

    Here is a list of all the maps Paul has suggested so far. Just thought I would give us all the run down so we can see which one could be "a central map that is easy to access (like buddymaps), and" which one "allows each student to link to other maps he/she has created that shows more detail... tells a story... includes rich media". That is a quote from Paul's last post.

    1. StickyMaps
    2. ActiveTrails
    3. BuddyMapping
    4. MapBuilder
    5. QuikMaps (userid:educationbridges and password:welcome or another sample of Quikmaps)
    6. WikiMapia
    7. Jon Udel's   sample of combining a screencast with google maps (media rich)
    8. Google Maps

    Keywords: mapping, maps, rich media

    Posted by Lee Baber @ Mapping |

    Comments

    1. and the winner is....

      [Delete]

      Susan Ettenheim on Thursday, 24 August 2006, 05:03 UTC #

    2. I like the idea of using a central map (BuddyMapping looks like the one for that), and then linking to individual maps. I prefer MapBuilder or QuikMaps over something like StickyMaps; that's because I like the pop-up window versus the text and links under the map (StickyMaps).  QuikMaps and MapBuilder is a toss-up.  I think QuikMaps has a more attractive interface, and I was able to add links pretty easily, but I like how Paul's class had the audio open when the pop-up window was selected.  If QuikMaps has that capability, I'd recommend that application.  If it doesn't, I'd go with MapBuilder.

      [Delete]

      Chris Sloan on Friday, 25 August 2006, 23:19 UTC #

    Mapping :: Weblog :: CommunityWalk allows collaboration, rich media, and path building
    elgg.educationbridges.net/leebaber/weblog/221.html

    August 27, 2006

    I think CommunityWalk is what we've been looking for!  Take a look at Vacation Stories (last gasp!). Join, find "Vacation Stories," zoom out, then add your own. In the map settings I checked this permission:

     
    Logged In User Can Manipulate Own Locations Any logged in user can add locations to the map and then they can manipulate only the locations they added.

     

    That should make it possible to build a map together, yet we won't have to worry about losing things.  

    Try it out! it's as easy to make paths as quickmaps, open to rich media as mapbuilder, and as collaborative as buddy maps.

    [Edit] [Delete]

    Posted by Paul Allison @ Mapping |

    Comments

    1. Hi Paul,

      Is it possible to embed mp3 as well? 

      [Delete]

      Barbara Dieu on Monday, 28 August 2006, 21:50 UTC #

    2. Yes, but I had some difficulty with the <embed> function when using a PC. I emailed the web designer just hours ago, and he is checking it. I changed the embed to something called window (etc...) See the "Special Fuctions" link on the edit form for a marker.  Go ahead! Try it. It works (with a couple of glitches.)

      What content do you think we could use? Not vacations... I want to do something with September 11, 2001, and I made a map like that. I'm thinking we could have choices for students.

      What else?

      [Delete]

      Paul Allison on Monday, 28 August 2006, 22:07 UTC #

    3. I am loving this map tool. Easy easy easy which for me saves time and for the students makes it possible for everybody. When the learning curves is a bit high, kids lose their enthusiasm. Now to try video and audio!! Great find Paul.

      ~Lee 

      [Delete]

      Lee Baber on Tuesday, 29 August 2006, 11:44 UTC #

    4. What do you all suggest for security. If parents do not want kids to identify their exact location, perhaps we can encourage an area marker, not an exact location. This is only applicable if the school you are working with minds that specificity. Any thoughts? On the choices, I like the idea of students helping with the development by choosing one of various maps. I htink too many choices is intimidating. At first, it is perhaps easier to limit it to a few. 

      [Delete]

      Lee Baber on Tuesday, 29 August 2006, 11:51 UTC #

    5. Susan has been developing curriculum around mapping the school neighborhood. I don't know how that might play in Brazil or Virginia, but perhaps we could ask students to imagine a virtual tour or their community (wherever that might be)?  Would that work?  Also students aren't using last names, of course.

      [Delete]

      Paul Allison on Tuesday, 29 August 2006, 17:07 UTC #

    6. Yes, sounds good. I would love to do this as well. 

      [Delete]

      Lee Baber on Wednesday, 30 August 2006, 19:18 UTC #

    7. Has any of you tried one of the Flickr toys + Google Map?

      [Delete]

      Barbara Dieu on Thursday, 31 August 2006, 02:12 UTC #

    8. I have not Bee. I will go see about the flicr.. Has anyone else tried google maps?

      [Delete]

      Lee Baber on Friday, 1 September 2006, 02:25 UTC #

    Mapping :: Weblog :: How to insert video to community walk
    elgg.educationbridges.net/leebaber/weblog/269.html

    September 11, 2006

    Here is a thorough screencast tutorial on how to use BlipTV on the Community Walk map.

    http://blip.tv/file/31472 

    Keywords: blip tv, community walk, screencast, tutorial how to add video

    Posted by Barbara Dieu @ Mapping |

    Comments

    1. Great ....this is good for my kids to add the video or audio to the community walks. Will you be posting your podcasts on the community wallks  and here? 

      [Delete]

      Lee Baber on Tuesday, 12 September 2006, 22:09 UTC #

    2. Hi

      The link didn't work for me.

      Can you re-post it?

      Thanks

      Kevin Hodgson

       

      [Delete]

      Kevin Hodgson on Sunday, 19 November 2006, 13:46 UTC #

    Mapping :: Blog
    elgg.educationbridges.net/leebaber/weblog/

    September 20, 2006

    The mapping project and elgg are getting my students really fired up. We have settled in and gotten all our usernames for our moodle, quia, student accounts at school, and now -- finally they get to start their elgg and communitywalk's - Personal Learning Map - Entry Points!

    It is interesting to see the list of interests being added to profiles in elgg. One student wanted to be sure others would find him with the following interests... fish, fishing, fisherman, fiy fishing, surf fishing...As the class noticed his interest list the question came up as to how effective that type of repetition would prove to be. Frankly, I do not know. Yet! 

    I am working on getting things unblocked at school..especially the broadcasting port so we can start a webcast for all the elgg and Entry Points students. We called it Spacecast last year and it was wonderful to hear how the student hosts handled the interview process. I will edit the recordings from last year and post them again to share with all of you. 

    So our year begins and I am just as anxious to learn the nuances of the apps I am using this year as my students are to get involved in their new 21st century connections! 

    Past TTT Podcasts about Mapping (Fall 2006)

    Teachers Teaching Teachers » Blog Archive » Sharing Stories with Mapping
    teachersteachingteachers.org/?p=41
    Where have you been this summer? What places remind you of events when you see them on a map? What spots hold special memories and why?

    Join us to share ways that we have and that we are planning to use Google maps or mapping in our schools. How do our newest technologies encourage us to expand our use and study of mapping in the classroom and in the digital story room?

    Show notes:

    New York Experience Portfolio, Landmark High School, New York City
    http://www.landmarkhs.org/resources/nyex/nycexperience.htm

    Education Bridges Elgg
    http://www.educationbridges.net/elgg

    Reading Center - 5 minute Journeys to school
    http://thinkdesign.com/journey

    Jon Udell’s walk around Keene, New Hampshire
    http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/gems/gmap2_flash.html

    Controversy over “doctored” war photos
    http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=2288892&page=1

    Ed Tech Talk
    http://www.edtechtalk.com

    Ed Tech Talk Wiki
    http://www.edtechtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Folkwiki_project


    Sharing Stories with Mapping
    Teachers Teaching Teachers » Blog Archive » A Teacher Considers Jumping into the Elgg
    teachersteachingteachers.org/?p=54#comments

    A Teacher Considers Jumping into the Elgg

    Posted by Paul Allison on September 21st, 2006

     TeachersTeachingTeachers_September20_2006 [60:23m]: Hide Player | Play in Popup | Download

    Listen to the podcast of our visit with Kevin Hodgson, a sixth grade teacher and Writing Project Tech Liaison in Western Massachusetts. He is considering joining the middle school student elgg at personallearningspace.com. Susan Ettenheim (who webcast this show with her usual tact and ability, and edited it) and Paul Allison talk their early work the new elgg for high school students at youthvoices.net. We talked about all of this with another elementary school teacher, Teb Locke, who has some pretty exciting ideas for his Neighborhood School students. Somewhere in here you’ll hear Paul talking about an article he sent to his principal that argued for CEO’s to be bloggers. This is what Paul wrote to Mark Federman, his principal this summer in an email titled “Ready to blog?”

    Here’s an article about C.E.O’s that I thought would be of interest to you. All you have to do is replace “Capital markets” with “Schools” and “C.E.O’s” with “Principals.” All the Internet’s a Stage. Why Don’t C.E.O.’s Use It? by Randall Stross (NY Times, Published July 30, 2006).

    About a month ago David Warlick asked for some examples of elggs, and Dave Cormier and others had some quick answers then. We think that our students’ work at youthvoices.net is beginning to add to this discourse (personallearningspace.com too, but that’s a closed site).

    Finally, we did talk about a map project that many of the students in these elggs will be doing. Follow our progress at Personal Learning Map: Entry Points.

    Join us in all these discussions by commenting here.

    This entry was posted on Thursday, September 21st, 2006 at 6:50 am and is filed under Paul Allison, Susan Ettenheim, Technology Plans, Thomas (Teb) Locke, Blogging, Podcasting, Community, David Cormier, elgg, David Warlick, mapping, google maps, collaboration, Kevin Hodgson. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

    2 Responses to “A Teacher Considers Jumping into the Elgg”

    1. Kevin’s Meandering Mind » Considering Elgg Says:
      September 24th, 2006 at 5:37 am

      […] Lasst week, I joined an online conversation with folks through Teachers Teaching Teachers that explores the convergence of technology and teaching in its many varied forms. I have been curious about the concept of Elgg communities and jumped into the conversation with some questions (for my own benefit and for my wife, who is a high school teacher). As far as I can tell, Elgg offers the possibility of a safe online community that links members together through shared interested and through related “tags” that they create in their profile. It mirrors Facebook and MySpace, but without the advertising and mess of those sites. Dave Tosh provides a good overview of Elgg at his site. You can listen to the podcast of that conference through the Teachers Teaching Teachers site. Or you can find that link here: Listen to the podcast […]

    2. A.R. Linder Says:
      September 26th, 2006 at 12:27 am

      All the Internet’s a Stage and I’m a parent with a great song and dance routine when it comes to my child’s education. I’ve had a really successful run on Broadway! Please see my show at http://youthplay-org.blogspot.com. The tickets are free!

    Entry Points Project with CommuntiyWalk Maps (Sept 2006 - May 2007)

    elggplans » mapping
    elggplans.wikispaces.com/mapping?f=print

    mapping

    Personal Learning Maps - Entry Points

    Introduce yourself by telling a story about a place near your school. Put this story in a marker on a map that is being shared by other students in the Personal Learning Space and Youth Voices. Make links from your marker to your profile page and from your profile back to your marker on Entry Points map. Later you can add photographs, sound, and video!

    Essential Questions

    • What places in your community are special to you?
    • What stories can you tell about these places?
    • Would these stories be what people expect someone from your community to write? Or would they be surprised?
    • How will reading your story and knowing about your special place help a young person at another school relate to your life and get to know you?
    Note: To add your school to the categories, please contact Paul Allison at allisonpr@gmail.com

    Add a marker with a story on the Entry Points map, then link to and from your profile page

    1. Freewrite about a place, then edit.
      1. Do some freewriting that answers some of the questions above.
      2. Put an address at the top or your screen, then write non-stop for 10 or 15 minutes.
      3. Keep in mind that you are introducing your community and yourself to people who have probably never been to your city or town.
      4. Spell check, grammar check. Make it as good as you possibly can. It's going out the world!
    2. Join the Mapping Community. Register and Confirm for CommunityWalk Maps.
      1. Register -- or have your teacher register -- at YouthVoices.net (grades 9-12) or PersonalLearningSpace.com (grades 6-8) -- if you haven't done this yet. If you are registered, log in.
      2. Find and join the Mapping Community -- either in Youth Voices: Mapping or in Personal Learning Space: Mapping, and follow the directions there.
      3. Click on the link for Entry Points map.
        • Once in the map click "Sign Up." Use only your first name and use your school email or the one that you used to join Youth Voices.
        • Before you do anything else, YOU MUST CONFIRM IN YOUR EMAIL. Go to your email and copy a long address that starts with http://....
        • Paste this address in the address box of your browser, then enter. You should get a note saying that you have completed your registration.
        • Do NOT create a new map. Close Community Walk maps.
    3. Zoom on the Entry Points Map. Place a marker.
      1. Return to the Mapping Community in your elgg (Youth Voices or Personal Learning Space), and click on "Entry Points" again. Now you can zoom down to find the place that you wrote about earlier.
      2. Helpful Hints for zooming to your place on the map:
        • Hit Reset.
        • Uncheck all of the Categories in the Legend, then close the Legend box. This makes all of the current markers disappear.
        • Double-click on anything that gets you closer to your place. Names of countries, states, cities, neighborhoods, parks...
        • Keep double-clicking until you think you are at the place where you want to put your marker, then hit the Hybrid button. This should allow you to see the exact location. Now you can add a marker.
        • Click the Legend tab again, then click Show All.
      3. Click Add marker, then click on the map at the location where you want your marker to appear.
      4. Need more help? View this tutorial: Adding Location by Click
    4. Here's what to put in your marker:
      1. On the Basic Tab:
        • Title: Address or Place, by Your First Name
        • Category: Your School (For example: Stories from Eleanor Roosevelt High School)
        • Descripion: Paste your corrected freewrite -- your story about a place in your community -- here.
      2. On the Address Tab:
        • City: Shortest version (For example: New York)
        • State/Region: Abbreviated letters (For example: NY)
        • Country: Short or abbreviated letters (For example: US)
      3. On the Details Tab:
    5. Now make a link from your profile back to your marker. You'll do this by creating a link that will appear in the blue box on your profile page.
      1. On the Community Walk map (Be sure you are logged in.), zoom into your marker and select the map version that you want (Hybrid is nice.), then click on your marker to open it (if it isn't open already).
      2. Click the Share/Export tab, then click on "Link to this Map." Three links will appear in a box. Copy code in third box, "...to link directly to the curent view."
      3. Go to "Your Blog" in Youth Voices or the Personal Learning Space and click "Create a new entry." You are going to make a temporary post which you will delete after you have copied the information you need to make a link on your profile page. There are four boxes to complete:
        • Post title: Temporary
        • Post body: My Story on Our Map
        • Keywords: (You don't need to type anything here.)
        • Access restrictions: Private
      4. Turn the text you typed in your "Body box" into a link to your marker on the map.
        • Highlight your text.
        • Click on the link icon and paste the share link from the map into the pop-up box, in the URL section.
        • Also choose to Open link in a new window.
      5. Now you can go into the code (Don't let it scare you.) and a copy it so that we can paste it into your Profile.
        • Click on the icon: Show HTML, and you should see code that looks something like this: <a target="_blank" href="http://communitywalk.com/map/17934#121@03X0@10740.2fGT8-73.3UCf0">My Marker on Our Map</a>
        • Select All and Copy.
        • Cancel the HTML Source editor.
        • (This step may seem odd, but you need to create this post before you can delete it.) Go to the bottom of the page, and click "Post."
        • Delete this post. (All you needed was the code that you have already copied.)
    6. Put the code into "Your Profile."
      1. Finally, go to "Your Profile," and paste this code into the "Brief Description" box.
      2. Choose "Public" for the "Access Restriction" here.
      3. Go to the bottom of the page, and Save Profile.

    Examples

    Entry Points
    • First Entry Points
    • Here's another possiblility: Find an article by your local press. In a marker, write a brief response to the article, and be sure to quote from the article. Also make a link to the article within your response. Here's an example from the Lower East Side in NYC that Paul Allison created: "From Jewish to Puerto Rican... to what?"
    Contributions to http://elggplans.wikispaces.com are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 2.5 License.
    Portions not contributed by visitors are Copyright 2007 Tangient LLC.
    Personal Learning Maps - Entry Points - CommunityWalk
    www.communitywalk.com/entrypoints
    Youth Voices
    youthvoices.net/elgg/

    Entry Points - Our bloggers' special places

    There are hundreds of markers on this map. The different colors represent the different schools attended by the Youth Voices bloggers.

    Find Markers Near a School:
    Baccalaureate School for Global Education (BSGE), NYC (Brown)
    East Side Community High School (ESCHS), NYC (Green)
    Eleanor Roosevelt High School (ERHS), NYC (Blue)
    J. Frank Hillyard Middle School (JFH), Shenandoah Valley, VA (Yellow)
    Judge Memorial High School (JM or JMHS), Salt Lake City, UT (Red)

    Left-click anywhere on the map to zoom in. Right-click to zoom out. Use links under the titles to find each student's profile and personal blog.

    http://www.communitywalk.com/entrypoints
    New Google Earth Map Ideas (Current)

    Chris Sloan's Examples

    Here's a couple of Google Earth maps Chris Sloan has done that could work in most classrooms.  The main one on the page, My Personal History Tour, could work as a memoir writing sequence in any classroom.  In the links tab on the right, there's a map Chris Sloan made to accompany his students' reading of Down the River by Edward Abbey.  This could work for any lesson where the geography of a work being studied is better understood by seeing its place in the world.
     
    Paul Allison at ESCHS, NYC :: Weblog :: Where I love to run
    youthvoices.net/elgg/paulallison/weblog/4423.html

    This is an example of a personal use of Google Maps. I wonder how much is gained with a collaborative map.
    Lee Barber's Reflections on using Google Maps

    Mapping online as an aid to our collaborative projects IS a good idea. Having students link back and forth from the maps to their writing space (in this case our Personal Learning Space)  is no problem. The problem lies in the teachers finding enough teaching time to make that connection come to life and be a vivid part of our learning environments. Having automatic connections made for us would be the answer to this problem. Anything that takes time or bandwidth to travel back and forth will inevitably become a bit of a burden.

    Ways I am using maps now are with a pushpin like you might use to mark a map on a wall with a flag so students can show others the places that are special to each them. This is a nicer way to introduce themselves than the usual "Hi, my name is Jane. What's your favorite color?". They can put videos, photographs, and other media on their pushpin flag and a story with a link back to their blogs.

    Ways I would like to start using maps is to show a route from one place to another with a story. Summer vacations, Christmas stories, or local area folk stories as told by student's family members, neighbors and communities. Also as a timeline for students to learn history. For example I could have a group show where the Abacus was invented and have them show the progression of the computer's history like a route through time only it will be on a map with a picture or video explaining the details. Each group can then share that story live for us or record the "trip" to share as a video or audio on the map.

    I suppose the more I think about this subject, the more I can imagine things to do with mapping software! The strength will lie in the use of writing along with using the software. Crossing curriculum lines with core subjects and the ability to share the results instantly online with the other teachers on my team will be part of my plans for next year. Now, I have to ask the question once again. What is the best application to use? We used CommunityWalks last year and I thank the developer of that software for his time spent working to make it better for educational purposes. As always, I think it is time to look at all the options again. Learning to use each available app will help us reassess those options. ~Lee Baber 
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