How Google Builds its Maps

Google Maps are a great resource in many ways. Obviously, they are great for plotting trips and getting directions and the mobile versions have GPS directions. There are also some great features for education including taking virtual tours of different places around the world, including museums (see links below for more information).

The Atlantic, an online magazine, has a great article that explains exactly how Google makes Maps. The article is well written and has some really interesting technology and methods that Google uses.

This is a great resource to use to show students how ingenuity and creativity are important and how technology can be helpful, related to something that they have all used before or at least have heard about.

Check out the article and learn more: http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/09/how-google-builds-its-maps-and-what-it-means-for-the-future-of-everything/261913/



Related:

Google Maps adds Photo Tours of World Landmarks - in 3D

Google Maps now has street views of Brazil and Prehispanic Mexican Cities

Why I Use Google's Products as an Educator

Google for Educators Resources, Tips, Help, and more

Visit the Amazon with Google Maps Street View - great resource

WhatWasThere - historical photos linked to Google Maps - visit the past!

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It's Open House at the Discovery Educator Network This Week!

The Discovery Educator Network is an awesome, free, resource for educators, filled with other educators. The DEN is a great place to connect with other educators and share resources, ideas, lesson plans, and much more. It's not just about Discovery Education resources either. I've met some great people in the DEN and learned so much. It's a great Personal Learning Network for any and all educators.

This week, September 10 - 14, 2012, the DEN is having and open house to share resources and how the DEN can benefit educators. There will be webinars, blog posts from educators, and much more, all for free. Come and join us!

Check out the details below for details and more information. And don't forget to check out the Discovery Educator Network blogs, with lots of great information and resources from other educators.

Help us kick off the school year with DEN Back-to-School Week. September 10-14, we’ve got a great schedule of activities to help you share the DEN and even learn more yourself about the community. In addition to daily blog posts about a variety of topics, we have a few special webinars and Google Hangouts scheduled. This is a great chance for you to grab a colleague and introduce them to the DEN.

Monday, September 10

Best of Matt’s Media Tips for Back to School at 3:30 and 7 PM ET
Registration for 3:30 session
Registration for 7:00 session

Tuesday, September 11

We’ve gathered a bunch of DEN Gurus for a Hangout (8pm ET, join athttp://gplus.to/discoveryed)
Jen Wagner
Karen Ogen
Traci Blazosky
Conni Mulligan
Rita Mortenson
Tim Childers
Kathy Schrock
David Fisher


Techbook 2.0 Preview at 6 PM ET
Register at: http://links.discoveryeducation.com/sciencetechbook

Using Notebooks and Journals with the Discovery Education Science Techbook at 7 PM ET
Register at: http://links.discoveryeducation.com/sciencetechbook

Wednesday, September 12

Celebrate International Dot Day with our Livestream for classrooms with Peter H. Reynolds, author of The Dot at 1 PM ET
http://denblogs.com/live

Techbook 2.0 Preview at 5 PM ET
Register at: http://links.discoveryeducation.com/sciencetechbook

Exciting Enhancements to Discovery Education at 7 PM ET
Register here.

Thursday, September 13

Exciting Enhancements to Discovery Education at 4 PM ET
Register here.

The Common Core Connection…. Resources from the DE Science Techbook that Build Common Core Skills at 6 PM ET
Register at: http://links.discoveryeducation.com/sciencetechbook

Meet these members of the DEN Leadership Council at a DEN Open House via Google Hangout at 7 PM ET (Register here.)

Linda Rush
Linda has many years of teaching experience working with students with disabilities in public, private, hospital and university settings. For the last twelve years, Linda has been at the Notre Dame Special School of Dallas teaching technology and computer skills to children with cognitive disabilities. Integrating web 2.0 ideas, movie making and digital storytelling has been her passion. She is a SMART exemplary educator/certified trainer and a DEN Guru. For the past six years Linda has been on the Texas Leadership Council.

Heather Hurley
Heather Hurley has been in education for 21 years. She is an instructional Technology Coordinator in Arlington, VA. She supports and trains teachers at two elementary schools, Arlington Traditional School and Glebe Elementary School. In her free time she loves taking pictures and attending wine festivals.

Mary Carole Strother
Mary Carole is a Library Media Specialist at Finch Elementary in McKinney, TX. She been a member of the DEN for 6 years, serving on the Texas Leadership Council and has been an active member of the Events team. This year Mary Carole wanted to be a Rising STAR mentor to share all the things she loves about being a part of the DEN.

Friday, September 14

Live Podcast with Steve and Dean (Time TBD, Join at http://gplus.to/discoveryed)
Prize opportunities in the DEN Weekly Update


This is a great opportunity to learn more about Discovery Education and the Discovery Educator Network.

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Google Spreadsheets adds Discussions for easier collaboration

Google Spreadsheets, Google's online, collaborative spreadsheet system in Google Drive has just added an awesome feature - discussions. This feature is already in Documents and Presentations. 

It allows you, and the other users of a spreadsheet, to add comments, which can be replied to, to any cell on a sheet. You can even +1 someone to add them to the discussion and send them a notification via email. Another cool feature is that they can reply to the comment directly from their inbox. 

This is another great feature that makes Drive and Spreadsheets even more useful. 

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11 Awesome Infographics about Space

Space...the Final Frontier...ok, it's a little corny, but space has always captured the imagination of people. It's unknown, it's cool, it's in all the great science fiction movies. But, how much do people really know about space and the space program?

Waylou has 11 Infographics on Space that have some great information and are an excellent resource for teachers to use and share.

My favorite is the one about the Space Shuttle.

Learn about data visualization software.

Check them out here: http://walyou.com/space-infographics/



Related:

Lots of free educational resources from NASA

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Edmodo - first year using it with my students - so far, AWESOME!

For the last few years I've used a website and blog to communicate with students, hold online discussions, offer help and post resources. Maintaining the two different systems wasn't always easy, there were features I wanted, and it was all public. So, this year I decided to use Edmodo with my classes. It has been great already. Edmodo is a free, learning management system that is full featured and easy to use.

I teach Physics and Advanced Placement Physics. I created one group for the 4 Physics classes and another group for the AP Physics class. I have folders for uploading files for both of them also set up.

I had students sign up the 1st day of class right in my room, either on the 8 student computers I have, or on their own devices, mainly smartphones. Within minutes, all of my students were online and ready to go.

It's really easy to use, there are tons of places to go for help and ideas and tips, and the students love it. Many had already used it last year with other teachers, so it was even easier to get them using it in my class.

Some of the features I love:

1. Closed system. I can post the information to join the Evernote Group, the online textbook access codes, and much more here and only the students in my class can see it.

2. Parent access. I am currently setting up parent access to Edmodo. Parents will only see notices I post to the parent group and their own child's information. Edmodo even has sample welcome/invite letters and how-to info for parents.

3. I can easily post an announcement or alert to all my groups at once. With the blogs, I had to post to the Physics one and then the AP Physics one separately.

4. Library. It's very easy to upload files and share them to any or all groups.

5. Support. There is a vibrant user community and support materials available, making it easy to find help.

6. Layout. Edmodo is easy to read and find things on the page. The new layout, introduced today, is even better.

7. Notifications. I can get notifications through the mobile app on my smartphone when a student messages me or completes an assignment.

Edmodo is a great way to connect and share with your students. http://www.edmodo.com/


Related:

Edmodo - free social learning platform expands and improves

22 Great Tips on using Edmodo in the classroom

5 Great course management resources for educators

Some more great Android Apps for Education (including Edmodo app)

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Evernote - My Adventure Using it With My Students Continues

Evernote is one of my favorite tools and resources. I use it for lesson plans, research, collecting resources, clipping things from the web, organizing materials and much more. Evernote and Google Apps get 90% of what I need to do done.

I just won a very cool contest Evernote hosted for educators. Along with 9 other teachers, I won a year of Evernote premium for me and all of my students, along with training and support to implement it with my class.

I have been using Evernote myself for years and always share it with my students, but this will be my first year really using it with them. I'm learning more about sharing notebooks and setting up groups and classes with Evernote. The first webinar from Evernote was great and we have a Yammer group for support, as well as more training from Evernote throughout the year.

Students have already been using Evernote to take notes and upload files from me and attach them to their class notes. Many are also taking pictures of notes on the board and uploading them to Evernote. I'm also having them submit assignments to me via Evernote. Each class has a notebook and the students tag anything they send me with their name for easy sorting. This will become their online portfolio. Students can share notes with me or email me files right into Evernote. 

They are getting so used to it already, that when I say "where should you save this?" they automatically answer Evernote. 

Next week I'm going to work with them on setting up and using the web clipper and more on using the mobile apps. 

Do you use Evernote with your students? Any issues, concerns, or successes to share?

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Free Online Science Journal from US Forest Service

The US Forest Service has a very cool site called the Investi-gator, that is an upper elementary school science education journal. There are articles on leaves and why they change colors, ozone, soil activity, and much more, with discussion questions, interviews with scientists, lesson plans and assessments to use with students. You can download the journal issues, view them online, or order free copies for your classroom.

This is another great educational resource for teachers. http://www.scienceinvestigator.org/

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