Wow!! And a la Jen Wagner, Happy Friday! Thank you for inspiring me and helping me and putting up with me and a million other thank yous!!! And all from Stockton, NJ. (I’m the one who grew up in New Hope, across the river. Mom & step-dad lived there, bwtn the river and canal. Dad was from Philly - East Falls)

[...] And actually the last thing I did read (and Shared) was Will’s pointing to a stunning example of what can be done with the new features of Google’s MyMaps — the Route 66 history tour. I’ve not even sniffed out the shiny new Goog-tool, but my gut says that maps as an authoring tool are going to be very powerful for educators (or anyone trying to create a map that organizes and links to information — kind of what Joe Lambert has been doing with Storymapping [...]

[...] Make Your Own Google Maps…Too Cool! [...]

That’s one long swim Will! Don’t forget your water wings!

Seriously though, check out the CNN video (http://news.com.com/1606-2_3-6173473.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-5&subj=news)- not only can you create the map but you can augment it with images, video, audio, weblinks. What a great way to liven up history? The civil war may not be exciting but have the kids generate a timeline of who, what, when and where and now you’ve got their attention!!!

Cheers,

John
http://edventures.whitemountaintech.net

[...] A lot of buzz has been generated over the new Google feature that allows you to build your own maps and share them with others. C-Net news has a great video overview of this new tool which appears to allow you to include a number of different media such as images, YouTube videos and probably even audio. What a terrific way to augment boring history classes, eh? Have the students develop a map where they can include the who, what, where and when - key speeches, personal stories, timeline events - while exploring how things came to be. How much more likely are you to have engaged students who will actually remember some of the material they not only studied but built? So Will, this may not be new, but it is news! Let’s spread it! [...]

Shout out to Will on Cyber Compliment Day for inspiring and teaching so many through his blog.

http://cliotech.blogspot.com/2007/04/cybercompliment-day-april-6th.html

I’ll second that Jen, thanks Will for your inspiration and perseverance!

Cheers,
John

I hope that it’s not too long before these tools (esp. embedded videos) are made available to Google Earth)

You so did NOT just write “dawg.”

Why do I now have an image of Sean Connery as Will Richardson in “Finding Blogster,” the story of an older edu-techie who takes a young, talented but lost blogger under his wing and mentors him to greatness.

“You da blogger now, dawg!”

Coming soon to theaters near you.

An exciting new tool! Thanks for sharing. I have no doubt that our technology integration specialist,John Calvert, will soon put it through its paces. He has already created a unique tool for our second grade students and teachers, which can be downloaded at http://www.tufsd.org/wlm/TUFSDatlasb.exe One really exciting part of the program is the Panorama images, accessed by clicking the panorama check box, then selecting one of the thumbnails for the map. It is exciting to see how the variety of new tools entices our students! Much of this has been inspired by conversations at various workshops of yours that we have attended (i.e. SLA and Mohonk), and for this we are grateful.

Other than being able to change the angles on the view this function pretty much gives you Google Earth in a web browser. I think one of the greatest parts is being able to export the kml file. Like Mike said, I really hope that GE has the ability for streaming video embedded in it sometime soon too (even if it is only YouTube). It would be great for virtual field trips.

Thanks for sharing this Will. This has a lot of possibilities for educators… mapping battles and timelines in History, tracing a storyline of a novel, documenting the migration of birds in Life Science, etc. The lesson does not dramatically change for teachers, but the ability to share and contribute information with the world is engaging for students.

Hello!!

great ideas —
now take it a step further — and start playing with Google Earth!!!

It will make your Google Map look simplistic.

BTW — Happy CyberCompliment Day! (a bit late!) I have learned a GREAT GREAT deal from you!

JenWagner

[...] By Will Richardson. [...]

[...] On a more general tool note, TechCrunch now lists almost 1,400 apps in it’s company index. 1,400! (So what the heck is Lifeio?) And at the rate this stuff is coming out, it’s easy to see why many people get overwhelmed. I did a workshop in Fort Worth yesterday, and people were pretty much filled up by the 15 or so tools that I showed them. (They loved the the new Google MyMaps feature, btw.) At one point, someone came up and asked “How do you keep up with all of this?” The short answer was that I don’t…I can’t. No one can. But that’s the beauty, and the importance, of the network, I told her. That’s where this whole Connectivism thing makes so much sense. I rely on the trusted sources in the network that I have become a part of for the best tools to filter up. For the best pedagogies to filter up. Just as I’m turning to the network to see if it has any feedback on the tools above. [...]

Thanks Wil!! This is a tool I will use for my next project on my trip to Greece and Austria this summer!

Janice Friesen
http://jfriesen.edublogs.org
http://malahinitx.blogspot.net (in October 2005 is my first blog project trip)

My head was “swimmin’” with details the moment I read this post. I’m thinking about the implications in literature classes. Creating a map for the Joad family, or where Odysseus might have traveled in non-fictional terms. I’m also thinking about how wonderful this could be with writing - a map of places students have lived or visited, or wish lists.

Thanks!

[...] By Will Richardson. [...]

Great to hear that you’re heading this way Will. Is this is private journey or are you presenting anywhere - conferences, workshops, etc?

Michael (Adelaide, Australia)

I like My Google Maps, but I like Community Walk (based on Google Maps) maps better. Here’s why…

Pictures: you can associate multiple pictures with each location marker and you can annotate them.

Categories: you can have categories of location markers which the viewer can turn on or off. Kind of like the data layers in Google Earth.

And of course, just like Google Maps, you can save them as KML files.

Here’s a sample CW: http://www.communitywalk.com/superior_then_and_now/map/75086

Enjoy.

Ditto on Community Maps Lynn - great for embedding audio and video too!

Will, I’m also an Aussie and would like to echo Michael’s query re private trip or any presentations likely in Oz?

You’ve quite a followiong here in Oz, from Adelaide to here in Canberra! :o)

Marg O’Connell

Créez des Google Maps éducatifs…

Malheur à qui ne sait pas voyager. (Paul Morand) La géographie ne se limite pas aux régions éloignées. C’est aussi, et surtout, celle de son quartier ou de son patelin, celle de tous ces endroits que nous visitons et qui……

[...] On a more general tool note, TechCrunch now lists almost 1,400 apps in it’s company index. 1,400! (So what the heck is Lifeio?) And at the rate this stuff is coming out, it’s easy to see why many people get overwhelmed. I did a workshop in Fort Worth yesterday, and people were pretty much filled up by the 15 or so tools that I showed them. (They loved the the new Google MyMaps feature, btw.) At one point, someone came up and asked “How do you keep up with all of this?” The short answer was that I don’t…I can’t. No one can. But that’s the beauty, and the importance, of the network, I told her. That’s where this whole Connectivism thing makes so much sense. I rely on the trusted sources in the network that I have become a part of for the best tools to filter up. For the best pedagogies to filter up. Just as I’m turning to the network to see if it has any feedback on the tools above. [...]

[...] Then, serendipitously, Alan Levine linked to Will Richardson’s post on Google’s My Maps, and I started to see just how much easier and contextualized this process might be. The final push came from Jeff McClurken’s (one of UMW’s finest digital historians) post about a Surreal Mashup Moment which brilliantly illustrates the possibilities for Google’s My Maps to think history digitally in some powerfully interactive ways. So why not create that flickr group of Virginia historical markers and build them into a Google My Maps account (both of which are registered and administered through UMW’s new Center for Digital History). Let the students explore with these tools, let them mash it up, and while they’re at it let them create a dynamic evolving teaching and learning resource that can be used, re-used and abused? [...]

[...] Then, serendipitously, Alan Levine linked to Will Richardson’s post on Google’s My Maps, and I started to see just how much easier and contextualized this process might be. The final push came from Jeff McClurken’s (one of UMW’s finest digital historians) post about a Surreal Mashup Moment which brilliantly illustrates the possibilities for Google’s My Maps to think history digitally in some powerfully interactive ways. So why not create that flickr group of Virginia historical markers and build them into a Google My Maps account (both of which are registered and administered through UMW’s new Center for Digital History). Let the students explore with these tools, let them mash it up, and while they’re at it let them create a dynamic evolving teaching and learning resource that can be used, re-used and abused? [...]