Digimap for Schools: without the jargon - Cadcorp · 2014. 7. 23. · market, i.e. Key Stage 2 and...
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Richard Spooner reflects on this innovative online mapping service for teachers and pupils in primary and secondary education, and discovers that even time-served GIS professionals can learn from its customer focus Digimap for Schools: scalable web mapping without the jargon www.GEOconnexion.com // Jan/Feb 2013 50 education & training Digimap for Schools 1 is a subscription service that removes the need for individual schools to acquire and store mapping data on their own computers. EDINA, the national academic data centre based at the University of Edinburgh, takes care of that and provides map updates as required. However, Digimap for Schools is much more than a central and up-to-date mapping repository. It is also a mapping service and a mapping application. Many schools will think of Digimap for Schools not only as data, but also as application software: software that that can be accessed by any authorised user in the school or at home, without having to download or install anything. By providing a browser-based application for accessing Ordnance Survey (GB) data, EDINA has removed the need for additional expenditure by individual schools on hardware and software. Equally importantly, EDINA has assumed most of the data and software management effort that would otherwise have fallen on schools’ ICT staff and resources. Mapping functionality With Digimap for Schools, Ordnance Survey maps are accessed via a modern, lightweight browser-based application which provides
Transcript of Digimap for Schools: without the jargon - Cadcorp · 2014. 7. 23. · market, i.e. Key Stage 2 and...
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Richard Spooner reflects on this innovative online mapping service for teachers and pupils in primary and secondary education, and discovers that even time-served GIS professionals can learn from its customer focus
Digimap for Schools: scalable web mapping without the jargon
www.GEOconnexion.com // Jan/Feb 2013 50
education & training
Digimap for Schools1 is a subscription service that removes the need for individual schools to acquire and store mapping data on their own computers. EDINA, the national academic data centre based at the University of Edinburgh, takes care of that and provides map updates as required. However, Digimap for Schools is much more than a central and up-to-date mapping repository. It is also a mapping service and a mapping application.
Many schools will think of Digimap for Schools not only as data, but also as application software: software that that can be accessed by any authorised user in the school or at home, without having to download or install anything.
By providing a browser-based application for accessing Ordnance Survey (GB) data, EDINA has removed the need for additional expenditure by individual schools on hardware and software. Equally importantly, EDINA has assumed most of the data and software management effort that would otherwise have fallen on schools’ ICT staff and resources.
Mapping functionalityWith Digimap for Schools, Ordnance Survey maps are accessed via a modern, lightweight browser-based application which provides
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searchingviapostcode,placenameandOrdnanceSurveygridreference.Theapplicationalsohastheusualpanandzoomcapabilitiesonewouldexpectfrommodernwebmappinginterface.Mapkeysareavailableforeachscaleofmaptoexplainthesymbolsused,anduserscanchoosewhetherornottodisplaynationalgridoverlaysontheirmaps.Annotationtoolsareprovidedtoallowpupilstoaddpointmarkers,drawlinesandregularandirregularpolygons,andaddtextlabels,allaccordingtotheirownstyle.Measuringtoolsarealsoincluded.Anyfeaturesdrawnonthescreencanbesaved,andprintedmapscreatedateitherA4orA3size,portraitorlandscape,andinAdobe®PDF,JPEG,orPNGformats.
DigimapforSchoolsisn’taGIS;butitneversetoutbeone.Itisadigitalmappingservicedesignedtobefast,easy,andfunforitstargetmarket,i.e.KeyStage2and3pupils(7-14yearolds)andtheirteacherstouse.InfacttheserviceissoversatilethatitisalsobeingusedatKS1(5-7yearolds)andKS4(14–16yearolds).Byputtingease-of-use,speedofaccess,andfunattheheartofitsservice,EDINAhasdeliverednotjustacollectionofspatialdata,norjustaneatwebapplication,butacompleteserviceinsupportoftheeducationalneedsofprimaryandsecondaryschoolpupils.
Support for geography teachingSomeinsightintowhattheseneedsmightbecanbegleanedfromthe2011OfstedreportintogeographyteachinginEnglandandWales.2ItwaspublishedjustthreemonthsaftertheDigimapforSchoolsservicewaslaunched,basedonvisitsbyOfstedinspectorstolookatgeographyinasampleofalmosttwohundredprimaryandsecondaryschoolsbetween2007and2010.Thereport’sauthorspraisethevalueofgeographyinthemoderncurriculumandnotethatthestudyofgeographycancontributetothedevelopmentofadeeperunderstandingofpeopleandplaces.
Geographylinksthedisciplinesofscienceandhumanitiesandhelpsstudentsdevelopawiderangeofskillsandknowledge,especiallyininformationandcommunicationtechnology(ICT).Yetthereportalso
detailsbothanoveralldeclinein,andapolarisationinthequalityof,teachingandlearningofgeography.Theinspectorsfoundsharpcontrastsexistedbetweeninadequateandoutstandingpracticeingeographyteachingandlearning,thatgeographywasdisappearingasataughtsubjectinoneintenprimaryschools,andthatinsecondaryschoolsuninspiredteachingwasdiscouragingstudentsfromchoosinggeographyatGCSE.
DigimapforSchoolsisnopanaceaforuninspiredteaching,andthereisfarmoretogeographythansimplyworkingwithmaps.However,DigimapforSchoolscanandisbeingusedveryeffectivelytoaddressatleastoneofOfsted’scentralfindings:thatformanystudents“theirmentalimagesofplacesandtheworldaroundthemwereoftenconfusedandlackedspatialcoherence.”
DigimapforSchoolsbecomesaneffectivevehicleforunderstandingspaceandplacewhenitisusedwithinastructuredteachingprogramme:somethingthatEDINAhasencouragedbyprovidingmorethansixtyonlineteachingresources.3Theseresources,writtenbygeographyexperts,coverKS1-4,andareavailableforuseindependentlyofDigimap
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House ad - reports(supplied as pdf)
forSchools.However,thereisclearsynergybetweentheseresources,thefunctionalityofDigimapforSchools,andthepowerofaninteractivedigitalwhiteboardasanexcitingteachingmedium.
Mapping can be funItispossibletoseethissynergyintheveryfirstexercise:LessonOne,KeyStageOne–byDrPaulaOwens,whichiscalled‘LettertoourSchool’4,andcoverslocatinganddescribingplaces,basedonaddresses.
DrOwensusesaschool’spostcodetoconveytheunderstandingthataddressescarryinformationaboutwhereplacesare.ShedemonstrateshowpupilscanuseapostcodeinDigimapforSchoolstosearchforandlocatetheirownschool.Havingfoundtheirschool,pupilsareencouragedtocentrethemapdisplayontheschool,andthenpanandzoomthemaptoseethesurroundingarea.Theycanaddamarkertotheschoollocation,labeltheschoolplayingfieldsandanyotherfeatures,addamaptitle,andfinallysaveandprintthemap,allowingmappingstudiestocontinueoutdoors.
Bythesecondlesson,pupilsareapplyingthesametaskstotheirhomeaddress.Bylessonthreetheyareplottingtheirroutebetweenhomeandschool,measuringthatroute,and,byusingamapkey,arerecognisingfeaturesalongtheroute.
BythefifthKeyStage1lessoninDrOwen’sset,pupilsareusingOrdnanceSurveymapstoinvestigatenotonlyfamiliarbutalsounfamiliarlocations:placestheyhaveneverbeento,butcanbeunderstoodfrommaps.Theexercisecalled‘Wheredoesapintofmilkcomefrom?’beginswithpupilsusingDigimapforSchoolstosearchforalocationbyname(seescreenshotsequence,right)
Digital mapping without the jargon Whatamazesmeasa‘time-servedGISprofessional’isthatwithoutusingtheterms,DigimapforSchoolsisintroducingchildrenasyoungasfivetowhatgrownupGISprofessionalsmightliketocalladdressgazetteers,scale-dependentmapping,mapnavigation,databasesearching,digitising,featurerecognition,red-lining,andPDFcreation.Itissimplythattheycallitsomethingelse.Fast,easy,andfun.Thathastobegoodnewsfortheteachingofgeography.
The Cadcorp Spatial Information System (Cadcorp SIS®) was selected by EDINA in 2007 to support the original EDINA Digimap service for higher and further education. Digimap for Schools uses Cadcorp GeognoSIS software to create print output on demand.
Images are reproduced with the permission of EDINA and of Ordnance Survey.
References1http://digimapforschools.edina.ac.uk2Geography:learningtomakeaworldofdifference,Ofsted,February2011,www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/geography-learning-make-world-of-difference3Availableathttp://digimapforschools.edina.ac.uk/cosmo/home?page=resources4http://digimapforschools.edina.ac.uk/Resources/Primary/Lesson1.pdf5www.geograph.org.uk
Richard Spooner, geographer, is marketing manager at Cadcorp (www.cadcorp.com)
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