Digital Explorer » Technology News

Expedition Websites (Content pt 1)

Digital Explorer — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 09:56:51 +0000

Content is king. Without good content, all the other effort you put into your website will be a waste of time and you will lose visitors. There are two types of content: static and dynamic. Static content describes the content that you usually type once and doesn’t change, such as information about your project and team. Dynamic content describes the updates that you send during the expedition, often in the form of a blog. A common technical distinction is that static content is contained within pages and dynamic content is contained within (blog posts).

Basics of Static Content
As a minimum your website should have the following pages:

About

good basic information about what you’re doing and why
a short intro paragraph in larger text works well
also try to include an image that sums up your expedition
see the Offscreen Expeditions website for an example

Team

photo and short bio of all those involved
include something about why you’re all involved – makes for more interesting reading
include everyone working on the expedition, not just those heading into the field
think about listing the team alphabetically by first name – this takes away from any notion of hierarchy and shows your project as a joint endeavour
see E-Base Live website for an example

Sponsors

a very important page – most expeditions rely on sponsors and funders
ask your contacts at sponsors and supporters for hi-res logos and also about how they would like their logo to be shown (size, placement, title, etc.)
ask your sponsors for quotes about why they support your expedition, and generally involve them in how they want to be represented on your site
see the Walking the Amazon website for an example

Map

it’s important to show your audience where you’re going
you can use any kind of map from a scanned tourist map with a big red circle or route drawn on, or go for something more sophisticated using Google Maps (explore using Google My Maps)
see the Road to Shimshal website for an example

Contact

try to include your real emails on your contact page, it makes everything a lot more personal – people want to be in contact with you rather than an anonymous email
it’s also good to include a photo of the team, so that people can see who they’re contacting
all this doesn’t mean you can’t use a system to route all this email traffic to your home base whilst you are in the field
see the Atlantic Rising website for an example

Expedition Websites (Basics)

Digital Explorer — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 22:52:04 +0000

There is an unspoken rule that every expedition must have a website, in some ways akin to the current phenomenon that nothing actually happens unless it is posted on Facebook. However, underlying this accepted norm is something that reaches into what 21st Century exploration is all about.

If exploration is the process of discovering new knowledge about our planet and its people, should we not be in the process of training local researchers to do the job for us, gradually relegating these overseas to nostalgia. What gives the current model legitimacy?

I would argue that it is the transformative power of the journey that results in so many of those involved in exploration and expeditions becoming passionate advocates and activists for environments and issues the world over, that is crucial. Expeditions return to the UK wild-eyed and passionate, capable of exciting, inspiring and sharing their experiences and discoveries.

The web allows expeditions to share that passion and magic, not only on their return, but also during the expedition itself, live from the field. In creating an expedition website, there are a few principles and basics to bear in mind.

Fit for purpose
Ensure that your website suits your expedition. If you have a small compact expedition, have a small compact website. If you are making a site aimed at teachers and pupils make sure that the language, content and functionality are aimed at this audience. Don’t forget you can always ask for help!

Remember your audience
You will probably have a number of different audience groups to consider. Plan your website accordingly. They are your readers and viewers.

Planning your website
Normally people create what is known as a sitemap (see the example above). This details the different sections of the website and can be colour coded to separate the different types of content.

GIS session at the RGS

Digital Explorer — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:13:56 +0000

A copy of the presentation from the GIS session at the Royal Geographical Society on 25 January 2010.

Have a look at the Digital Explorer manuals and the School Grounds Projects materials and get in touch if you need any more information.

40+ ideas on using Google Earth and Maps in the classroom

Digital Explorer — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 13:27:23 +0000

These are some teaching ideas to accompany the Digital Explorer presentations at the Playful Learning Zone at BETT this year. Come and see us to find out more.

First things first, if you don’t have Google Earth, download it for your own computer and then be sure to pester the IT office to download it for your school. See the Digital Explorer research if you need to make a case to senior management. To use Google Maps fully you will need to have a Google account, sign up if you haven’t already.

Virtual Atlas

Here are some basic ideas about how to use Google Earth and Google Maps as a virtual atlas projected on a screen or interactive whiteboard. Some of these ideas could be used by pupils on individual computers.

Art: search for locations of galleries, artists, locations of landscapes or use geographic features to inspire Land Art projects
Citizenship: show where events are taking place
Design And Technology: identify different types of shelter in different environments
English: search for locations of books, authors and locations or use locations to inspire creative writing and poetry (e.g. Romantic poets)
Geography: search for locations, physical and urban features and go on virtual field trips
History: search for locations of events and go on virtual field trips
Maths: use for real world distance/speed/time puzzles or use for fractions – e.g. find a car park and give the fraction of number of places filled
Modern Foreign Languages: search for locations to contextualise language learning or ask pupils to give directions in target language
Primary: a range of interesting ideas from Tom Barrett
RE: search for locations e.g. Bodh Gaya, Medina, Bethlehem
Science: look at power generation – wind farms, oil rigs, coal mines (open cast best)

Geographical Encyclopaedia
There is a vast amount of additional information available to users of Google Earth and Google Maps above and beyond basic map data and satellite imagery. In Google Earth, much of this information is stored in layers which are accessible to anyone opening the application. You can also search for kml or kmz files (these are the file types that Google Earth uses) and download information from the internet. When using Google My Maps, users also have access to a large directory of content that they can open.

Art pen tours of art or architecture – e.g. Art Nouveau
Citizenship: use prepared lessons on Google UK Schools site or look at layers such as Fair Trade and the Crisis in Darfur (under the Global Awareness section)
Design And Technology: open tours relevant to technology – e.g. Green buildings
English: open tours of well known novels from Google Lit Trips
Geography: open tours from a range of sites such as Antarctica or see lessons from Google UK Schools
History: see prepared lessons
Maths: looking at the volume of solids – e.g. pyramids
Primary: have a look at some of the teaching ideas on the Google UK schools Site

Digital Mapmaking
Once you are confident with using Google Earth and Google Maps in the classroom, you can start creating your own content and working with your pupils so that they can create their own work as well. Download the Digital Explorer basic manual on using Google Earth to help you create your own content. There is also an advanced manual for additional techniques. Information on Google Maps can be found in the school grounds projects manual.

Art: add more advanced content to placemarks such as paintings, interviews with artists, etc.
Citizenship: Crime local area study, adding data, information and video interviews to a map with potential to collaborate with other schools in the area
Design And Technology: Create a tour showing how shelter and environment are related or plan urban development using 3D polygons as buildings
English: create a tour of a Shakespeare play with images and voiceover or find locations to make a film of a book
Geography: import GPS data and then add photographs and video from a fieldtrip
History: create a narrated tour of an historical event
Modern Foreign Languages: create tours of tourist spots in target language country with images or narrate a tour in the target language
RE: narrate the life of a religious figure with placemarks for main points
Science: plot species distribution in the school grounds using My Maps and share and collaborate with other schools to cover a larger area

Problem solving
When you are confident creating your own content, you can start to transfer these to more project based and enquiry style learning. Google Earth and Google Maps can provide a much greater level of engagement as well as activate a host of different learning styles and thinking skills.

Noel Jenkins has produced some excellent examples on his Juicy Geography site.

But you can come up with your own ideas without doing too much preparation, once your class have the skills needed. For example, if you are teaching a class about calculating distance, speed and time and you wanted to assess how well they were doing, consider setting them a challenge using Google Maps. How long would it take to complete the Three Peaks Challenge? Pupils would have to research the locations, plan a route, and work out whether the time estimates in Google Maps were accurate (pretty sure you could drive faster in some places). This task could involve teamwork, synthesis, judgements, comparisons, research and a host of other skills and above all it might just be more fun. And how do you calculate how much time it takes to walk up Ben Nevis?

Out and about
This is where Google Earth and Google Maps really come alive for learning. Pupils have moved from being passive consumers looking at maps and content on screens to being active creators of content. In this final step, teachers and pupils use Google Earth and Google Maps as tools for sharing pupil voice and generating discussion and change on important issues.

Have a look at this video to see how Google Earth, Google Maps and other tools were used at one school and then download the manual (PDF, 2.6MB), the Teaching Materials (ZIP, 21MB) and have a look at an example blog and see an example Google Earth file.

BETT Google Earth and Google Maps presentation

Digital Explorer — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 11:00:03 +0000

Here’s a copy of the presentation to accompany the talks at the Playful Learning Zone at this year’s BETT show.

This year, we talked about how to progress with using Google Earth and Google Maps in the classroom all the way from using them as virtual atlases to using them as a base for local area projects and recording school trips and projects.

For a range of teaching ideas across the curriculum see the post 40+ ideas on using Google Earth and Maps in the classroom.

Satellite phones, arrests and biofuel

Digital Explorer — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 11:52:01 +0000

I saw this story develop this morning via twitter. Andy Pag is 13,500km into the inspiring Biotruck Expedition attempting to travel around the world emitting less than 2 tonnes of CO2, and discovering how other people are cutting their footprint. I enjoy seeing his updates on twitter, then this morning his arrest in the Indian city of Ajmer unravelled live on the internet.

Apparently the anti-terrorist police were tracking the satellite phone signal as Andy travelled from Pakistan to India and he was eventually picked up early this morning. This was despite the obvious profile he has been enjoying in India with a photo of him and the truck on the front page of The Times of India yesterday.

It’s a rather cautionary tale and calls into question the insouciance with which many expeditions use satellite communications. We hope Andy will come through this hiccup with another story to tell and more publicity for his expedition, but permissions for carrying this kind of equipment might have to make it into your next expedition plans.

Digital Explorer work enhances geographical understanding for 80%

Digital Explorer — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:12:01 +0000

A recent report on the impact of Digital Explorer’s two year programme to improve the use of technology in the geography classroom has resulted in 80% of teachers involved noting an improvement in pupil engagement and understanding.

This is fantastic news and shows the positive impact that technology can have. A full copy of the report can be downloaded.

Google Earth Expedition Gallery #4 – Marrakech Land Use

Digital Explorer — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:44:36 +0000

This fourth entry in Digital Explorer’s Google Earth gallery is where it all started with a study of urban land use in Marrakech with pupils from Eastbury Comprehensive in 2006 on the Toubkal ’06 expedition.

	The use of Google Earth and remote blogging received an Innovative Geography Teaching Grant from the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG).
	This work is also held up as a national case study by BECTA’s Next Generation Learning project.

Download the Google Earth tour – Marrakech Land Use

You will need Google Earth to view the tour. If you don’t have Google Earth, you can download it for free:

Contact Digital Explorer, if you would like to make a Google Earth tour for your expedition or fieldwork.

Social networking – contacts or content?

Digital Explorer — Sun, 03 May 2009 14:46:07 +0000

The rise and rise of Twitter (a micro-blogging tool) has brought into sharp focus a division or shift in the social networking or web 2.0 landscape.

If web 2.0 can be categorised as online conversation, whether that be through the written word, images, video or a mix of the three, do we join these conversations based on who they’re with or what they’re about?

Contacts or content?

The difference is most notable when comparing a service such as Facebook and something like Twitter. Facebook replicates real world friendship and contact groups, whether professional or personal. Although some people gather ‘friends’ as those they’re life depended on it, the convention seems to be that I need to know you before I allow you to be my ‘friend’.

Conversely with Twitter, the friendship aspect is taken away. I can become a ‘follower’ of someone’s Twitter feed (the list of short comments or ‘tweets’ that are made and posted online). Becoming a follower of their feed does not make me their friend. It means that what they are saying is interesting and I would like to know what they have to say. It may be that I know this person in the real world and know that they are interesting, but there is much more opportunity to take the ‘contact’ aspect out of Twitter and keep your relations based on your interest in the conversation.

Reaching a wider audience – the cost of quality

Digital Explorer — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:33:34 +0000

Innovation in technology and design means money and time. Nothing that Digital Explorer does is radically new nor are the methods we use different from what thousands of others are doing. So what’s the difference?

Quality.

I have watched YouTube videos that pupils have made. It’s always quite exciting to see which teachers have been secretly filmed. If you’re a teacher and never searched YouTube for your school, it can be quite revealing. The quality of these videos is pretty poor, and not just the content. Sound quality, framing, narrative, soundtrack, etc. are all out of the window. However, for a small group of people they are interesting and amusing. Quality in web video production gives you access to a greater audience.

There are blogs that I read that are easy to navigate, well laid out and full of interesting content. On some blogs, the design really adds to the content, giving a sense of place, ideas and inspiration. Others are truly shocking, full of garish fonts and mis-sized photographs, with dull headlines and lack of decent opening paragraphs. Again, unless you have a very particular interest in the person/people writing the blog or the content, you will not browse, but move on.

When Digital Explorer started, the inspirations were the model of the broadcast news journalist reporting from across the world, and the rigour of the professional expedition. Digital Explorer remains adamant that no compromise should be made in terms of quality, but that costs money.

A curriculum for the digital global citizen would include…

the skills to shoot, edit and upload a quality digital video (nothing more complicated than an establishing shot, a few interviews with proper framing and decent sound quality, and maybe an appropriate cut-away or three)
the skills to create or identify an engaging, appropriate and accessible online platform (blog, ning, social networking group or page, etc.) and the ability to write engaging content with a mix of digital media to back it up (photos, video and maps)
an appreciation and knowledge of digital mapping technologies and how they can help to inform and contextualise issues online
the ability to apply these skills to learning in Citizenship, English, Geography and Science taught curricula, so that any digital content has proper rigour in terms of research methods and young people understand how to create change

This curricula involves money and time. Who will build this capacity outside of the current taught curriculum? Where will the money for additional hardware come from? Who will link these new skills to local, national and global issues?

In the future, Digital Explorer wants to grow its current programmes to become a techno-eco-scout movement for the 21st Century.

Give young people the skills they need to become leaders.

We are failing them if we don’t.