Class Sizes on Google Maps

Global News has created a Google Map of Class Sizes in British Columbia. The map shows the class sizes in every public school in the province during the 2010-11 school year.

Red and green map markers are used on the map to show classes larger than 30 pupils and classes with fewer than 30. It is also possible to click on a school's map marker and view the average class size at different grade levels and overall for the whole school.

Finding Schools within Walking Distance

Discover BPS is a clever application that helps Boston parents find eligible schools for their children.

Once the user enters a Boston address into Discover BPS and the child's current grade a list of eligible schools is displayed. The schools can also be viewed on a Google Map. The map view allows the parents to see which of the eligible schools are within a 'walk-zone' of the child's home.

Discover BPS uses the open-source pgRouting with OpenStreetMap to derive the "walkshed" polygons which are then used to calculate which schools are within street walking distances. The walkable schools are then displayed on the map with green colored map markers.

Via: Google Geo Developers Blog

Special Offers for Students

Transparent School Map

The Mapize team has created a Google Map of higher education institutions in and around Paris, displaying nearby venues with special offers.

If you click on any of the map markers you can view details about the selected educational institution including its full address. To help impoverished students stretch their limited funds each mapped institution also displays nearby Foursquare tips and special offers.

The Transparent School Map is Mapize's entry into Europe's Open Data Challenge.

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California School Funding on Google Maps

A California School Funding Map Tool

The California budget crisis means that Californian schools are facing drastic cuts to their budgets. Parents for Great Education has used Fusion Tables and the Google Maps API to create this map to show the funding of schools in the state.

The map allows you to look at funding for school districts, by State Senate District or by State Assembly District. The map is color-coded to show the school district funding per student. If you click on the map you can view the state cuts per student, estimated cuts per student and the total cuts to the school district.

California School District Funding

This Google Map shows school district funding in California. Using the map it is possible to view funding levels in each district and also view the school district's academic performance.

If you click on a school district you can view details of the funding over the last three years together with a projection of the funding next year assuming there is no tax extension in California.

The map also displays State Senate districts. If you click on a Senate district you can view the name and party affiliation of the district Senator and their winning margin.

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School Exam Results on Google Maps

England Exam Results Map

This Google Map shows the GCSE exam results for 4,000 schools in England.If you click on any of the schools mapped you can view the average uncapped GCSE and equivalent point score per pupil in the school.

The buttons to the right of the map allow you to refine the schools shown on the map. You can refine the results to show the top performing or worst performing schools.

This map is another example of a Google Maps API V3 map displaying data from a Fusion Tables layer.

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Creating a Yearbook with Google Maps

Colgate's Class of 2010 Map

Here's a really good idea - use Google Maps to create a yearbook.

Colgate University have done exactly that, producing a Google Map to show how members of the seniors Class of 2010 have translated their learning at the university into jobs, fellowships, and graduate school acceptances. Personal profiles and photos are shown on the map, and eight seniors are highlighted through videos.

There are nearly 200 seniors listed, with more to come as graduates finalise their plans. You can also select to view the classes of 2008 and 2009 on the map.

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Find a School With Google Maps

okSchool Explorer

The okSchool Explorer is a Google Maps mashup to help parents find and decide on a school for their children. The map is an entry into the MashUpAustralia contest.

To use the map just click on one of the school map markers. This will load a beautiful looking chart describing how family dense the towns are. Green describes a town filled with families, while red describes a town with less.

A series of connections is displayed in the chart to other schools via emergency services. Family related statistics are then compared to the average across the region. You can filter schools using the colour chart key. Charts usually display statistics when rolled over. Where possible, they are also broken down by gender.

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Google Map of the World's Top Universities

World's Best Universities Map

This Google Maps mashup from Mibazaar shows the locations of the world's top 100 universities, as based on the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings and reported by US News.

The universities are ranked in six areas; Academic Peer Review, Employer Review, Student to Faculty, International Faculty, International Students, Citations per Faculty. On the map the universities' rankings are shown by numbered map markers. The universities are also listed in numerical order in the map sidebar.

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Learning Maths with Google Maps

Edte.ch Maths Maps

Edte.ch have found an inspired use for Google MyMaps. They have used Google Maps to create a number of maths exercises. Currently there are two maps, Measures in Madrid and Shapes in Paris.

Both maps contain a number of map markers, each of which contains a maths problem associated with it's location. For example, this question has been added to a building in Madrid,

"We know that the length of the building is 100m and the width 30m.
We also know that the area of the top quadrant is twice the area of the lower quadrant. What is the area of each quadrant?"

Because these maps use Google's MyMaps feature it is also possible to add your own maths problems. You simply need to log in with a Google account and then you can start adding your own maths related questions.

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Using Google Maps to Market Google

Going Google

Google Maps is increasingly being used in clever marketing campaigns (recent good examples include the Zappos Map and the #ukhols map) to promote products and brands. It seems only fair then that Google should use Google Maps to promote its own Google Apps.

Google say that "over five million students at thousands of schools in more than 145 countries have "gone Google" and are actively using Google Apps Education Edition on campus. To help Google gain more market share over its competitors ( # cough # Microsoft # cough # ) they have created a new website to promote Google Apps in education.

In prominent position on this new website is a large Google Map. The map animates through universities and schools that are using Google Apps. The map also contains a heat map overlay that shows how many establishment in each country are using Apps.

Via: Mapperz

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Win Activclassroom Interactive Tech

Promethean Planet Flippy

Promethean Planet is a free online community designed to provide Activclassroom teachers around the world with the ability to share new and innovative lessons, access a wide variety of professional development materials, and connect with fellow Activclassroom teachers. The Promethean Planet Flippy is a Google Map showing the location of members of Promethean Planet around the world.

As well as finding Activclassroom teachers users of the map have the chance to win some interactive educational goodies. Promethean's Flippy character is hidden on the map. If you find him you can enter a prize draw to win various prizes from Promethean.

There will be six monthly drawings from now until November. In addition to the monthly drawing, there will be a Grand Prize Draw in December to win a complete ActivClassroom.

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The Best Business Schools Google Map

Business Schools Map

Mibazaar has created a Google Maps mashup to show the locations of all the best business schools in the United States for 2009 as mentioned in Forbes. The schools are displayed on the map with numbered map markers and also listed in the map sidebar in hierarchical order.

Each information window provides details about the institution, such as the cost of tuition fees and the GMAT score.

Also See

• US Universities -over 8,600 US colleges and universities.
• Canada Universities - a Google Map of Canadian universities. Each tag includes the university's address and a link to its website.
• French Universities - a Google Map of every French University.
• Spanish Universities
• Italian Universities
• German Universities
• UK Universities - every UK university and HE institute.

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Universities on Google Maps

Tufts University Campus Map

Tufts is the latest university to build an online campus map using the Google Maps API. The map shows all the university buildings on the Medford/Somerville campus.

A really handy feature for students is that it is possible to find where all the wifi hotspots on campus are using the map. If you roll over any building on the map with your mouse the building is highlighted and a small information window tells you the name of the building. The buildings are also all listed in the map sidebar and it is even possible to use a search box to find a building.

SchoolBubble.com

SchoolBubble.com is a network of marketplaces for students at universities in the USA and Canada. Using the map students can post and find ads for car-pooling, housing, textbooks and jobs.

Each university comes with its own Google Map. The ad listings are shown alongside the map and it is possible to filter the ad results by category.

Study Worldwide Map

The Study Worldwide Map shows the the two major higher education ranking results on Google Maps. It is therefore possible to use the map to search and find the highest ranked universities in the world.

It is possible to refine your search for a university by the QS World University Ranking system or the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Ranking system. The universities are then shown on the map with numbered map markers to indicate their rank and displayed in descending order in the map sidebar. It is also possible to refine the results by country.

Also See

• US Universities -over 8,600 US colleges and universities.
• Canada Universities - a Google Map of Canadian universities. Each tag includes the university's address and a link to its website.
• French Universities - a Google Map of every French University.
• Spanish Universities
• Italian Universities
• German Universities
• UK Universities - every UK university and HE institute.

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Geography Awareness Week

This week is Geography Awareness Week. During Geography Awareness Week National Geographic Magazine and other organisations try to raise the awareness of the importance of geography education.

Google for Educators have produced a special page with some exciting geo-tours for Google Earth. Here are some more websites you might want to check out if you want to inspire some kids with neo-geography:

Digital Geography
Noel Jenkins’ blog is all about using new technologies in the Geography curriculum. Neil is the winner of the UK's Royal Geographical Society Award for ‘Contributions to excellence in the teaching of Geography at secondary level'. So, as you might expect, his blog is full of inspirational ideas for the geography classroom.

Juicy Geography
Noel is also the author of Juicy Geography. Juicy Geography has free ideas and resources for teaching geography. The site includes a great a lesson that gets students to describe places they know on Wikimapia and there are lots of lessons built around Google Earth files (which can of course be viewed in Google Maps as well).

I particularly like the idea for a psycho-geography project. Noel's students found out from some questionnaire research that people in the local community were quite negative about their town, so his students made a simple sign and persuaded shop-keepers to display it.



Digital Explorer
Digital Explorer is a social enterprise set up to pioneer new ways of engaging young people in global and environmental issues through the application of technology. The website includes classroom resources for the Antarctic Climate, Antarctic Foodweb, Land Use - Marrakech, a
School Grounds Projects and a Sustainable Building project.

Soar Valley Geography
This website displays the work of student geographers in the Soar Valley. These students used Google My Maps to map their worlds.

Google Lit Trips
Google Lit Trips creates Google Earth kml files that plot the journeys taken in works of literature. The Google Earth files can of course be viewed in Google Maps. For example here is the Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce as viewed in Google Maps

Bionic Teaching
Inspired by Google Lit Trips Tom Woodward mapped out Whirligig by Paul Fleischman on Google Maps to help inspire his students.

The Google Earth Education Community
This is a website for teachers and students to share and find information about educational topics that have been organised using Google Earth (hopefully you haven‘t forgotten that Google Earth files can also be viewed in Google Maps). All the resources are categorised by subject area.

Google Earth Design
A blog about good design in Google Earth which includes a lesson plan showing the causes and effects of global warming on flooding in the Brahmaputra.

Dale Basler
Dale Basler has posted about how he teaches speed, velocity and displacement using Google Maps. The students use Google Maps to map out bus routes, find the average time needed for the bus to make a complete circuit of the route, calculate the average speed of the bus and display the results on a Google Map.

KQED Quest
KQED Quest uses Google Maps to present a multimedia series exploring Northern California science, environment and nature. The materials on this site are incredibly well presented.

From Previous Posts

• Teachers Teaching Teachers: Sharing Stories with Mapping - a podcast about useing maps in the classroom
• Use Google Maps Mashups in K-12 Education - A blog post outlining how Google Maps tools and mashups can be used to map walking routes, measure area and teach earth science
• A Windowless Room With a View: How Digital Mapping Tools Can Change Our Perspective on Learning
• Educator website uses Google Maps to connect students with pen pals

Teachers should also check out the Google Geo Education Section in the Google for Educators Discussion Group.

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Google Maps of Universities

US Universities
This Google Map from College Outlook shows over 8,600 US colleges and universities. It is possible to filter the results by searching for universities in individual states. Each university's tag includes the university's address and a link to its website. Street views of universities are also shown where they are available.

It is even possible to order information packs from a number of institutions by selecting those you are interested in and completing a short form.

Canada Universities
Map Builder have provided a Google Map of Canadian universities. Each tag includes the university's address and a link to its website.

French Universities
A Google Map of every French University. Each tag contains the university's address and a link to a list of courses provided by the university.

Spanish Universities
Italian Universities
German Universities
Studieren, who created the French universities map, have also produced a map of Spanish, Italian and German universities.

UK Universities
This map from the University of Wolverhampton tags every UK university and HE institute. When you click on a tag a host of links for the institution are provided in a sidebar. The list includes links to the university's website (including undergraduate and graduate prospectuses, news feed, student union and staff directory) and to the university's UCAS profile and Guardian University Guide.

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Canada Google Maps Mashup & Mapplet Roundup (22)

Realosophy is the ultimate Toronto real estate mashup:

The Toronto Google Maps Housing and Neighbourhood (CDN spelling ;)) mashup Realosophy has come of age and has without question become the best Toronto housing mashup I've seen. John Pasalis dropped me a line to let me know the site now places a hyper-local focus on the 175 unique neighbourhoods in the Greater Toronto Area. Housing statistics such as avg. house price, property taxes, # of bedrooms available, most common housing type and most common housing style are also available with great graphing for each community page. Best of all transit and information very detailed information about schools in the area are provided as well as local businesses. Check out the "Deal Breaker" tab which lists Starbucks and other coffee spots as well :). Here is an example using my old stomping grounds of High Park. This hyper-local focus essentially makes this 175 real estate mashups in one by the level of detail each unique community gets. It's helpful to people that aren't even looking for a home but who want to learn more about their local community as well! The team at Realosophy has done a fantastic job and their resuling app should be considered a model for all Google Maps real estate mashups worldwide!

Google Maps mashup of Canadian Universities:

University-Maps is a great College and University Campus mashup for all schools across Canada. This mashup can serve many purposes; Act as a campus map for each of these schools (clear satellite imagery a prerequisite), help you find contact details about each school or let you learn more about each institution by linking off to its Wikipedia article. Search for schools based on language as well (French, English or Bilingual).

Skiing in Canada Google Maps mashup:

Bob Bolt informs us of this new mashup devoted to the major ski resorts of Canada (BC, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec are included). Choose a province, then dive in to view detailed information about skiing and boarding resorts. Google search is integrated throughout the site to help you query for resort accommodations and a small inset Google Map on each resort page will show you the terrain for the area.

Add the following Canadian "Mapplets" to your My Maps tab on Google Maps to make your own mega-mashup of all the content by viewing it directly from within Google Maps:

• Day hikes in the Western US and Canada
• Median age in US and Canada
• Earthwatch Expeditions
• Commission for Environmental Cooperation
• BnBfinder.com Bed and Breakfast Locator
• Montréal Métro
• Toronto Pubs and Bars
• JVL.Stasis.org - a Canadian Photoblog
• Toronto subway stations
• Flickr & Panoramio geotaggedphotos
• Weather Bonk
• Wikipedia

More Canadian Mashups:

• Highway 401 Service Centers - Attention 401 drivers, your Google Map has arrived! Travellers along Canada's busiest Highwayservice centres are located in both east and west directions. Tourist information stops near the 401 are included as well as traffic cameras in Toronto and Montreal.
• 2007 Ontario election: GTA ridings - As mentioned in my recent Google Maps Elections post. [Thanks to Ted Nye]
• Recent Google Maps Mashups created by Canadians: Baby Name Map (Popular Baby Names in Canada) & MediaScrape (Mapping Canadian and World News)
• US & Canada Google Maps Flight Tracker - as mentioned recently on Google Maps Mania
• Toronto.MapList.org expands to now include Vancouver.MapList.org - Free business and classifieds.

For more Canadian Google Maps mashups click the "Canada" label below!
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7 great new US Google Maps mashups!

TaxiWiz: Google Maps Tool to calculate cab fare! (now for 6 US cities!)

Mike DeGraw-Bertsch has expanded his New York City Cab fare tool to include 5 new US cities. They are: Boston, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Toronto is also the first Canadian city added. Select two points and Taxiwiz helps to estimate the cab fare for that journey. There are also mobile versions for each city so you can use this app on your mobile device (this doesn't use Google Maps).

130,000 US Public Schools.. Mapped!

Public School Portal lets you search and Google map 130,000 US public schools by zip code or by city/state. Each school has detailed information including school website, driving directions, number of teachers, students and even the cultural mix of students attending. It's very interesting. Public School portal also includes the "Best 100 US high schools" (as reported by Newsweek).

Map of US Harley Davidson Dealerships - Drill down to state level to see Google Map. Also provides directions.

Baltimore Homicides in 2007 - The Baltimore Sun has created a Google Map with
options for sorting and displaying Baltimore murder locations that occurred this year using different criteria, such as the date of the murder and the district or ZIP code in which the victim was found. It also allows users to sort by certain characteristics of the victims, such as age, gender, race and cause of death.

RadioShack Store Locator now uses Google Maps:


US South Asian Business Google Maps mashup - Approx. 9000 listings mashed up with Google Maps.

2008 Presidential Election Primary Polls

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A Google Maps County Public School Project

Rames Creel dropped me a line to let me know about a really neat Google Maps mashup project he has kicked off called The County Public School Project that is proving to benefit several school boards around the US. He started out by creating the San Joaquin County Public School Map, a unique mashup that plots schools within the county, and a way to get driving directions between each of the school locations.

Not stopping there Rames decided to make this Google Maps mashup into a template complete with a set of instructions for other school boards to do the same thing that he did. He set up this fantastic step-by-step guide to replicate the San Joaquin County Public School Map for any other school board in the US. What a great idea! So far here are the school boards who have followed Rames' instructions:

• Folsom Cordova Unified School District Map
• San Luis Obispo County Public School Map
• Tulare County Office of Education

This is a great school locations mashup and a thoughtful way to help other school boards embarking on the same mission. In a way Rames has created his own API for others to use. (For those who aren't comfortable with the API a Google My Map could be substituted).

Rames goes on to say: "..This was an "after hours" project that took, maybe 3 working days to complete. Thanks for all the links Google Maps Mania!"

Related Posts:
Educational uses of Google Maps Part 1
Educational uses of Google Maps Part 2

11 great new US Google Maps Mashups!

Google Maps + Ed.gov = Map of all US accredited schools:

David Glasser has created a map based search tool called The EDU Map to help you "locate your future". It takes the database of schools found from the U.S. Department of Education website and mashes it up with Google Maps in a simple and useful mashup to help you find *any* accredited school in the US. It's actually quite surprising how many schools there are in a given city. For primary schools try this mashup. [Found via ProgrammableWeb]

Google My Maps Mashup: DC Taxi Zones:

[via]

Google Maps Mashup of US Tornado Paths - Just in time for the 2007 tornado season the University of Michigan AOSS department is offering a new website for exploring tornado paths. The paths of all tornadoes from 1950-2005 (so far) can be viewed. When you click on one of the tornado icons you will see a place to add information and you can "Fly the Path", which throws you into Google Earth for a 3D tour of the tornado's path showing nearby schools.

Mashup for weekend trips around major cities:

71Miles.com is a new domestic travel site that uses Google Maps to help you plan weekend trips. I'm really liking the use of the "Expand Map/Shrink Map" creating a really nice, seamless integration of Google Maps into the design of the main page. Google Maps is also used throughout the site for every destination that's covered. For now the site has launched for only Northern California but soon it will include Washington DC, New York and more, along with some "interesting uses of KML" apparently on the way as well.

More US-based Mashups:

• Yahoo! Personals + American Singles + JDate + Craigslist... + Google Maps... = DatesNearby.net
• 911 Truth Movement Map - Maps 911 "truth groups" from across the US.
• The Tour Map - Concert Tour Maps, Music Videos and Biographies. Current tours: Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani, Keith Urban, Rod Stewart and The Police.
• One Trick Towns in the USA - From http://www.mibazaar.com/
• Indeed.com adds GeoRSS location data to rss feeds - Indeed is a jobs search site that searches job sites, newspapers, associations and company career pages.
• HotJobs + (Other major jobs websites) + Google Maps = JobSearchMaps.com
• Harley Davidson Dealers + Google Maps = HogShop.com