This past Sunday, I went to New York City for the first time in my life. I was there for three days for software training with a vendor the Admissions Offices works with. I arrived at noon on Sunday, and had the first day to myself. The map activity listed below shows my walking path, and photos of what I saw. If you are interested in seeing more (I took a ton of photos, and have yet to caption them all) visit my Picasa Galleries:
- Day 1, Sunday, October 28 – Highlights: Times Square, Central Park, Empire State Building
- Day 2, Monday, October 29 – Highlights: NYC Public Library Interior, Grand Central Station, City Hall, Ground Zero
- Day 3, Tuesday, October 30 – Highlights: Today Show, Finalists in Ms. Horrorfest Competition Finalists
Google Maps Activity: My Trip to New York City
(note: for viewing photos and descriptions of each location it is HIGHLY recommended that you click on View Larger Map)
View Larger Map
How the map creation lesson would be used in a course
Students would be given an assignment to create a map showing photos of a recent vacation or trip they had been on. The participants would be encouraged to explore how digital story telling could be utilized with maps, photos, text, and video. My New York City trip would serve as an example of what the finished project might look like. Outcomes from the activity would include increased technology literacy, writing/narrative skills development, and public speaking/sharing abilities (students would present an overview of their trip/map to peers).
Wow! Your map is really cool Michael. How did you get it to post 3-D like that with the buildings? I liked how you linked your pictures as well. Nice job!
In Google maps, for most of the major cities (San Fran, Detroit, Chicago, NYC) if you zoom in close enough, you will be able to see the basic 3-D models of the buildings. I think they are importing this information from the 3D modeled buildings in Google Earth.
I really liked the idea of adding the pictures to the map and the concept of outlining your trip. For my students I could even have them plan out a tour of a German/Spanish speaking city or country with photos of key places one might like to visit.