Darren Bailey from the Ordnance Survey Education Team will continue his travels running twilight training sessions on using Digimap for Schools. Â Up coming dates in February are:
Rivington –Â 10/02/2016
Chorley –Â 11/02/2016
London –Â 22/02/2016
Andover –Â 23/02/2016
Contact Darren for more details on location and time – Darren.Bailey@os.uk
Darren Bailey from the Education Team at Ordnance Survey will be out and about through October running CPD sessions which include training in Digimap for Schools. Â Dates and locations are:
6/10 Newham
13/10 Dorking
14/10 Wigan
15/10 Oswestry
19/10 Islington
If you’d like to find out more about attending, please contact Darren –Â Darren.Bailey@os.uk
Darren Bailey from the Ordnance Survey Education Team has a few CPD events coming up. Â Darren’s event provide a great introduction to Digimap for Schools and using OS mapping in primary schools. Â If you’d like to attend or find out more details, please contact Darren –Â Darren.Bailey@os.uk
Epsom –Â 21/09/2015
Southampton –Â 25/09/2015
Addlestone –Â 29/09/2015
Darren from the Ordnance Survey education team is continuing his CPD training courses with a packed schedule throughout June. Dates and locations coming up are:
June 1 Seaham
June 2 Berwick upon Tweed
June 3 Gosforth
June 8-9-10 – Surrey primary schools network
June 17 Enfield
June 22 Newham
June 24 Enfield
June 25 Worthing
June 29 Havering
If you’d like to attend or have any questions about the courses, please contact Darren Darren.Bailey@os.uk
Darren Bailey from Ordnance Survey’s Education Team continues his travels around England and Wales running free CPD sessions throughout May. Upcoming dates and locations are:
05/05/2015 Southall
06/05/2015 Enfield
13/05/2015 Southport
15/05/2015 Notting Hill Gate
20/05/2015 RGS London
If you would like to attend or find out more information, please email Darren: Darren.Bailey@os.uk
Darren Bailey from Ordnance Survey has a number of twilight sessions coming up this month for primary school teachers. Â So if you’re looking to find out more about Digimap for Schools or some hints and tips on how to make the most of your subscription, then get along to one of Darren’s sessions.
21/04/2015 Newham
22/04/2015 Newham
27/04/2015 Wandsworth
28/04/2015 Southampton
29/04/2015 Accrington
If you’re interested in attending or finding out more, please contact Darren -Â Darren.Bailey@os.uk. Sessions are free to attend.
On Thursday 13th June we ran our very first Digimap for Schools webinar. While we had a few sounds issues (which we will make sure are resolved for next time), the session was found to be reasonably useful by most of the 55 participants. Before commencing our virtual tour of Digimap for Schools, we asked participants to gauge their level of confidence when using Digimap for Schools in the classroom. While most suggested reasonable confidence when using the service, a few indicated anxiety about using the service in the classroom. We were really pleased to see those teachers in particular participating as our aim of the day was to increase confidence and possibly share a few ideas. We went for a topical theme and gave a tour of the service using Andy Murray’s upcoming Wimbledon appearance as our theme. We digitized over centre court, added a photo of Andy holding up a cup and created a 0.5km buffer around centre court to identify which streets will hear the crowd roar if Andy fulfills our hopes on finals day! We followed the virtual tour with a Q&A session which was particularly useful for us here at EDINA:
Q: Is it possible to automatically colour a building to identify land use?
A: Regrettably no. Because the background maps are images only, you need to digitize the building using the polygon tool changing fill colour as you go.
Q: Can I delete saved maps?
A: The only way to do that currently is to contact edina@ed.ac.uk and tell us which maps to delete. The ability to delete maps was asked frequently so we will be looking at how to deliver that functionality to you so it can be done locally by yourselves.
Q: Can I create subfolders of maps for different classes?
A: No, however you can filter/order maps according to entries in the class field. Again this question was asked by many so we will be looking at delivering this functionality.
Q: Will the annual password change purge all my saved maps?
A: No, your saved maps will be unaffected by the password change.
Q: Can I preview my map before generating a pdf?
A: No not yet but we already have on our development path the aim to have that function is place for you returning after the summer break so that before the pdf, jpg or png are generated you will be able to see the extent the map will cover in the map window and be able to move that around.
Q: Can I change the photo size on the map?
A: You can click once on the photo and see a larger version but you cannot change the size of the photo on the map itself. This was asked for several times so we will look into offering this flexibility.
Q: Grid reference points – can I save them and/or add multiple ones?
A: No the grid reference tool is not an annotation you add to the map, it is a temporary response to a map click only. There was interest in multiple grid references so we will look into the feasibility of this.
Q: Can the buffer tool be used along a line?
A: No it works on a single click only. However we could extend the buffer tool to work on digitized line annotations also. Again, we’ll look into the feasibility of doing this.
Q: Can children access Digimap for Schools from home?
A: Yes all they need is internet access and a browser and they can use the school login to access the service from home.
Q: Can you offer a route card type function for Duke of Edinburgh activities?
A: That’s not on our immediate development plan but it’s one to keep in mind.
Q: Can I add multiple markers by entering postcodes?
A: Not currently and it’s not on our immediate development path although we have considered a gpx upload function. We’re not sure if there’s huge demand for this.
Q: Is there a file size limit on the photo upload tool?
A: Yes, the file limit is 10MB per image.
Q: A student friendly summary sheet would be helpful
A: A user guide written by Mark Williams (age 14) is available http://digimapforschools.edina.ac.uk/cosmo/home?page=resources
Q: Can charts from Excel be imported onto the map?
A: Yes. If you save your Excel chart as a picture and select the jpeg option, it will be in a format that the Add Photo tool will be happy to accept.
Q: Is there a Digimap for Schools app?
A: No there’s not an app but the service has been optimized to work on Safari browsers on iPads.
Q: Can you enter a grid reference range and see the map within that area? I’m thinking about recreating maps from exams.
A: Not really but if you enter the superset grid reference into the search box you will be taken to that grid reference. Darren from Ordnance Survey also added Ordnance Survey are in discussions with Examination Boards exploring the possibility of obtaining past paper extracts that could be integrated within the service.
Q: Will the service extend beyond the UK in the future?
A: Maybe if demand exists!
Q: Is there any way of showing Geological information on a map?
A: If you have a photograph or an image in jpeg format then yes it can be added to the map. There is of course also a wealth of digital geological data that the British Geological Society makes available. Adding this geological data to Digimap for Schools is something we have considered but haven’t detected as much interest in compared to say e.g. historical data and/or aerial photography.
Other discussion points included a general interest in MapStream (http://mapstream.edina.ac.uk) EDINA’s web mapping service for use in desktop GIS. There seemed to be a bit of interest in MapStream and even a request for a dedicated webinar. Prior to deciding to subscribe to MapStream a school needs to decide upon a desktop GIS to use the service in, but we are happy to run a webinar demonstrating MapStream in a variety of desktop GIS. Email edina@ed.ac.uk if you are interested in a MapStream webinar, we’d love to hear from you! We had several schools identify problems with losing annotations from saved maps. We’re actively working to identify what’s causing this intermittent problem. Again if you’ve experienced lost annotations please contact us at edina@ed.ac.uk because we really need as much evidence as possible to resolve this problem.
We wrapped up the session asking if the webinar had been useful, over half of participants indicated it had, which was great to hear:
‘thank you very much, we have found this very useful’
‘thank you very much – has really helped to clarify some points’
‘accessed this webinar from home via iPad without any problems – just had to download an app to open the webinar’
‘I think this is a really good way of sharing information and it is nice to know I’m not the only person sitting in my room after school! thank you’
‘we love digimap’
‘thank you for your help today. If you offer further webinars I would be interested in attending’
‘Superb session. Thanks’
‘Use digimaps a lot in school with different year groups. thanks’
We will be making a video of the session available very soon. Watch this space!
Thanks to Gareth Rogers and Andrew McGeown for hosting the latest two teacher training events.
Another two really good training sessions, and the first chance to show the new photograph tool after its release.
There are five more events this month at;
Rochford – 13 Feb
Benfleet – 14 Feb
Lancaster – 26 Feb
Blackpool – 27 Feb
Kendal – 28 Feb
If you are interested in coming along – email darren.bailey@ordnancesurvey.co.uk
Darren Bailey and Ken Lacey from Ordnance Survey have hit the road with a series of free geography teacher training events for schools around the country. Terrible weather did not prevent almost everyone reaching the first two venues in Worcester and Ross on Wye where teachers enjoyed the chance of hands-on time with Digimaps for Schools.
“Digimap looks amazing“
“Great for Key Stage 2”
“Lovely to have resources and instructions to take home”
Each two hour sessions is run by Darren or Ken and most start at 4pm. Training is hosted by a lead school who invite primary and secondary geography teachers from around the area to come along. Some courses are completely full, but if you are a geography teacher in the following areas it may be worth asking Darren if there are any spare places. Dates are as follows:
05/12/2012 Frome BA11 4JF
12/12/2012 Bury BL9 0TS
07/01/2013 Chipping Norton OX7 5DY
08/01/2013 St Ives PE27 6RR
09/01/2013 Leicester LE4 0FJ
15/01/2013 Bromley BR2 8HZ
16/01/2013 Sevenoaks TN15 7RD
17/01/2013 Watford WD18 0AE
22/01/2013 Alfreton DE55 1AE
23/01/2013 Lincoln LN1 3SP
Would your school be interested in hosting a training session in the future? If you think you can get 20 or more geography teachers together, and can provide a suitable IT room, contact Darren Bailey at the Ordnance Survey to find out more. darren.bailey@ordnancesurvey.co.uk