Quick AAG review
Apr 28, 2010 @ 3:32 PM by Britta Ricker -- game geoweb google earth review web2.0I was fortunate enough to attend and present at the AAG conference (and meet Kumiko’s new iPad) in Washington DC earlier this month. The AAG is always a great time to be introduced to new ideas, reconnect with old friends and put faces with names. The problem with the AAG is that it is sooooooo BIG! I never feel like I have been to enough talks. I am only going to blog about a few here.
In no particular order, I will first report on the session titled: Geovisualization, Geovisual Analytics, Cognition, Behavior and Representation I: Navigation and Spatial Cognition organized by Kirk Goldsberry and Sara Fabrikant (note: I got here late, it started at 8am). I was really interested in Sandra Metoyer’s talk. In short, she did a study testing interactions among geovisualization tools to measure spatial thinking and student learning. She found that interactive web based maps really helped students learn about complex spatial issues. Horray!
Another session that I found very stimulating was: Global Dialogues for Emerging Science & Technology Africa: Results of two years of collaboration between US Department of State, AAG, and EIS-AFRICA
This panel was chaired by Lee R. Schwartz – who holds the title THE GEOGRAPHER OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! What a title! He is the head geographer for the U.S. Department of State. I was interested in attending this talk because it seems that Mr. Schwatz has his finger on the pulse of Neogeography and Web 2.0 and is trying to think of new ways that these tools can be used to help in the developing world. At the AAG last year I was fortunate enough to talk to him about his interests in incorporating new geospatial tools and software for a more inclusive process with state department work. Therefore when I saw this panel I was very excited to see what Mr. Schwartz has been doing! It seems like he is teaming with key players and they were all there to present their initiatives.
Panelists included:
Nathan Heard - U.S. Department of State
Charles Sebukeera - United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP)
Rebecca Moore - Google Earth Outreach (my personal hero! Read more about her and Google Earth Outreach to see why)
Carrie Stokes - USAID
Carmelle J. Terborgh - Federal/Global Affairs Team Lead, ESRI
Discussant(s):
Robert Swap - University of Virginia
I understand that panelists had a very limited time to present, but it seemed each shared a laundry list of projects that they were working on without actually explaining any of them in detail. They made it clear that they were “training the trainers” and not simply putting expats in Africa to do the job. Each speaker announced the need for a working organized Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) but they did not address how they were developing one and if Africans were involved in this the process. I did ask at the end and I was told they were going to discuss that in the next panel and made reference to the UN. This to me sounds like a top down approach to SDI development and participatory GIS. No one used the term public participatory GIS. There were very few academics in the room (I know this because they passed around a sign in sheet). Despite these minor let downs it was still great to see ESRI, Google Earth and the government working together to use their expertise and valuable tools to help Africa with issues such as public health, sustainable development, water resources management and a host of other vital challenges facing the African content.
Finally, my session was titled: Participatory Governance via Web 2.0 II and was organized by Dr. Renee Sieber of McGill University. There were several exciting panelist sharing their work harnessing the Geoweb for community engagement. All of the presenters were associated with the Participatory Geoweb research group funded by GEOIDE and the Canadian Government. My talk was titled: The potential for location-based services and serious gaming to enhance participatory governance and education. See my slides here.
iPad Apps Review, Part 1
Apr 20, 2010 @ 2:55 PM by Kumiko Yamazaki -- apple apps ipad reviewWhile all of you were keeping busy at the AAGs in DC, I was in the office glued to the new love of my life, the glorious iPad!! I’ve already downloaded some geo-related apps so here’s a brief summary of each:
1. National Geographic World Atlas HD ($1.99)
Gizmodo recently called this “$2 of app spam” and it’s pretty accurate, albeit a little harsh. You receive several of their world maps, basic country info, and a search feature that plots the location on the map. It’s not jaw-dropping but it looks nice and runs ok (crashes every now and then). However at $2 and a brand like National Geographic, you just expect wayyy more than the few searchable world maps they provide. The free native Google Maps app will do fine for almost everyone.
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2. The World Factbook for iPad ($1.99)
This is the entire CIA World Factbook packaged offline. It offers all their country maps, locator maps, flags, and more information than you’ll ever need on a particular country. It’s good reference material and the best of all world factbooks currently available.
Just to be nitpicky, I’m going to point out the flags on the left menu are all incorrectly shown as having the same dimensions.
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3. Geo Hangman HD ($0.99)
BIG! SHINY! BUTTONS!! Geo Hangman looks beautiful and is a simple hangman game where each correct answer is a country. Once you’ve guessed correctly, you’re also informed the capital of the country and have the option of viewing its location on a map.
Some students may complain about the lack of a scoring system, but it does at least have educational value.. unlike some mindless games I’m officially (shamefully) addicted to!
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4. World Atlas for iPad ($0.99)
This app does nothing but display a single general reference map for each country. These shaded relief CIA maps can all be found on the Perry Castañeda Map Collection website. Do not buy.
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5. Carta Compact Atlas HD, Bible Maps ($4.99)
Over 30 Bible maps done well with traditional cartographic styles. Unfortunately, this app has zero interactivity other than pan/zoom and is priced too high.
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What does everyone think? I think we can all agree that no ‘killer app’ has been developed yet. Personally, I’d like to see more geography games that are engaging to both students and adults - am I being selfish? :) I’d also like to continue reviewing iPad apps in the future so I hope you enjoyed this first installment!
Mapkist Earth (Prototype)
Apr 9, 2010 @ 10:00 AM by Kumiko Yamazaki -- atlas map openlayersI believe it’s time we show off our latest map creation: Mapkist Earth!!
Inspired by CEC’s North American Environment Atlas, Mapkist Earth is a prototype atlas with KML interactivity and custom tiles built on the OpenLayers platform. It currently shows Earth’s population density for the past, present and future (1950, 2010, 2050).
Each data layer consists of both map tiles and KML files which preserves the visual appeal of traditional cartography and adds the interactivity that is expected of web-based maps.
I’ve also started to look into Amazon S3 and their CloudFront service for faster rendering of map tiles. Not sure if this is the solution I need but it might be worth a try - I know how impatient internet users can be :)
Future plans for Mapkist Earth involve expanding it to become a full fledged educational atlas in this format following National Geography Standards. Topics covered will range from the characteristics and spatial distribution of the Earth’s environment to the cultural mosaics of human life!
Don’t forget to let us know what you think so far, thanks!
Kumiko Yamazaki: kyamazaki@mapkist.com