Global Learning Programme now underway

The Global Learning Programme, which involves the GA and a range of other organisations is now underway, and a new page has been added to the GA website.

The resources include two online courses on FOOD that I wrote while working for the GA.

A huge pity that this was delayed by the coalition government, as I would now be working on this... ah well..

Mission:Explore Summer Camp is coming....

At Mission:Explore, we're planning a range of activities through the summer, and the webpage for our SUMMER CAMP has just gone live.

The Mission:Explore online Summer Camp is going to be 100 days of warped adventures, wild activities and daring challenges. Join the Summer Camp community and from June 1st you will be sent daily missions to explore the great outdoors, no matter where in the world you are.

Carefully crafted by our camp challengers, you will be sent missions to attempt by National Geographic, National Parks, the RSPB, Scouts, John Muir and other exploration experts.

Complete the daring missions outdoors and you will develop your expertise in Mission:Exploring and discover new things about yourself and the world around you. You'll have some random fun and be able to pick up some rewards too.

Visit the page, and see our awesome countdown clock, and check out the Summer Camp challengers that have been confirmed so far...

It's going to be a summer to remember...

Apps and Food

A nice idea to explore / discuss with relation to Geographies of Food


Food Fight - Fight against food waste from Christoffer Ahlen on Vimeo.

Digimap for Schools MapStream resources

At the start of the year I finished off a project with EDINA, who operate the Digimap for Schools MapStream service, in association with the Ordnance Survey.
This is a little like the Digimap for Schools tool, but without the tools...
Subscribers to MapStream will find that they have access to the Ordnance Survey's mapping at the same scale as Digimap, but the difference is that they stream them into their own GIS software using a WMS (web mapping service) - this works with open-source options such as Quantum GIS, but also ArcGIS and even Google Earth (I was amazed when I first saw this in action...)

One advantage of this option is that the maps are streamed to your GIS as an extra layer, so there is no data storage / installation issue. Having said that, you need a reliable and fairly fast internet connection if you want the maps of course. The cost is much cheaper than Digimap, but you need to use the tools in your GIS client, rather than the ones provided by Digimap. This may require extra time on training how to use your chosen GIS package.

If you head over to the site, you will now find that there are the first of what will be a series of educational materials for teachers, available for free download. These are particularly designed for subscribers to the MapStream service.
I wrote the materials, the cover of one is pictured to the right....
Check them out.
Subscription is just £35 a year for a primary school and £50 for a secondary school.

I will be referring to this, as well as other mapping options in my GA CPD days which will take place in Birmingham at the end of May and London at the start of June.

Secondary Phase Committee Twitter feed...

Back in 2004, I joined the GA's Secondary Phase Committee.

It was a big learning experience for me. At the time, I was one of the few members who was a teacher. I shared my website: Geography Pages at the first meeting, and slowly got a little more confident being a member of such a group. It led me to a few projects where I was able to develop confidence in the fact that I had something worth saying... I got involved in the production of a new atlas, and made lots of new friends.

When I joined the GA in 2008, I gave up my place on the committee, as there is always a waiting list.

You can now sign up to follow the SPC on Twitter. This will tell you about what we get up to, and also hear about our workshops that we led at the GA conference.

There were three workshops that we were involved in - one advantage of being a member is that you are guaranteed a spot on the conference programme.
Here's our recent 'team photo' in the august surroundings of the October Gallery in London.

Book on a Gapminder Webinar

I've just taken part in an excellent webinar led by Bob Lang to outline ideas for how to use the Gapminder tool in the geography classroom.

I learned several new things, even though I've been using Gapminder since it first appeared.

The new education materials, the first of a batch, have now been released. Try the population activities and download some useful lesson materials free of charge. These would be very timely for revision on population issues.

There are more chances to take part in the webinar next week - no charge:

Monday 15th April 4-5pm UK time

Wednesday 17th April at 4-5pm UK time

Wednesday 17th April at 10-11pm UK time 

Go HERE and use the CONTACT tab to book a place - well worth an hour of your evening.

Dan Raven Ellison's TEDx Talk

Dan Raven Ellison, my friend and Geography Collective / Mission:Explore / Explorer HQ colleague was in Switzerland last month doing a TEDx talk on the theme of exploring...

This is well worth watching... Several ideas to use straight away.... particularly the idea of 'polar exploration'.

Geography Awareness Week 2013 - Mission:Explore section...

The Geography Awareness Week, which is organised by the Geographical Association takes place in June 2013.
The materials have now been made available on the GA website as a PDF download (click the link to download the materials as a PDF)

There's a useful MISSION EXPLORE section at the end of the booklet which I wrote, and I've also written some Webwatch links for each of the other sections.

GA Conference 2013 - the reports....

There are 18 posts appearing over on the Living Geography blog...

This was a great conference...