Sunday, July 21, 2013

Trains, planes, ships and satellites!


Image above: The Satellite view of the ships shown on the Marine Traffic site.

Related links
Geogaction
Spatialworlds website
Australian Geography Teachers' Association website
'Towards a National Geography Curriculum' project website
Humsteach blog

GeogSplace blog  

Geographical thinking Scoop.it  
Spatial literacy Scoop.it  
History and geography Scoop.it 
Spatial Education and technology Scoop.it   

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manning@chariot.net.au



They still can take ones breath away: the wonder of spatial technology!
I continue to be amazed by the capacity of spatial technologies to be used for tracking objects on a range of scales in real time. They still have the ability to take the breath away of those uninitiated in the world of spatial technology (now the wonder of Google Earth is just met with familiarity and little awe). I still hear "wow" from workshop participants when the latest tracking sites are demonstrated. These sites are just the tip of the iceberg when one considers the power of spatial technology to log into the GPS capabilities of planes, trains, cars/trucks and ships. These sites are fantastic as a resource to elucidate the concepts of interconnection and space in the Australian Curriculum: Geography. I thought in this posting I would just list several of these fantastic sites and leave it to you to play and become familiar with them and consider their capacity in the classroom to be used as a resource. Increasingly these types of sites are becoming part of the mobile technologies associated with the apps available for use on Ipads and Iphone. However, for the classroom with only access to computer stations, these sites are still great options. If your students have got Ipads and Iphones, the growth in this area of mobile apps is staggering and will play a huge role in the teaching of geography in the classroom in the future. If you know of other sites tracking (tracking whatever, somewhere) don't hesitate to add a comment to this posting. Some sites I do discover while trawling the Internet but most  sites I showcase on Spatialworlds have been handed on to me from colleagues or through on-line forums.

All of the sites below show how real-time interactive maps (amost real-time anyway) shows how mapping and spatial thinking can promote and lead towards better logistics and improved transportation on the international and intra-national scales.   The real-time updates and schedules shows that social media and mobile devices are promoting greater innovation in this rapidly expanding area of technology.

Site 1: Planefinder


 This site also tracks ships by clicking on the Ships tab.


Site 2:  Marine traffic

Site 3: Trains in Spain




Site 4: Tracking satellites 

 
 For an overview of many of these sites go to the Pinkfroot site

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