Batchgeo Part 2

Using a shared document in Google Drive completed by all in my class along with the batch geo site, I was able to create a map detailing all of our locations in the northern Virginia area. In this activity I edited a document that is shared by everyone in our class. Once we had all of our data, I was able to cut and paste that information into the batchgeo website and produce a map that is saved on their site. I was sent an email with the URL, and I am ready to share. My map: My Map

In this lesson I learned about another easy to use tool that is free. I keep a document of all of the sites that I find along with a brief description of the site. This is an easy document for me to then use when planning lesson or fielding questions from students. I am a strong believe that I do not need to worry about knowing all of the answers for my students, but rather knowing how to find the answer and teaching the skill of finding the answer to the student. I teach my class in a very cooperative manner where students constantly interrupt the “lecture” to interject questions, their views, or their experiences. We are forever looking online using my list. The more tools I have available to us as a group, the more we all learn. So, another tool has been added.

This website is another site that I can use directly with my students. Everything I do with students is geared toward the student leaving public education and taking concrete steps toward adulthood in our society. One of those steps is to get a first job. When looking for a job a very important consideration is location. This would be any easy way for my students to search for open positions in the community, map the locations of those openings, and evaluate which locations the student could easily reach. This gives a clear visual to the student to help in the evaluation rather than a list. I believe education relies too heavily on words and forgets how much information is conveyed in a picture/image. The 21^st century learner does not spend their time outside of the classroom in a text only world; the classroom should not be one either!

The ISTE NETS T standard that is applicable to me for this lesson is developing digital age learning experiences and modeling digital age work and learning. It is very important to customize learning activities for students and to give them digital age experiences that can be taken outside of a classroom exercise. Using this website will do that by allowing them to display job locations on their computer screen for easy evaluation of location relative to where they live. This is another example of showing  students how a technology would be useful to them.