Using mashups in education

As ever the wonderful Educause site have produced a succinct guide, this time focusing on mapping mashups.

Basically a website that combines information from more than one source to create a unique website, i.e. a unique experience. One of the more common example of a mashup is a mapped mashup which involves geo location data (maps).

Usually this involves using data from Google Maps. Jeffrey Branzburg in his article, Use Google Maps Mashups in K-12 Education (view), describes an example in which data from google maps has been combined with data provided by the U.S. Geological Survey to show earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or greater in the past seven days, (click the map markers for more detail). His suggested educational uses are: “study patterns, then correlate them with plate tectonics and faults”.

* View Google Maps
* view mashup of Geo data and Google maps

Another example is found here In this case Google Maps has been combined with a photo sharing service.

Can anyone find anymore examples?

Educause outline an example of need and use: “As part of a large undergraduate history course he teaches about World War II, Dr. Martinez developed a mapping mashup that he introduces to the 150 students at the beginning of the semester. The mashup,
which works with Google maps, represents major events leading up to and during the war. Fundamentally, it’s a map, he explains, showing them on a projection screen that it works very much like the online mapping tools students regularly use. The map covers virtually the entire globe, and users can move around the world, zooming in and out, showing the area of search as a map, satellite images, or satellite images with maps, dates, and events superimposed.”.

“…Dr. Martinez finds over the semester that students are answering many of their own questions—and asking him more thoughtful ones—than in previous semesters because the maps integrate content and context.”.

And in terms of where it going an obvious direction is combination with geotagged photos loaded on to Flickr. In my context as a geology undergraduate I could see its use in terms of providing contextual information with regards to topography at given locations. Information such as images together with interpretations can be associated with specific points.

Educause suggest grander implications: “Mapping mashups provide a means for placing data and class lessons into a physical context. For some students, this step moves an otherwise abstract concept into the real world, helping them see patterns and movements that explain ideas and their significance.”.

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