Geotagging

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Geotagging Geocaching with your handheld
device The educational potential

• IS Exec Nov 2007
• Andy Ramsden
• LTSS
• andy.ramsden_at_bristol.ac.uk

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The turning point handsets
3
Pele backs England World Cup bid !
It was recently announced that Pele has backed
Englands bid for the 2018 Football World Cup. Do
you think

• England will definitely be award it
• Yes they should do, but Im slightly anxious
  about Peru
• Not a chance
• I really dont care

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something about you?
5
Do you own a mobile device which is GPS enabled?

• Yes
• No

6
If you own a device with GPS have you used the
GPS on your device?

• Yes
• No

7
Have you ever (knowingly) geotagged an image?

• Yes
• No

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Have you got any idea what geotagging is?

• Yes
• No

9
How confident are you at being able to describe
what geocaching is?

• Very confident
• Ill be able to give it a good go
• Im not very confident
• I have absolutely no idea

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On a scale of 1 to 5 (five indicating you are
seriously excited by the thought), if I say, lets
talk geotagging images using GPS on your
handheld device what number would you select?

• 1 no interest at all
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5. Seriously excited

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OK, so what are my aims?

• Introduce geotagging geocaching
• Start to make connections between geotagging /
  geocahing and their potential use in education
• Ask questions no answers
• Oh yes, also, introduce you to evs ?

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what is geotagging?

• Geotagging, sometimes referred to as Geocoding,
  is the process of adding geographical
  identification metadata to various media such as
  websites, RSS feeds, or images. This data usually
  consists of latitude and longitude coordinates,
  though it can also include altitude and place
  names.
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geotagging

http//www.flickr.com/photos/jamesuk/228155771/
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How might I use this in teaching and learning
(safely inside the box)?

• Fieldwork managing images
• Trace where I have been
• Attach image data to specific points on the
  trace
• Share with colleagues

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A great benefit for field based work
http//www.flickr.com/photos/urbanmkr/303890269/
Yes, but how ? http//www.mobile-learning.blog-c
ity.com/read/locationaware.htm
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Time to leave the comfort zone Geocaching
Geocaching is an outdoor treasure-hunting game in
which the participants use a Global Positioning
System (GPS) receiver or other navigational
techniques to hide and seek containers (called
"geocaches" or "caches") anywhere in the world. A
typical cache is a small waterproof container
containing a logbook and "treasure," usually toys
or trinkets of little value. Today, well over
440,000 geocaches are registered on various
websites devoted to the sport. Geocaches are
currently placed in 222 countries around the
world and on all seven continents, including
Antarctica. http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocach
ing
Did you know, there are 1874 caches within 50
miles of BS10 5EJ!
http//www.flickr.com/photos/17424601_at_N00/20019676
1
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Let someone else explain it to you
Geocaching From the web to the
woods http//www.youtube.com/watch?vAD7SF-Axvyg
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How might I use this in teaching and learning?
(thinking outside the box)?
Geocaching at the Institute of Paasikivi New
ways of Teaching GPS Technology Basics of
Orientation in Local Geography. Ihamaki (2007)
ICTA Conference
Great learning activity for students, allowing
them to improve their skills in critical
thinking, journalism, photography, media
technology and geography.

• Students developed geocaching material for
  others
• Involved a multicache.
• The cache created by the students also contained
  exercises

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How might I use this in teaching and learning?
(thinking way outside the box)?
http//sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file/c/a/20
07/03/10/MNGDGOJ2OR1.DTL

• School in California, buried keychain
  (geocache), with a travel bug Anchorage, Alaska
• It travelled 4,780 miles, through 21 geocache
  sites, took over two years.
• Followed it on the computer
• Finished up being carried by one of the
  competitors in Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in
  Alaska

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How confident are you at being able to describe
what geocaching is?

• Very confident
• Confident
• Neutral
• Not very confident
• I have no idea

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To conclude and across to the floor

• Technologies are becoming more widely available.
• Application to UK HE still needs significant
  work along way from the mainstream.