ZeeMaps - Creating Interactive Maps

Have you wanted students to create maps demonstrating their understanding of geographical concepts in locations throughout the world?

ZeeMaps is an online, iPad friendly, tool that allows someone to create interactive customized maps. Simply click "create a free map", enter in a title and a few more starting details about your map, and you are off and creating.




Start making your map interactive by adding markers, which could contain descriptions, photos, and video. You may also want to add map annotations, or colored regions.

Once finished, publish your map and obtain html code which can be used to embed the map onto a website or blog post.  Published maps are dynamic in that when you modify the map, it auto updates onto your website.  Below is an example I've started highlighting some tech rich environments in North East Oregon Classrooms. There are ads with the free version.


No account is needed to create a map if you plan on starting then finishing in one setting. However, to save and comeback later and make modifications, you will need to create an account. Accounts vary in pricing structure, as the free account is more than adequate for educational needs.

Ideas for students could be to create interactive maps demonstrating different ecological climates of the world, an interactive walking tour with photos and videos from historical stops from your town, or charting biographical locations of historical figures from a country. The list of projects is endless.

Free, easy to use, and adaptable for educational environments makes Zeemaps a nice tool for many opportunities.

8 Classroom Photo Sharing Ideas Using Yogile

Yogile is a simple to use clean photo sharing service perfect for the classroom.  To begin sign up for a free account, create an album, and choose between a couple of settings.  

Albums created under the free account status will be automatically deleted after 14 days. It's perfect as they clean up the photo projects. You just need to remember to download the photos you want to save.

Yogile provides a random URL to access your album, or you can create your own.  

With this URL others can send photos to the album using the created email address, or upload them directly from a computer.

Another nice setting perfect for the classroom is to approve all photos before they are added to the album. This is perfect if you have students emailing a variety of photos for a particular assigned task.

There are no ties to social media, so you aren't playing photo roulette with "suggested" photos appearing on the webpage while you open the website in front of your classroom.

Ideas of how you can implement a shared photo album in your classroom:

1. Primary students can use iPod Touch's or iPads to take pictures of items that begin with letters of the alphabet and email those photos to a shared album.  It's best if the teacher types the email address the first time so that the email auto pops up for all following emails on an iDevice.  Other topics could include different shapes, different colors, or different sets of numbers.
2. Students could take pictures while on a field trip and upload their photos to a shared folder.
3. Students can email photos of whatever they want, and at the end of the week students can use the photos as writing prompts.
4. Have students take and share selfies to be used during class projects.
5. Students working on projects can have people from other parts of the world take and email photos into one shared folder, rather than have them arrive in many different emails.
6. Keep a photo record of different lab experiments conducted by students from various periods or classes in a district to be compared with each other at the completion of a unit.
7. Students can demonstrate an understanding of a vocabulary word by taking photo of them or someone "doing" the word, then store the photos in a shared folder to be reviewed later.
8. Have students take pictures of iconic images around town, like buildings, parks, murals or sculptures.  Then use a shared folder to place them all in one location accessible by anyone in class.

Please suggest other ideas how you could use a shared photo album with your class.

Free Image Search with Google

It's become habit for many of us to turn to Google when searching for content or researching a topic of interest.  Our habits extend to our students, so often times we encourage students to use Google.  Although there are several other options which I'll address in future posts, I want to write about how to search Google images for "Free to use and share" pictures.

I tend to go to Google images and do an initial search first.  After the initial search, find the gear button, for settings, and click into Advanced Search.  Below is my initial search on Whales.

Scroll to the bottom and find Usage Rights. The default is "not filtered by license" and change it to "free to use or share".

Then click the Advanced Search button.

When you continue to search, be sure you see LABELED FOR REUSE.

Look for future posts on other options, such as using Flickr, Pic4learning, and other sites.  Though the best resource is and will always be if you take your own pictures.

Simple CC Flickr Search

Often times I'm working with teachers wanting students to find images online regarding a project of some type. Sure, many of us migrate to Google Images, but I always say "you can't necessarily use those if you plan to post your projects online".

Simple CC flickr Search is a nice search engine that searches for creative commons flick photos, with a list of CC licenses that apply by each image. There are almost 1400 pages plum full of nearly 70,000 images. A nice addition when teaching students about proper etiquette regarding images and copyright materials.

Google Image SlideShow

Do you need a quick slide show, in a hurry, but don't have time to put it together? Or want to view several photos pertaining to a topic of classroom interest? Try Google Image Slide Show. Type in your search, be patient, and your slide show will begin shortly with full screen, clear, images.

Seems as though simple searches worked fine, as I tried Tiger and got, well, just tigers. Nope, I did not get Detroit Tigers, Tiger Woods, or other Tiger related content. Be sure to check out Advanced search for more options. And as always with images, recommended to test before displaying if you are unsure.

Smithsonian Wild

The Smithsonian Wild has put together a collection of images acquired from many webcams around the world capturing animal photos in their natural habitat. Images can be searched by animal group or by animal name, either scientific or common. A great resource when teaching habitat and animals, enjoyed by students.