Class Sizes on Google Maps

Global News has created a Google Map of Class Sizes in British Columbia. The map shows the class sizes in every public school in the province during the 2010-11 school year.

Red and green map markers are used on the map to show classes larger than 30 pupils and classes with fewer than 30. It is also possible to click on a school's map marker and view the average class size at different grade levels and overall for the whole school.

Finding Schools within Walking Distance

Discover BPS is a clever application that helps Boston parents find eligible schools for their children.

Once the user enters a Boston address into Discover BPS and the child's current grade a list of eligible schools is displayed. The schools can also be viewed on a Google Map. The map view allows the parents to see which of the eligible schools are within a 'walk-zone' of the child's home.

Discover BPS uses the open-source pgRouting with OpenStreetMap to derive the "walkshed" polygons which are then used to calculate which schools are within street walking distances. The walkable schools are then displayed on the map with green colored map markers.

Via: Google Geo Developers Blog

UK Google Maps Mashups Round-Up

The Bath Schools Map

The Bath Schools Map is designed to help parents choosing schools in Bath, in the UK, by displaying local schools and admissions and performance data on Google Maps.

In Bath parents are only allowed to indicate 3 schools as a preference for their children. Using the map it is possible to find the nearest ten schools and compare their academic mini-league tables on a range of metrics with a sidebar. This helps parents make school choices from a broad base of information rather than gearing towards a single metric.

GeoBus
Geobus is a nice little app that can find the nearest bus-stops for any location in the UK. Just enter a postcode or use the 'locate me' button and the nearest bus-stops to your current location will be displayed on a Google Map.

The application was developed as part of the recent Young Rewired State initiative.

England's Health Data Map

The Guardian has used Fusion Tables to map the latest Health Profiles data from the Department of Health and the Public Health Observatories.

Using the Google Map it is possible to compare a number of health indicators for regions in the UK. For example, it is possible to view child obesity throughout the UK or view where the most people die from smoking.

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Special Offers for Students

Transparent School Map

The Mapize team has created a Google Map of higher education institutions in and around Paris, displaying nearby venues with special offers.

If you click on any of the map markers you can view details about the selected educational institution including its full address. To help impoverished students stretch their limited funds each mapped institution also displays nearby Foursquare tips and special offers.

The Transparent School Map is Mapize's entry into Europe's Open Data Challenge.

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California School Funding on Google Maps

A California School Funding Map Tool

The California budget crisis means that Californian schools are facing drastic cuts to their budgets. Parents for Great Education has used Fusion Tables and the Google Maps API to create this map to show the funding of schools in the state.

The map allows you to look at funding for school districts, by State Senate District or by State Assembly District. The map is color-coded to show the school district funding per student. If you click on the map you can view the state cuts per student, estimated cuts per student and the total cuts to the school district.

California School District Funding

This Google Map shows school district funding in California. Using the map it is possible to view funding levels in each district and also view the school district's academic performance.

If you click on a school district you can view details of the funding over the last three years together with a projection of the funding next year assuming there is no tax extension in California.

The map also displays State Senate districts. If you click on a Senate district you can view the name and party affiliation of the district Senator and their winning margin.

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Worldwide Literacy Scores on Google Maps

Ekstra Bladet - PISA Scores

The Programme for International Student Assessment is a worldwide evaluation of 15-year-old school pupils' scholastic performance undertaken by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet has created a Fusion Table of the results and then used Google Gadgets to embed a map of the results. The map shows the results of the standardized test for literacy among 15-year-old. The study is based on a two-hour test and around half a million students in more than 70 countries participated in the study.

The darker the shade of green on the map the better the results in the test. If you mouse-over a country on the map the score for the country is displayed on the map.

Via: microformats.dk

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California Schools Ranked on Google Maps

API Scores

API Scores is a Google Map of California schools color coded by their state rank and Academic Performance Index score. Using the map parents and home buyers can explore the performance of their local schools.

The map can be filtered by type of school and rank and includes a location search bar to quickly find different areas of interest. Markers on the map show each school in that neighborhood and are color coded by school performance.

When you click on a school's map marker an information window opens displaying the performance results for that school. The two numbers represent the school's performance in statewide standardized testing.

The data for the map comes from the 2009 Base API Reports from the California Department of Education API page.

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The Simple Ideas Are Often the Best

Story Map

This morning I was reading EDTE.CH's account of the recent Google Maps Session at the Google Teacher Academy UK meeting. The post has a lot of interesting resources for using Google Maps in the classroom but I was very impressed with one particular idea. The idea is to use Google My Maps to create interactive narratives.

To create a Story Map you create a Google My Map with a starter map marker. The first map marker should include a simple start to your story. In the example given a map marker was placed on Westminster Bridge in London with this opening for the narrative:

It was exactly where they said it would be. The Thames swirled below me from a passing barge as I lifted it too my chest.

The bridge seemed quieter than usual, and yet I could feel eyes watching. Which way now? I needed to get moving. I had already spent too long.

I turned and pressed on.

Once you have placed your opening map marker students can then choose from a number of story paths drawn on the map using the line tool, adding their own map markers and continuing the story.

I wish I had thought of this idea when I was still an English teacher. It definitely gets an A+ from me and is on a par with the excellent Edte.ch Maths Maps

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Find a Class with Google Maps

TeachStreet

TeachStreet is an an easy way for teachers, schools, and students to connect and find one another. The site lets learners find classes that are right for them and in their neighbourhood. The aim is to help people find experts in their own neighbourhoods who can teach them face-to-face.

It is possible to search the TeachStreet listings by subject and by location. So, for example, it is possible to search for yoga lessons in New York. The results of a search are then displayed in list form and on a Google Map.

It is possible to refine your search results by distance and price. TeachStreet also allows users to rate and review listings so learners can see what other people think of a teacher / instructor / class before signing up to a class.

Via: Programmable Web

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School Exam Results on Google Maps

England Exam Results Map

This Google Map shows the GCSE exam results for 4,000 schools in England.If you click on any of the schools mapped you can view the average uncapped GCSE and equivalent point score per pupil in the school.

The buttons to the right of the map allow you to refine the schools shown on the map. You can refine the results to show the top performing or worst performing schools.

This map is another example of a Google Maps API V3 map displaying data from a Fusion Tables layer.

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