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Richard Allaway

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About Richard Allaway

  • Birthday 04/23/1978

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  • Website URL
    http://www.geographyalltheway.com/

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  • Location
    Toulouse, France.

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  1. France launched their version of Google Earth yesterday - I'm still trying to track it down and will post details as soon as I do. Rich
  2. What you download is just an application that handles the data from the Google Earth servers. If you were to download the whole thing - data for the whole globe it would be a monster. That is why it only runs on a computer attached to the web. You can check for updates to the application: Help > Check for Updates Online. It is worth checking an area every couple of months as Google Earth is in the process of updating things. Another option is to have a look at 'Local Live' - the Microsoft competition to Google Earth which has some excellent aerial photography. You can read more about it here: http://www.geographyforum.net/index.php?showtopic=340 Rich
  3. Google Earth was presented by both Russel Tarr and myself, in Toulouse. I focused on the 'What is Google Earth?' and 'How do I ... ?' questions, where as Russel focused upon the application of Google Earth in History Education. What is Google Earth? Google Earth is a GIS (Geographical Information System) in that it is a way of creating, storing, analyzing and managing spatial data and associated attributes. It's a smart globe! Placemarks - Basics Placing Placemarks Press Ctrl + N or click the icon that looks like a map-pin in the bottom right hand corner of the Google Earth screen. Adding Descriptions to your Placemarks You can change the Name of your placemark by typing in the Name box. Text can be entered into the Description box during the creation of a Placemark or by right clicking over a Placemark and then choosing Edit. The text you type will then appear in the Placemark window. These windows pop-up when you click on a Placemark. Images and other objects can be entered into these window using html - more on this later. Saving and Sending Placemarks If you Right Click over a Placemark you are given a number of options. It is from here that you can save or email a single placemark. Placemarks - Advanced Snapshot View By default the view that Google Earth generates of a Placemark is from directly above. This kind of view can have it's limitations. You can alter the view of a Placemark using the controls at the bottom of the Google Earth screen. Once you have the desired view, Right Click then click 'Snapshot View'. This action saves the view of that Placemark within the Placemarks properties. Adding Images, Videos, Sound Files ... To enter images etc into your Placemark Window you need to use some simple html code. Many of the necessary codes can be found on this web page. If you are going to share your Placemarks and Tours through a website etc. the images used need to be web hosted. Customising your Placemark Icons You can change the icon used for your Placemark by going to the editing view and clicking on the icon. Using the 'Custom' choice you can define your own icon which would need to be a image or similar that is web hosted. Overlays Images can be overlayed on top of the 'Google Earth'. The image could be an aerial photograph, a more detailed map or even a diagram, as long as they are an image file. You need to use the Add menu on the top toolbar. One you have imported the image you will need to manipulate it into the correct position. The image will need to be web hosted if you are going to share this via a website. The opaqueness of the overlay can be altered using the slider at the bottom of the Places window. Google Earth Tours A tour is when Google Earth flys from one Placemark to another in a set order. To construct a tour you need all of your Placemarks to be in one folder. Google Earth will 'tour' all the Placemarks in that folder so it is worth producing a dedicated one. You can drag Placemarks around within a folder to reorder them. To start a Tour click on the necessary folder and then press the 'Play' button at the bottom of the Places window. To can alter the speed of the flight and the pause on each Placemark in Tools > Options. Changing your Google Earth Settings to Improve the Experience. Empty your 'My Places' folder of all the default examples. Ensure you have both the Buildings and Terrain boxes ticked at the bottom left hand corner of the screen. Increase the Elevation Exaggeration to 1.5 or 2. This is found in Tools > Options. Ensure that the Overview Map is also turned on as it helps students to realise where in the world they are looking! This is done by View > Overview Map or pressing Ctrl + M. The Google Earth Placemarks, Overlays and Tours that I used for the seminar can be found here. An online webpage of this thread cna be found here. I am more than happy to help anybody that gets stuck - just post any questions and I will see if I can help! Enjoy Rich
  4. I have made another mini-site. The other one being The Great Wind Farm Debate. The new one is called The Spiny Cactus Bar Murder and is based around the Spiny Cactus Bar / Who murdered Eduardo Sierra mystery. I realise that one of the key feature of a 'mystery' lesson is the sorting of pieces of information. I will still be giving my students the pieces of information on slips of card but have also provided them as images within a gallery that can be clicked through. The mini-site has three Talking Heads, a Google Earth set of Placemarks, photos of the suspects etc. I'm thinking of including a link to the Student Education Forum as well for students to discuss who they think did the crime. I'll be using the mini-site with GCSE students but I guess it would work with younger year groups as well. The mini-site can be found here. As always I'm open to suggestions for improvements. Enjoy Rich
  5. Thanks for th advice. The word file is now in pdf format and they should open as a new window. All of this will be live when I update the site sometime this evening! Thanks for the suggestions and keep them coming. Rich
  6. I'll have to speak to Russ about the opening files in new windows etc. Does the IST Humanities have the necessary software to produce pdf files? Rich
  7. Hello All, I have produced a new mini-site based on the idea of a planning meeting for a proposed wind farm development. The mini-site is part of my main site: www.geographyalltheway.com. The resource includes Talking Heads, Google Earth Overlays, meeting structure and role descriptions. The wind farm development used for the debate is a real proposed wind farm and therefore could be used as a case study. I wrote the resource for my Y8 class but believe that it could be used for all of KS3 and KS4. I welcome suggestions for improvements etc. The entrance to the mini-site is here. Enjoy Rich
  8. Hello All, I'm doing a little bit of informal research into the use of Google Earth in different subjects to help with some whole school training I'm organising. Is anybody doing using Google Earth in the teaching of history? Many thanks. Rich.
  9. Not wishing to appear dim but what is an API? Cheers Rich
  10. That's I'm (and Russel Tarr) are working on at the minute! Just seeing what others are doing out there. Rich
  11. Hello I'm interested in hearing from people using Google Earth in the classroom. I am a geography teacher and am interested in hearing from other geographers AND teachers of other subjects! I'm preparing some whole school training on Google Earth and I don't want to just talk about geography! Many thanks Rich
  12. I'm interested in getting in contact with people who are using Google Earth in the classroom. I'm intrested in geographers AND non-geographers! What are you doing with it? Many thanks Rich
  13. A back button, as part of the banner on each page, was set up yesterday! Enjoy! Rich
  14. Thanks Andy, Even my students have been suggesting that one! A job for the Easter break! Rich
  15. I am developing a website for the geography department of The International School of Toulouse and would welcome feedback on it so far. I'm trying to use it as a central location for everthing from schemes of work to lesson resources and revision quizzes and tasks. Have a look round! Enjoy Rich
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