"There is a growing range of software that is revolutionising how pupils use mapping data across the school curriculum," says Elaine Owen, Ordnance Survey's education manager. "We want to help teachers decide what is right for their particular classes and so the guide sets out the benefits and features of each software tool and summarises essential details of the packages."
The MapZone web site has a fun homework help area which gives what Ordnance Survey hopes will be a valuable resource for schoolchildren in England, Scotland and Wales. "MapZone, and its partner web site GIS Zone, both give a grounding in the use of both our paper maps and our digital map data," says Elaine Owen.
"Our Free maps for 11-year-olds scheme was a huge success again this year, with around 736,000 pupils personally receiving an OS Explorer Map for use in the classroom or at home with their families. The on-line resources we provide give a wealth of information and ideas to make the most of this initiative."
In addition to the GIS software available, the free maps initiative and the MapZone web site, schools can also make use of another web site; www.election-maps.co.uk which enables better understanding of the electoral geography of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Ordnance Survey has recently worked with the Geographical Association to provide additional resources to cover National Curriculum programmes of study for Geography and Citizenship linked to the site.
Ordnance Survey’s educational work also extends to Further and Higher Education, and funding by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) has meant that staff and students at Further Education colleges can access a range of Ordnance Survey map data products free of charge for the 2005-2006 academic year, through the Digimap service, provided by the EDINA Datacentre at the University of Edinburgh.
Quelle: Publictechnology, 06.01.2006
