Wonderful Wednesdays

Wonderful Wednesdays - MyMaps

Intro

Every Wednesday, I'm going to describe a useful and wonderful thing that I've found to use in every day life. This activity is a little bit of being thankful, but also a little bit of promotion for things that I think are wonderful.

My Maps and Why It Is Awesome

Its so hard to coordinate people geographically. We play variations on word games with each other because language is imprecise in capturing conceptual content. One such place where it is difficult to ensure everyone is on the same page and thinking the same thing is with geographic information, such as place, location, and direction. Think of all of the ways you have received directions in your life or have given them to people visiting your hometown. There is not always an agreed upon method to describe how to get where you want to go, as we see with math describing a proof or theorem.

My Maps provides an introductory experience with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) through the Google Maps interface, and its really easy to share pins, mark out regions, and provide geographic information. Most recently, I used it to name fields where we can play soccer at in Washington DC. If you explore the service, you can mark out areas, put pins, and even generate directions. Its super useful for travel, coordinating families (I've used it for Tacky Lights Tours down in Richmond) and getting everyone on the same page.

If you're interested, check out mymaps here! It works best with a Google Account.

Comments

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