About
Digital Geography by Noel Jenkins is all about the geography classroom, with a particular focus on fieldwork and ICT.
Noel is an award-winning* full time classroom teacher based in the south west of the UK. He has created a number of online works including the website Juicy Geography as well as authoring education materials for a wide variety of organizations including the BBC, Nelson Thornes and the Royal Geographical Society. A representative sample of his published teaching materials include:
Visualising a Safer City (Juicy Geography)
Crisis Management in Google Earth (Juicy Geography)
Your Climate Your Life (DEFRA and RGS)
Action Plan for Geography materials (DfE and RGS)
Noel has presented at a number of national events including the UK Google Teachers Academy, BETT show and Geographical Association conference and has acted as consultant to the BBC and various UK government departments.
Noel makes no claims at all for the validity of anything on this site. He can’t be held responsible for the content of any of the external sites. All of the views on the site are personal, and not those of his employers. This site, Juicy Geography and all his web based publications are published in his spare time, on his own computer as a hobby. The site is published under a Creative Commons License as a free resource for all teachers. Please feel free to rob anything you like.
*Royal Geographical Society Award for “contributions to excellence in the teaching of Geography” 2003
Hi Noel,
I have some news and I thought you and your readers might be interested in it for your blog. Not sure if you’ve come across it yet, but Google have just launched a new project called the “World Wonders Project”.
The Google World Wonders Project is a platform that brings world heritage sites of the modern and ancient world online. Using Google’s Street View technology, 3D modelling, photos, videos and in-depth information, you will be able to explore the world’s treasures from your classroom.
There are many interesting geographical locations available to explore on the site, including the Banks of the Seine in Paris, Yosemite National Park in the USA and the Dorset & East Devon Coast.
Viewing geographical locations as they are today can help your students to visualise and understand the significance of the subjects they’re studying.
Google is also offering three free and easy-to-use Geography resources, available to download from the site, which are designed to support teachers in delivering Geography in a fun, engaging and thought-provoking way. The resources are clear, well-structured and offer many ideas for using the Google World Wonders Project site in the classroom. The suggested activities are relevant for a variety of different locations and could be a useful inspiration for a range of geography topics.
I hope you find this of interest. If you have any feedback or would like more information about the project please feel free to get in touch. If you do decide to write a piece for your blog, could you please send me the link to the article for my records?
Thanks,
Alex
Dear Noel,
I am writing on behalf of Millgate House Education, an educational publishers and consultancy, to introduce our first geography resource, Sand Dune Ecology Concept Cartoons. Commissioned by SARN (http://www.sarnassociates.co.uk/) the resource explores many aspects of sand dune ecology and the coastal environment. As this is our first geography resource we would very much value your opinion.
Concept Cartoons have been used successfully in classrooms internationally to teach maths, English and science. We have recently started producing bespoke sets of Concept Cartoons focusing on smaller subject areas. Concept Cartoons encourage students to discuss their ideas in a real life context and often lead into individual or group investigations. They are particularly valuable for highlighting common misconceptions in learning.
Although this resource was originally developed to compliment field trips on the Sand Dunes at Talacre we are hopeful it will become a valued classroom resource. The Concept Cartoons can be used individually to stimulate a discussion or together as a pack to facilitate a larger topic or project. The resource comes complete with background information and safety notes for teachers. Having come across your blog, it would be really helpful to hear your thoughts on the sample pdf which i will happily send across if you are able to provide an email address. More can be found about the resource on our website http://www.millgatehouse.co.uk/science/sde-cc
Thank you for talking the time to read about this resource. We know how busy teachers are, so if you do not have time to write a review, please feel free to use the resource in your teaching.
Best wishes,
Emily.
Greetings, Noel
I know you are aware of the Geograph project, but I wonder if I could persuade you to pass on a message to your readership? I have taken it upon myself to mount a memership campaign, and rather need some help.
We already have more than 4 million photos. The earliest is dated 1881. 12,116 people have contributed so far. There is a site forum for registered users that is updated almost hourly. But that does not mean we can look to our laurels. As the collection has grown the number of contributors has declined. Some of our members have passed away. This Month we featured a photograph by the Late Dave Fergusson to mark his passing, and within days did the same for the Late Andy Farrington .
As time goes on we are approaching asympotically our objective of photographing every square, but many squares have not been visited for many years. There are now TimePoints to be earned, for refreshing our view of what a square holds. We have a preponderance of sunny days, and some of us would like to see more rain, wind, and hail in the depiction of the British Isles. And People. Many of our photographs show an empty land or empty streets, but that is not the reality of our crowded little home.
We are also conscious that the site is a good example of how the web /was/. There are efforts afoot to decide how we can best present our archive and our daily experience in new and exciting ways. And we need help with that, because the community needs refreshing.
So it is time to invite new members. To ask for a different vision of what lies within those unchanging 1Km squares. To see how another generation of Geographists see the land around us. Please come and show us the place where we all live.
Dear Noel,
I have recently discovered your fantastic blog – it’s a real inspiration!
I am a human/cultural geographer from the University of Oxford, and I wanted to share some resources with you. I have produced a short (15mins) video documentary from a village in the Indian Himalayas, where I have been conducting research for over a decade. The film, ‘Lifelines’, tells one man’s story of struggle in his remote mountain community. It focuses on the rapid social and economic change in the region, including the increasing availability of, and thirst for, education. I am hoping that the film might be of use to secondary school geography teachers.
It can be viewed at: http://www.lifelinesfilm.com/
I have worked with a number of teachers to produce a lesson plan and other teaching resources to accompany the film in the classroom (probably at K4/5 level). These resources are now available on the Lifelines website in the Resources section (http://www.lifelinesfilm.com/resources ) This section of the website also contains a shortened version of the film (10mins), for those teachers who require a faster paced piece for classroom use.
I would love the film and teaching resources to be made as widely available to teachers as possible, and hoped that you might be able to help via your blog, and perhaps twitter?
If you have any other advice on where to post this information, I would be extremely grateful.
With many thanks for your help with this, and for all the work you have put into promoting geographical teaching. I look forward to hearing from you.
with best wishes
Jane