A new paper from Educause, the higher-education technology group, explores the value of “mapping mash-ups”—adaptations of online mapping services that display customized points of interest.
A number of colleges have already used maps generated by Google and Yahoo to display information on where incoming students hail from and where off-campus housing is available. And now a growing number of professors are finding educational uses for the mash-ups, according to Educause.
Professors of geology, history, and political science could all benefit from mapping mash-ups, the paper argues, because the tools let students navigate on their own: “Joining subject matter to a mapping tool provides an educational experience unlike simply reading about a place and then finding it on a map.” —Brock Read
