Feb Project Update

Practicing with our Map!
With our new semester, we have the Geography 12 students taking on the caretaking of the map and we started practicing on a draft version of the map.  We had students walk around the school taking photos to then add to our map.  We also had students add points of interest, create new layers of food, schools, businesses and fun spots.  They got to practice with labels, shapes, distances and media.  Overall, everyone feels much more comfortable with using the map and contributing to the map. 

Parkland VR Tour

Also at Parkland, we have been looking at ways to share our school digitally, and connect the inside with the outside on our Map we have been building.    It is easy for us to add pictures, videos and links on our shared google maps, with layers and labels, showing the environment around our school.

However, to get into our school and see inside our programs, spaces, shops, theatre and library, it is a little more challenging.  Satellite imagery does not show inside our school, nor does google street view.  We needed to find another solution to help others see inside our school.

With the help of a few students and staff, we were able to go around the school and take special photos called "Photo spheres" that are available on most smartphones.  This is a photo that is made up of many photos in all directions stitched together to form one seamless photo capturing all around you.  They are effective for capturing a sense of space and distance, as well as a fun opportunity to embed some 'easter eggs' in the different scenes.
Below is our "Tour" which is put together using the Google Tour Creator.  This is  great tool to create your own Virtual tours using a combination of Photospheres and Google Street view.  There are also many more Virtual Tours that others have published and shared that allow our students to explore around the world and in many digital environments.


Check out this 10 'scene' virtual tour of Parkland Secondary and get a glimpse of inside our school.