Saturday, January 19, 2008

The Associated Press: GPS Adds Dimension to Online Photos

The Associated Press: GPS Adds Dimension to Online Photos

Hot of the AP wire, this news item is probably old news to many. Geotagging photos I first discovered through Google Earth and Panoramio. I have since discovered another source of geotagged photos at Trekearth.com.

These sites are wonderful in being able to examine places around the globe, to get an idea of culture, landscape, and the general diversity around us.

I use these sites in teaching World Geography, and students really seem to appreciate the efforts that the photographers go through to acquire their image and post.

My only complaint is this: most of the dialogue about the photos deals mostly with composition issues. People state whether or not they like how objects are framed, colors captured, etc. Ideally, for me any way, would be the time and date of image acquisition, plus some discussion of what we are looking at, the culture of the people, the type of food, the type of crop, something that will enhance the story-telling ability of the image, and put that image in a context that we can understand.

That would be a big help.

Also, I have this idea. People need to begin geo-tagging video. Web sites need to be able to geotag videos. I would love to be able to use Google Earth in my class, find an area that I would like to discuss in class, and click on a short video of that particular place to learn more about it. How awesome would that be?

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