Nice Map is a WMS client for Drupal. It comes with views module support and should work with latitude/longitude data stored by location module, geo module or basic cck number fields.
Here are some examples of sites using the Nice Map module:
Pandemic Preparedness Capacity Map
http://preparedness.interaction.org
InterAction: Contributions to Millennium Development Goal
http://preparedness.interaction.org/foodsecurity
Stumble Safely
http://StumbleSafely.com
OutSideinDC Bikes
http://outsideindc.com/bikes
United Nations: Stand Against Poverty
http://StandAgainstPoverty.org/en/events/map
The application has a ton of hot features including a base map using Bing Maps for visualizing location information. Check out the full list of navigational features:
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Available as a free service to users of the iPhone, BlackBerry, Palm or Android mobile handsets, Micello displays the Google maps to an address adorned with icons showing where indoor maps are available. Once the user arrives at an address, clicking on the Micello icon overlays the indoor map. Search for a particular venue inside, and Micello highlights a recommended route from your current location. Future versions will also provide directions from your car in the parking lot, as well as store-to-store directions once inside a mall.
Micello also plans to personalize maps by highlighting items that may be of interest to users based on their profile and history, as well as allow them to share their location with Facebook friends, Twitter followers or LinkedIn contacts. In addition, users will be encouraged to crowd-source information about destinations by posting reviews about points of interest.
When Micello becomes available later this fall for the iPhone, it will come with maps for 150 points of interest in the Bay Area, with the rest of California slated for mapping by the end of the year. The other major cities, plus versions for BlackBerry, Palm and Android, are promised by the end of 2010, at which time Micello estimates it will have 5,000 shopping malls, 10,000 college campuses and 400 convention centers in its growing database. Locations will also include airports, stadiums, theme parks, golf courses, fitness centers and other venues where people naturally congregate. [...]
Educational researchers and policymakers increasingly call for “21st Century skills.” What exactly are these skills, and why are they important for education? One advocacy organization focused on this is the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, which since 2002 has brought together business, education, and policy leaders to define these skills and indicate how they can be applied to education. These skills include information and communication, thinking, problem-solving, interpersonal and self-direction, global awareness, economic and business literacy, entrepreneurial, and civic literacy. The Partnership’s belief is that “every child in America needs 21st Century knowledge and skills to succeed as effective citizens, workers, and leaders” and that a gap exists between this knowledge and skill set and what students are currently learning in school.
Recently, diverse groups gathered to produce “skills maps” that connect these skills with specific content areas. Thus far, English, Social Studies, Science, and Geography skills maps have been completed. The National Council for Geographic Education formed a team, including NCGE members from ESRI, universities, and schools, to create the Geography Map [PDF]. Geotechnologies such as Geographic Information Systems, GPS, and Remote Sensing are prominently featured throughout this document. The reason why is that they can serve as powerful tools for spatial inquiry, fostering critical thinking skills about a host of issues from local to global—from natural hazards to population to invasive species, and beyond. Because GIS is a system, using it requires the ability to gather, manage, and make decisions based on real data in real contexts.
In an interview for the article, “New maps infuse 21st Century Skills”, I stated that geotechnologies help students “engage in spatial analysis and inquiry that will prepare them for today’s rapidly changing world.” For example, eighth-graders identify historic and contemporary migrant groups in their area, examine why migration occurs, investigate the changes that occur when people migrate, and present their findings.
It is our hope that these 21st Century skills maps encourage administrators and educators to infuse these skills into the curriculum to best prepare students for the future.
- Joseph Kerski, ESRI Education Manager
