Sue Kelly shares her experience learning to use Local Studies Software to create interactive maps with her students. She investigated how to draw a sketch map of the local area in the program. She added hotspots to the map that could include text, images, sound, and video from students. Knowing maps could be scanned into the program, she scanned one of her student's graphs to allow for further personalization. She included a video clip to demonstrate the program's capabilities. Her next step is to have students record videos showing the results of their project.

1. Geography and ICT Maps & Map-making GA Curriculum Making Conference Cambridge – November 2007

2. Sharing a personal `Learning Journey’ The second round of the Geographical Association Curriculum Making Conferences were offered as part of the Action Plan for Geography. The Primary ICT sessions were focused on the use of Local Studies Software (Soft Teach Education) On the following PowerPoint slides, Sue Kelly - a teacher from King’s Lynn, shares how she embarked on the process of learning to use the programme.

3. I investigated the various keys to draw a sketch map of South Wootton, so that I could ask the children to draw a map of a familiar place.

4. All 10 Hot Spots have photos and comments – but the children could personalise these comments, by stating how often their family visits the Retail Park, or whether it was a popular venue for SWJS families. I added hotspots to the map as place markers. These hotspots open up as text boxes that allow the inclusion of text, images, sound and video.

5. Knowing that I could scan sketch maps into this programme, I decided to scan one of the children’s completed graphs made in M. Excel into another Hot Spot, so a more able pupil could personalise the map in another way.

6. As an extension for myself, I also inserted a video clip to show that it could be done! Next task is to see if the children can be recorded, showing the results of their Retail Park Enquiry.

7. TLA – Learning Journey In order to gain accreditation for curriculum development through the Teacher Learning Academy a teacher must create a log of their own personal `learning journey’. It is possible to do this in a variety of media and formats – here Sue has chosen to use PowerPoint to record her learning journey. See: http://www.gtce.org.uk/tla/