Mapping Geotagged Images from Flickr in Less than 10 Seconds

This video is a quick tutorial for streaming geotagged images into the map viewer at ArcGIS.com.  The map viewer was recently updated and now has a great utility for KML files, among many other great new features.

Questioning and exploring with geotagged images using Flickr

The popular photo-sharing site Flickr (owned by Yahoo!) allows you to upload, organize, and map your favorite images.  Flickr allows users to geotag their images and has about 100 million geotagged at the moment.  That collection of photos is a massive database, waiting for you and your students to explore - and question.

The ability to use the map search to find certain images in a geographic area (or to see how  a phenomena varies across geography) is certainly one of the most instructionally relevant parts of this site.

For earth science and physical geography teachers, there are questions and photos, a plenty!

• How does volcano shape vary geographically?  [map]
• What factors might affect damage from earthquakes? [map]
• What can be learned about the structure and composition of rock around the world? [map]

Social studies, history, and anthropology learners have equally intriguing options:

• Does culture and geography effect the shape of our cities? [map]
• What does our clothing say about who we are and where we live? [map]
• Do our monuments say more about our past or our present? [map]

What questions can you ask that can be (at least in part) answered by exploring others' geotagged images?  Share your ideas by commenting to this post.

Turning on Your Maps in PicasaWeb Albums

By default, Google's Picasaweb Albums doesn't display your photos on a public map, even if the photos are geotagged.  If you want the public to see your map-based photos: 

1. Login to PicasaWeb 
2. Click "Settings" in the upper right corner
3. Select the "Privacy & Permissions" tab
4. Click the relevant items in the "Locations" area.

These few steps will let anyone who can see your gallery, see your geotagged images on a map as well.