On Wednesday 4th April,
EDINA released
Version 3 of
Digimap for Schools,
which included a number of new features and enhancements.
The new
tools and enhancements have been developed directly as a result
of valuable user feedback we gained from the user survey we ran last
Autumn and from talking to teachers at conferences such as
BETT and
at training events.
New tools and enhancements:National
Grid lines overlay - This new tool allows users to display National Grid
lines on screen, over any map at any scale. Being able to display
National Grid lines on the screen is incredibly useful for teaching and
learning about grid references. Grid letters and numbers are displayed
clearly, spacing and numbering is scale appropriate and automatically
change as a user zooms in or out through the map views.
To view the
National Grid line, simply click the button on toolbar.View a
bigger map - Users can now have their map fill their screen! We have
added a full screen option which hides the top, bottom and left-hand
panels to enlarge the map area that is visible. The top toolbar will
still be visible to allow you to access the annotations, measuring and
other tools. Expanding the map looks particularly fantastic when
teaching a class using a smartboard as so much more map can be seen in
one go. To toggle between the larger and smaller map, click the button
in the top right of the toolbar (beside the Help icon)
Alternative
print formats - We have added two new outputs for printable maps; JPG
and PNG. These are common image formats (similar to those used for
digital photos) which means users can easily insert maps generated from
Digimap for Schools into programmes such as Microsoft Word and
Powerpoint. These new format options are available in the print
options panel.
Annotations enhancements - Two new enhancements
have been added to annotations; the ability to fade the background map
and the option to change the orientation of the toolbar. The
Fade Map
option fades the background map on screen and on printable maps to allow
annotations that have been drawn on the map to stand out more clearly.
This is particularly useful when you are adding features to a map of a
dense urban area. The Fade Map option can be activated by clicking the
new icon in the Annotations Toolbar. In addition to the ability to view
a bigger map, you can now reformat the layout of the Annotation Toolbar
to make it vertical. This means it can now sit over the search/print
panel without hiding any of the map.
Help and information for
using these new tools and enhancements can be found in the help pages,
which can be accessed in the service by clicking the Help icon on the
top right above the main map window.
The resource pack I wrote for Secondary DIGIMAP subscribers is coming soon.
Don't forget to join the Digimap GROUP on the GA Ning too....
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