The ESRI EdCommunity is now hosting another cool tool for educators using GIS! This one is based on the power and speed of high-performing base maps from ArcGIS Online. On the Community Web Mapping Tools page, webmeister Tom Baker has built some nifty little tools to use for educational purposes. The Lat-Long Finder allows you to find the decimal degree coordinates of any place on Earth. The Sketch-A-Map allows you to draw on a map.

Sound boring? Imagine building a set of GPS coordinates for a virtual field trip, with just the Lat-Long Finder and a text editor or spreadsheet. Piece of cake! You can easily set up a whole banquet of precise coordinates across the community or around the world. Then, use the Sketch-A-Map to highlight the area of interest, and save the output to an image file.

Zoom in to see the block or zoom out to the continent. Sketch a quick "My Community" map and have kids compare community boundaries. (It works best as an educational activity if people draw it themselves on plain paper first, then draw it using the map. How accurate were they?) Since both tools allow users to float between different base maps, lots of interesting comparisons are available, with just a web browser, on Windows or Macintosh!

The two applications require the Flash player 10 or above, which can be downloaded automatically and installed for free (if you have install privileges). Enjoy!! (You will!!)

- Charlie Fitzpatrick, ESRI Co-Manager for Schools