Change in maps use ->less understanding of location.
I found this unfathomable until James Spann mentions how people use maps now for directions. It's all turn by turn so they have no real idea of how where they are relates to weather warnings etc. That's one reason I preferred Google Maps over my (previous) vehicle GPS. I could zoom out and get a full idea of my route at any time.
How do you use GPS? Can you use weather maps?
http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2017/02/many_alabamians_cant_find_them.html
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That's weird and disturbing. It's hard to imagine not knowing where one is on a map. If you're traveling, maybe. But if you're at home?
ReplyDeletePeople are indoctrinated to know which celebrity is boinking which, where the nearest NASCAR track is and how to download songs. Knowing which county is yours on a map doesn't make the proverbial cash register ring, so the 1 percent has removed it from essential knowledge.
ReplyDeleteI honestly could not pick out my Tennessee county on a map. I know the name, not the shape because it really hasn't come up since I moved here. This isn't because I'm too caught up in NASCAR and celebrity gossip or because my school failed to teach me vital information (I moved to this state a few months ago), it's more a matter of getting direct information from the internet versus using TV, which I don't have.
ReplyDeleteOrienteering (with a compass and paper map) is an awesome life skill. Schools should make it part of the curriculum. Same goes for figuring out cardinal directions from cues like the sun angle, moss on tree trunks, frost lingering in shady patches, etc.
ReplyDeleteI've been map wise (a map nut?) since I was 6. I stop in my tracks when I see one on a wall. I have to look it over, usually for a long while. I have a collection of maps, some of which go back to the late 1800s. The collection includes about a dozen street maps of New Jersey counties circa 1960 that a friend of a friend got from a relative who was a salesperson back in the day when you unfolded your Google Map on your lap or the car's dashboard while you were pulled over. I can name every street in New Jersey from 1960. I could navigate that area with ease -- until I came to a section built since then. Those streets, however, are irrelevant because maps are largely reality to me. So yes, I can find my county on an unnamed map.
ReplyDeleteI share your love of maps, Brian Arbenz, and I am envious of your collection.
ReplyDeleteThanks... Just don't go driving with me in New Jersey! lol
ReplyDeleteI remember doing a virtual map trip in grade 4 social studies. We left our home town - shown on a map - and traveled about ~100 miles a day then "looked" at the sights.It was a great way to learn about history and geography.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's the kind of practical information - along with budgeting, some core science skills and reading/writing is what should be taught in school in the early grades. Especially if you live in a poverty stricken area with extreme weather.
Fine idea. I work for the U.S. Census Bureau (our version of Statistics Canada) and occasionally I fidget with our trove of on-line maps (which are open to the public on census.gov) and I had the idea for exactly what you describe there, a game to find where the player is. They could use various levels of posted landmarks and road names.
ReplyDeleteMost school kids in the US don't get anything like that, Cass Morrison. As a result (or cause? both?), Americans' geographical knowledge is legendary in its awfulness.
ReplyDelete