Development of a Map Website for Education by Using Web Maps API

Abstract

The author developed a map website for geography education and examined its effectiveness. We can put free map services provided through the internet in our website by using web maps API. The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan （GSI） started the “Digital Japan Web System” in 2003 and its new version named “GSI Tiles” has been provided since 2013. With this service, web developers can put GSI's topographical map images in their web pages and add information to the maps. GSI's topographical map contains the contour lines, vegetation information and so on, and it is suitable to geography education. The author used Google Maps API, Yahoo ! Maps API, OpenLayers and Leaflet with GSI Tiles and other tile map services to develop a map website and customized maps to suit the educational use. In this website, content creators can put markers on the map, and photo or text information will appear when a user clicks a marker. Users can also change map view（topographical map, contour map, road map or aerial photo）.

In this study, map-based educational resources for high school students to study landforms were created. Some famous places （e.g. river terraces in Numata and alluvial fans in Yoro） often appear in Japanese geography textbooks, and the author intended to make educational resources to correspond to the case studies in textbooks. If you access this website, you can see markers on the map. When a marker icon is clicked, a photo or information of this place appears. Students can compare the map expression and real landscape with this digital resource, and they learn how to read a topographical map. The author, who teaches geography in a school, introduced this educational resource in his class for a homework tool, and assigned a report after the virtual field trip. Students said that it was easy to use this digital resource and useful to understand and review the learning contents.

This website can be accessed via internet at any school in Japan. And furthermore, anyone can open similar website because this website is constructed with free web map services. This may contribute to improve geography education.