One of the most interesting things I have done as a Local Guide has been in collaboration with some of my colleagues at York Region District School Board and educators from Waabgon Gamig First Nations School.
The project started when one of my colleagues noticed on Google Maps there was no street view on Georgina Island, a First Nations community north of Toronto, Ontario.
In partnership with members of the community and the school board, we devised a plan to work with educators on the island to help them leverage EdTech tools to enhance the ability of their students to share their own stories in both oral and written formats.
On the first day of our professional learning together, we discussed the different ways we tell our stories and the patterns and common structures that are in the stories we tell. It was important for us that indigenous students would be able to share their own stories within our district and beyond using a variety of methods. After we had a common understanding of types of stories, we explored Google Maps and Google Street View.
We took the educators outside and took images using the Ricoh Theta 360 cameras to start putting Georgina Island on the map. We were able to show the educators how to use their phones with the 360 cameras to take pictures so that they could help their students upload on to Google Street View.
We realized that since many of the areas did not exist on Google Maps, we had to add places so we could tag the Street View images. The educators, students and community liaison were able to meet with the elders on Georgina Island to correctly name the places. The students then used Google MyMaps to pinpoint the locations and record the name of the places.
When we met again, as a local guide I was able to add the places to Google Maps. I felt that we had made a huge impact for members of the community as we were the first to add places and Street View photos on Georgina Island.
The educators shared the learning with their students throughout the project so that they could also take 360 photos of their land and share it with the world.
Now when you search Georgina Island on Google Maps and use the peg person, you will see all the little spheres of 360 photos.
I feel humbled and honoured to be part of a project where I was able to use my expertise with using Google Maps and Street View and to share it with others. We were able to add places and images for a community that was not represented on the map. Our hopes are for indigenous students to see their stories being valued not just within their own communities but around the district and the world.
