2022
This is the fourth knowledge sharing session organised by the Sri Lanka Local Guides in the association of Galle Local Guides. This meetup comes under the "Knowledge sharing sessions for Local Guides in Sri Lanka 2017" series.
On Thursday(May 18, 2017) I got a call from @IlankovanT and he said we would join the knowledge sharing session in Galle on Saturday. I was jubilant. On Friday evening both of us got the invitation for the Sumit 2017 and we were happy and Ilankovan said we would celebrate this during the meetup. I asked him to bring his Google Day Dream and Pixel to do a demonstration.
Like in previous knowledge sharing session the target audience of this meetup was heritage related people. For this meetup, there was 27 final year archaeology special students from the University of Kelaniya and @IlankovanT. He was there as a participant and contributor to the knowledge sharing session.
I went there around 12.30 pm and all the participants were there and I got a call from Ilankovan asking the directions. I sent a pin to him through the hangout and I went outside to welcome him. He was not alone, he was with his family and their baby was in a stroller. I think Ilankovan is going to make their baby a Local Guide at very young age. Oh.. Ilankovan, there is an age limit, you may have to wait another 17+ years.
Then all of us went to the Audio Visual room of the Maritime Archaeology Museum to start the knowledge sharing session. As we planned we could not publish the Galle Fort Archaeological Attractions My Maps as there was a technical issue in preparing the map in Sinhala. We will launch it in near future.
The session started with the introduction of myself and participants. Initially, I asked them whether they are using Google Maps and most of them were using Google Maps. Then I ask about the Local Guides program and they did not know about it. Then I started the Sinhala translation of the educational presentation prepared by the @TraciC and went through it. They were really curious about it and they asked some questions and I explained them. The following photos were taken using the available light.
After this, a demonstration was carried out to show them how to add a new place or edit existing places. During this, I explained them the importance of recording archaeological and historical places using Google Maps as a form of documenting. I asked them to add photos of such places and write a review about the archaeological or historical importance of the place. I asked them to write in Sinhala and I said the Google Translator will automatically translate them.
Then I started introducing the Google My Maps and they were very interested on this as they can use them for their academic work. This session was an interactive one and after I introduce the features of the My Maps few volunteers added few places to the map. We talked about the importance of having layers, using different pin colours to locations belong different categories, and using custom icons to make the map more attractive. They said this would help them in their studies, personal life and career.
Then we asked whether they now about Google Earth, they said yes, then I asked whether they have seen the new Google Earth, they said no. Then I showed them the new Google Earth and they were amazed to see the 3d images.
Then I asked Ilankovan to do the demonstration on Google Day Dream. Since he had a language issue in explaining, he asked me to do the demonstration and he would help me. This was the real fun part. This was the first time they saw a VR headset and they were jubilant when they experienced it. We allowed them to enjoy with it for more than 40 minutes and they were really happy. Please watch the recap video, you will see how they enjoyed it. There was a Google Cardboard and another VRBox and we also allowed them to experience them. They were really happy and they asked lots of questions about this and they wanted to buy a VR headset.
Then some Sri Lanka Local Guides Badges were given to the volunteers who volunteered to add places to Google My Maps.
They wanted to buy a VR headset, I donated my VR Box to them as they showed lots of enthusiasm.
This is the group photo. Thank you. Ilankovan.
After the meetup, they enjoyed a sea bath.
Please watch the recap video of the meetup to see how they enjoyed it. This video is about 6 minutes but I want to show the enjoyment of the participants. This video also recorded under the available light.
For more photos please visit this Google Photo Album.
Please see the photosphere of the event by following links below.
I would like to thank @IlankovanT for the participation and demonstrating the Google Day Dream, without him the Google Day Dream would be a dream for them.
@TraciC This is why I believe in having a sperate category for knowledge meetup will bring more new people to the Google Maps and Local Guides program. @IlankovanT Could you please share your experience?
We had a nice time at the meetup...
ha ha ha Yes When I reached the destination with the little local guide, Anuradha told that I'll have to wait for another 17 years to reach the right age. It was a well-organized meet up as always. We had a great time taking part in it.
This is the most needed feature at the moment @AnuradhaP. We need a separate board to talk about knowledge sharing sessions. I felt the same when I was posting my knowledge sharing sessions.
