google maps assignment

google maps assignment for digital media production

1. learn google maps.

2. create a google map with at least three pins. the content attached to those pins is entirely up to you. experiment heavily with the design and layout of the pins.

3. when your map is ready, tweet about it.

4. in class on thursday, be ready to demo your map.

5. finally, find a USF student who currently has an internship or service project in san francisco. be ready to discuss the internship/project in class on thursday.


keep in mind:

a. the main thing i am testing is your ability to learn google maps with zero instruction from me.

b. i am also testing your ability to design and deliver digital content in strategic and creative ways. don't settle on your first or second idea.

c. if you have no new content to demo on thursday, do not come to class.

tuesday's homework

as discussed in class yesterday, tuesday's homework for digital media production is as follows:

READ: Gabriel Cohen's You Talkin’ to Me? New York's Brash, Boisterous Blogosphere; Malia Wollan, The Big Draw of a GPS Run; and Rex Sorgatz's A Data Point on Every Block: An Interview with Adrian Holovaty.

LEARN: google maps. this part of the assignment is optional: you have the option to learn google maps now or later.

LOG OFF: a) visit one place, restaurant, park, bar, store, water fountain, lake, cafe, bookstore, bus line, church, alley, or any other thing or place in the city of san francisco; b) soak it in; and c) collect, compile, and create a flickr set that includes the following information:


(be sure to tag your photos dmp09mapproject)

have a nice weekend.

mapping haight ashbury assignment

mapping haight ashbury assignment for digital media production


1. over the course of spring semester, you have learned how to share photos via flickr, how to share ideas via blogs, and how share your work via google maps. now is the time to work and create collaboratively.

2. last tuesday, we formed into groups of three. last thursday, we took a field trip to haight ashbury.

3. working in groups, annotate a single google map of haight ashbury. the map should reflect your individual efforts, your group's efforts, and, most importantly, the class-as-a-whole's efforts.

4. the map should incorporate the design and story-telling strategies we have discussed throughout the semester. how you all make this happen is up to all of you.

5. although the map will reflect the work and perspectives of all of you, it should have a single or unitary design. again, how you all make this happen is up to all of you.

6. one of the key points of this assignment is to learn how to work together creatively, effectively, and collaboratively. another key point of this assignment is to collectively create something inspiring with very little input and guidance from me. good luck.

7. once the map is finished, share your work with a thick tweet that includes a link to the map.

8. be prepared to demo your collective work in class on tuesday. (our lunch field trip, originally scheduled for tuesday, will be rescheduled.)

hint: the more you work together, the better your work will be. trust me.

rule: if you have not contributed to the map, do not come to class on tuesday.

update! here's what my students created:


View Documenting Haight Street in a larger map

google maps assignment

google maps assignment for digital media production

1. create a google maps account.

2. learn how to use google maps.

3. create a google map of the bay area / sf / usf.

4. add pins that link to your already existing flickr sets and blog posts. for example, all of you attended last week's human rights film festival in presentation theater and blogged about it. so, place a pin on USF's presentation theater and link it to your blog post or flickr set. do that with at least two or three of your flickr sets and blog posts. consider designing the pins to include images, brief intros or summaries, hyperlinks, and anything else necessary to encourage your visitors to click-through.

5. also add at least one pin that links to one of your classmate's flickr set or blog post.

6. once finished, learn how to embed google maps into blog posts. then make it happen - write a brief or very brief blog post that includes your embedded google map.

7. sometime before class on thursday, share your work with a thick tweet.

hints: begin this project early. if you have questions, tweet them. if that doesn't produce solutions, visit my office hours.

rule: if you have no work to demo, do not come to class.