Free digital mapping service for colleges

Today Ordnance Survey and Jisc – the charity that offers digital services and solutions to UK education and research – are set to release Digimap for Colleges. The secure, free and easy to use online mapping service supports further education (FE) institutions and staff, and aids students in their studies.

Designed to complement the national curriculum Digimap for Colleges features a range of Ordnance Survey’s current maps. These include OS MasterMap, the most detailed map of Great Britain, as well as digital versions of Ordnance Survey’s famous paper maps, the OS Landranger and OS Explorer Maps.

Skills Minister Nick Boles MP said: “This innovative online tool will bring mapping to life for FE students. Technology is set to transform education over the next decade and I am delighted to see Ordnance Survey and Jisc developing new online tools that will benefit learners of all ages.”

The launch of Digimap for Colleges follows on from the success of Digimap for Schools and Digimap for Higher Education, and represents a continuation of the national mapping agency’s support for the teaching of geography at all levels. The service – developed by EDINA, a Jisc designated centre for digital expertise and online service delivery based at the University of Edinburgh, will be available through the Jisc Collections Catalogue, a central source of online educational resources. A series of ‘How to…’ guide films, helping users make the most of Digimap for Colleges, have been posted to YouTube.

The detailed maps available through Digimap for Colleges offer complete coverage of Great Britain. Students are able to create their own maps showing different detail depending on what they’re studying, including building outlines, streets, roads and natural landscapes such as woodlands and rivers. Students can customise their own maps by adding points, lines, text and images, as well as using colour to represent different types of land use and building.

Peter Burnhill, director at EDINA said: “Digimap for Colleges puts access to Ordnance Survey mapping capabilities firmly into the toolkit for students and their tutors. We expect this to enhance a broad range of subjects making use of ICT, as we know to have happened from uptake of Digimap in universities and schools: ensuring modern skills in business, leisure and tourism, construction and the built environment, as well as in computing, maths and geography. This is a key part of the offer that Jisc is making in its response to the FELTAG recommendations and in its role as an ICT champion.”

John Carpenter, Ordnance Survey Director of Strategy, says: “Digimap for Colleges presents students with a comprehensive set of digital maps to explore and learn from. In the classroom, Digimap goes beyond geography – feedback from teachers and pupils is that the service is relevant to learning and studies across a whole range of subjects. Mapping can help add context to history, provide a backdrop for art, or used to plan suitable transport networks in town planning and business studies. There is an array of annotation tools that give power to teachers and students to use the maps how they want and to create. We are delighted to be able to contribute to making a saving in the FE sector and to support colleges by making Digimap for Colleges available at no cost to them.”

The Digimap for Colleges service runs on all up-to-date browsers and is available at: http://digimapforcolleges.edina.ac.uk

Notes to editors

About Jisc: Jisc offers digital services and solutions for UK education and research. The charity does this to achieve its vision for the UK to be the most digitally advanced education and research nation in the world. Working together across the higher education, further education and skills sectors, Jisc provides trusted advice and support, reduces sector costs across shared network, digital content, IT services and procurement negotiations, ensuring the sector stays ahead of the game with research and development for the future. EDINA, a designated centre for service delivery and digital expertise, provided by Jisc, delivers online services and tools to benefit students, teachers and researchers.

Find out more at www.jisc.ac.uk or contact the press team on press@jisc.ac.uk

Head of Media

Email: Robert.andrews@ordnancesurvey.co.uk