Tim Wang's eLearning Blog

The Chinese State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping recently launched the project proposal on a Chinese version of “Google Earth” which is based on an existing program designed and implemented by Chinese scientists called “Geo Globe”. The project will focus on sharing the geographical data in order to blend in commercial and community services.

Google Earth fans would notice that the satellite view of all cities in North America, you can almost see the license plate on each automobile. But the satellite view of the Chinese cities on Google Earth is much fuzzier. To be precise, the image data used in Google Earth for the Chinese cities are only 240 meters / cm and 8000 meters / cm for rural areas. This is because Google fetches the data from commercial companies and there are many limitations and cost considerations.

The Chinese National Survey and Mapping database has high quality and accurate GIS data over China, they have great advantages in producing a more precise “Google Earth – China”. The data obtained by Chinese State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping are collected from a variety of geographical mapping methods including both ground-based GPS mapping and aerial mapping.

There are strict laws in each country on the precise scale of GIS data being published for commercial and civilian use. Most countries limit the scale to 30-50 meters / cm. The United States government requires special approval on using any data with a resolution higher than 0.5 m. This is why Google Earth generally use image data with a resolution of 0.6 meters.

I suppose it’s a positive thing for the Chinese government to recognize a higher resolution of satellite image data is appreciated by civilian. Knowing Google Earth is capable to generate over one billion U.S. dollars on ads, it’s not surprising to see local versions of similar applications in China and India with the support of the local government agencies.

At present, Geo Globe is in an internal testing stage. It is being used by Heilongjiang Geographic Information System, Hydro department in Fujian and the National Defense Department.

Ever seen 8000 people painting together? Here you go. There were 8000 students taking an entry exam for their admission to the Shandong University of Arts. During the exam, the 8000 applicants were requested to paint specific subjects using pre-defined techniques. The exam took place at a convention center in Jinnan, the capital city of the Shandong province.

Mobile learning has been around for a while; it refers to the idea of lifelong learning under the guidance of the use of mobile communications devices such as mobile phones, PDA, MP4 and handheld e-book reader devices. With the acceleration of the 3G technology, mobile learning really enables learners to learn at anytime they want and anywhere they want. From Twitter to iPhone, mobile learning has taken a giant step forward. Today on the bus I saw a student checking the discussion board in her WebCT course and posted comments right away. She might have just earned 1% of participation mark for that class! Of course not every student could afford a $500 iphone and $80 monthly cell phone plans with 3G mobile internet access. But I truly believe the yet expensive data plans will soon be lowered just like how the voice plans have been dropped for cell phone users.

What’s happening around the world on mobile learning?

In Europe:

There are government funded research projects on using the portable mobile devices to provide information and learning content to enable learning for those whom are unable to participate in school. The learning content focuses on the interesting topics of the young generation such as soccer, music, etc., as well as to develop their language ability and mathematical knowledge.

In the United States:

Stanford University Learning Lab (SLL) believes that by helping us to stay connected with each the web, the mobile devices today are helping us to fill up the "debris" time. They have developed mobile based language learning modules that involves vocabulary memorization, self tests, repeating excises and much more. They also studies how are these mobile content helping the learners to achieve a better mark in schools.

In Asia:

Mobile devices are much more popular in some Asian countries than in North America. Their 3G network is also more advanced than other part of the world. Asian learners are already using their mobile devices to access rich media based learning contents such as video, audio and flash based learning tools.