One of the classes that I used to really enjoy teaching was a current events course for 9th grade students. I enjoyed in it because the topics of discussion were always changing. I taught that class before Twitter emerged on the scene, but if Twitter had been available I think I would have utilized Trends Map to discover the stories that people were talking about around the world.

Trends Map is a Google Maps display of topics current trending on Twitter. The map displays the trends according to their locations. If you want to see what people are talking about in France, just use the map to zoom-in on France and see the topics that are trending.

The Tekzilla Daily episode embedded below shows Trends Map in action.

Applications for Education
Trends Map could be useful in a current events course. You could use the map to see get a sense of what stories are important to different groups around the world. Depending on the topic, that trend could lead you to article links, videos, and other useful current events discussion materials for you and your students.