Meograph is a new digital storytelling tool that you should put on your list of things to try this summer. Meograph, which I learned about through an email from its founder, provides tools for creating map-based and timeline-based narrated stories. The Meograph is still in a closed beta, but they appear to be very interested in the possible educational uses of the service.

When you watch a Meograph story (click here to watch one about women’s rights in the USA) you will notice that it is very similar to a watching a narrated Google Earth tour. That is because it is based on the Google Maps and the Google Earth browser plug-in. As the story plays you can stop it to explore additional content in the forms of videos, texts, and images.

Applications for Education
When it’s live for everyone to use Meograph will provide a way to create narrated map-based and timeline-based stories. Much of what Meograph offers can be accomplished in Google Earth. However, Meograph is browser-based so that students can create stories even if they cannot install Google Earth on their computers.