MetaCarta is one of the Google Maps mashups listed in Mashable’s 100+ Google Maps Mashups list. MetaCarta is a mashup of Reuters news stories and Google Maps. Using MetaCarta you can search for new stories by location, by topic, or by date/time. On the left side of the screen a list of stories is displayed and on the right side a Google Map displays the location of each news story in the list.
Applications for Education
MetaCarta provides all of the current news stories that a Social Studies/ Current Events teacher needs along with a geographic context for each story. You could use the idea of MetaCarta to have your students create their own mashup of news stories that they read in class.
If you’re not familiar with creating content on Google Maps or would like an easy-to-understand tutorial for your students, check out the Google Maps YouTube Channel. On the Google Maps YouTube Channel you will videos like the one below.