Mult.dev is a new mapping tool that I recently learned about through Maps Mania. Mult.dev does just one thing but does it very well. That thing is create animated maps illustrating the connections and travel distance between two or more places. 

To create an animated map on Mult.dev you do not need an account. You can simply head to the site and start creating your map. To create your map just delete the placeholder cities and replace them with your own. You add cities to your map by using the search box then clicking on the name of the city that you want to have appear on the map. Your animation updates instantly when you add a new city to the map.

There are some limited customization options available on Mult.dev. You can choose from a list of nine icons to represent the mode of travel between the cities on your map. You can also choose from a handful of base map colors. 

All animated maps that you create on Mult.dev can be downloaded as MP4 videos. Alternatively, you can share your maps by linking to them or by using the embed codes provided by Mult.dev. Here’s the demonstration map that I made. 

Applications for Education
As Keir Clarke pointed out on Maps Mania, Mult.dev probably isn’t a great option for mapping short journeys or connections between cities that are relatively close together. Rather, it’s a good tool for showing students distances between cities that are far apart like Boston and San Francisco or San Francisco and Sydney.

A feature of Mult.dev that I’d like to see in the future is an option to adjust the speed of animation based on the distances between cities. For example, I’d like to have the animation slow down when showing the distance between Sydney and San Francisco then speed up when showing the distance between San Francisco and Boston.

This post originally appeared on FreeTech4Teachers.com. If you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission. Sites that steal my (Richard Byrne’s) work include CloudComputin, TodayHeadline, and 711Web.