umapper is obviously very similar to google earth. google earth is a great program with immense depth, but can be cumbersome when used in the classroom. for example, all students must have software downloaded & installed on their computer. umapper requires no software installation. umapper requires no user account creation to make or view a map. umapper did a great job of removing many of the barriers that prevent great web 2.0 resources from becoming great classroom resources. best of all, umapper is easy & fun to use. not only can teachers easily create maps, but students could create custom maps of their own using this tool. take a look at this extremely basic map created with umapper:
final verict.
umapper is a great solution for many classroom map needs. i think it is better than google earth, because it streamlines both the authoring & publishing processes. creating user accounts for students is a headache. downloading software & maintaining its updates on a classroom set of computers is insanity. umapper removes both these obstacles & still provides the user with a rich experience. try umapper next time you need a map in class.
