Ordnance Survey collaborates with EDINA in making Digimap for Schools free to all for remainder of school yearOrdnance Survey collaborates with EDINA in making Digimap for Schools free to all for remainder of school year

Geography pupils’ education during the coronavirus crisis has been given a huge boost.

 Ordnance Survey and EDINA at the University of Edinburgh have announced that Digimap for Schools service will be free for any students to use up to the end of July.

 It means that teachers, parents and students can now access this online geospatial mapping service - designed for all school-aged learners to use, plus free teaching resources, linked to the national curriculums of England, Scotland and Wales.

 Any teacher from any school within the UK and across the world is being granted access. Using the schools’ passwords, students and their parents or carers can use the service at home.

 David Henderson, Ordnance Survey’s Chief Geospatial Officer, said: “We are pleased to be able to work with the University of Edinburgh and Edina during this challenging time to make Digimap for Schools freely available until the end of the school year. Recognising that students will not have access to the same breadth of learning resources as would typically be available in school, we hope this will help those students continuing with their geography curriculum work at home”

 “Digimap for Schools is a fantastic collection of resources specifically designed to support the teaching of geography in primary and secondary schools. This commitment from Ordnance Survey and Edina will allow students and teachers to access the resources in their own homes, and help ensure that their knowledge of geography can continue to expand during this time.”

 Janet Roberts, EDINA Director said: “We are delighted to be able to offer our services and resources to our existing customers and any new users, for free at this challenging time, to help support the continuation of students’ learning.

 “We are also running weekly on-line webinars to support teachers make best use of our service and resources. We welcome engagement with teachers to understand what else we can do to support them and their students to continue with their studies.”

 What is Digimap for Schools?

 Digimap for Schools is currently used by about 2,000 primary and 1,000 secondary schools around Great Britain.

 It gives teachers and pupils access to a wide range of OS maps, from the most detailed (OS MasterMap) through to the famous OS Explorer (1:25,000 scale). It also grants access to National Library of Scotland historical mapping from the 1890s and the 1950s, Get Mapping aerial imagery of Great Britain, plus Collins Bartholomew World Panorama atlas mapping of the globe.

 Digimap for Schools has been designed to be easy to use at home, as well as the classroom. It is ideal for individual users, whatever their levels of technological skill or experience of online learning are.

 As an online service, it only requires internet connectivity and works on any browser on tablets and PCs.

 How can you access it?

 Once a teacher from a school signs up, they will receive a single username and password.

 This is the same login for every pupil and staff member at a school. Teachers can share simple instructions so students and their parents or carers can access and use the service at home.

 Free access can be requested by visiting Edina’s Digimap for Schools website.

 EDINA is a centre of excellence at the University of Edinburgh, with a mission to contribute to education – in the UK and Internationally, to enable the widest possible access to learning through technology, providing students with the 21st century IT skills they need to be successful in their studies, their careers and their lives. Fundamental to this is our emphasis on widening access and inclusion: ensuring that everyone, whatever their background, or location, has access to the skills, technology and services they need, in order to learn.