Rand McNally Releases Digital World Atlas for Education

Rand McNally has launched a new online educational tool that delivers dynamic maps with social studies, history and geography content as well as reading programs and writing lesson plans. The online service, Rand McNally World Atlas, was designed to be cross-curricular and intuitive for both educators and students.

At the heart of World Atlas is an engine that allows educators to annotate and share maps. The flexible, easy-to-use tool lets teachers access historical maps, boundaries and demographics on present day maps; create custom maps; and easily share maps back and forth with students, teachers and other classes. Educators can print out a fully populated or outline map of any place in the world.

“Rand McNally World Atlas harnesses technology to help students understand the world around them,” said Stephen Fletcher, CEO of Rand McNally. “Not only does World Atlas illustrate and support topics across curricula, but the interface allows teachers and students to easily share ideas and assignments.”

World Atlas includes a variety of thematic maps and data layers including population density, climate, historical boundaries, and natural hazards. Maps can be annotated and customized, and then downloaded, printed and shared with other educators and students.

With World Atlas, it’s possible to:

• Customize maps with a wide range of thematic overlays.
• Use dozens of lesson plans and resources to help build presentations.
• Access world event articles for reading and writing connections.
• Print or download custom maps anywhere in the world.
• Create individual accounts for students allowing them to customize and save their own maps.
• Access from anywhere with an internet connection, from the classroom or from home.
• Use one intuitive, easy-to-use tool for a wide variety of purposes.

World Atlas is aligned with state and the Common Core standards. The product is available via annual subscription from Rand McNally. For more information on World Atlas, or to sign up for a free online demo, visit World Atlas.