Week+1+-+Multimedia+in+Education+activity

Three websites

Classbrain.com Found this website when I was looking for interactive Shakespeare resources. The message of the website is that learning is cool and fun! The website is targeted a teens (which is unusual as most sites are targeted at upper primary aged children). Most of the site uses links to other interactive activities (e.g. a 3D version of the Globe theatre), an online dictionary and Google search. Most of the activities require plug ins and downloads (e.g. Adobe Shockwave Player). "Ask Class Brain" is an online tutor option. Has interactive elements - online tutor, links to Facebook, discussion threads.. The mood of the site is studious but fun! Very clear communication of the message through graphics, fonts and language. I really liked this site and would like to explore it more. However, it is very American and for this specific target audience.

National Geographic

I have used the National Geographic website a number of times with my junior secondary Geography students. I hadn't visited the website for some time as I am teaching only English at the moment. but it remains a fantastic website. Very formal graphics which imitate the magazine from which it has derived. The message we (the audience) should be active observers and keepers of the world: "Inspiring people to care about the planet since 1888". The target audience is young adults - the elderly.. anyone who is interested in nature, ecology, geography etc... Interactive videos, podcasts, pop quizzes, tweets, link to Facebook, blogs... The mood of the site is serious and didactic. Very clear communication of the message through graphics, font, language, photographs. Love it but I am dubious about Shell's sponsorship of it!! Global appeal, not particularly one culture promoted..

Storybytes

This website was suggested to me at an English teachers' conference I recently attended. Here people can read and upload their own short stories of no more than 1,000 words. The target audience is adults, so one would need to exercise caution using it with students. Not terribly interactive but there is a mailing list... The mood of the site is "old fashioned", creative and mystical - conveyed through the use of font and imagery. Like it but I am sure there are better alternatives out there for student short story writers.