Lab 2 -- Interactives

I went to all the sites listed under Lab 2 and played at least one interactive for each. Here are my thoughts...



Nanozone: I played the "Save Ratty" game. I thought it was too simple and boring. I think an audience that can understand the ideas that were presented can handle a more complex interactive. The game had text, images, animation, and audio. Adobe Flashplayer is required. I did not really enjoy this site as a whole.



Lawrence Hall of Science: I played the "Mr. Bones" game first. It was okay. There was text, some animation, and some audio. It did require Shockwave. I also played "Aphid Eater" which I thought was pretty pointless. Then I played "Alien Juice Bar" and had a good time. There was text, animation, and audio. It would have been nice if each interactive had a target age/grade level.


Virtual Museum of Canada: First, I checked out the "Cloth and Clay" interactive. I was interested since it basically was a chose your own adventure story. It turned out to be boring and I did not learn anything. There were images and text. No plug-in required. After, I played "Train Messenger". It was okay. There were images and text as well. This one required Flashplayer.


Monterery Bay Aquarium: I really enjoyed this site. They gave age/grade ranges for each activity which I thought was very useful. I played the "Make a Tide Pool" game. It was wonderful. There were images, text, animation, and audio. There was just enough information provided. This was one of my favorites. It required Shockwave.


Natural History Museum: This one was okay. I played "Nitfit", a game where you race a louse through a head of hair. I thought the idea and the questions they were asking were pretty gross, but I did enjoy how the idea was presented. There was animation, text, and audio.


Exploratorium: There were many choices for online games on this site, and I checked out a bunch of them. I spent a lot of time on "Fastball Reaction Time" just because it was fun to try to beat my previous time. I really liked "Frog Tracker" which had text and audio. This one required Shockwave, but other ones did not.


The University of California Museum of Paleontology: I thought this one was the easiest to use, with clear information on the proper grade level for each interactive, as well as a very informational guide for teachers. I did "The Arthropod Story" interactive which had text, images, and animation. It required Flashplayer. It did povide a lot of information, but had different sections to choose from which was nice so that you were not overloaded with too much info at once. This one was my favorite.


I apologize for getting this posted at the last minute!!

My Shoulder Hurts

I am enrolled in a seminar of museum technology and I am required to start a blog. Since no one will probably read this, today I plan to complain about my shoulder. My right shoulder has dislocated 11 times in about 2 months. I plan on getting surgery in about a week and a half. I am quite nervous about the surgery because of the recovery. I have no tolerance for pain whatsoever. I hope that I will be able to type while my arm is in a sling for 30 days following the surgery. I had to go to the Emergency Room yesterday after unsuccessfully trying to put it back in myself. That is all for today since class is almost over.