Using Action Zone Challenges

Three different Action Zone Challenges form the core of interactive tutorials in this edition of the Full Circle Resource Kit. Each activity involves a different set of objectives and skills. Refer to this guide as you consider ways to use Flash interactives with your students.

Search Challenge image of coach on bench

Blog Search Challenge

Based on the standard live Internet Search Challenge, our Web 2.0 Search Challenge uses the Technorati search engine in place of Google. Technorati may be searched using combinations of keywords and operators. Live Search Challenges can be used to introduce a particular search skill, raise an awareness of a need for further learning or to assess progress. For general guidelines for using Search Challenges, click here.

This particular Search Challenge tests keyword selection and effective use of operators. If you search using just one key word, e.g., "top ten", it's not very likely the results will be near the top. Try putting the most restrictive tags first. An effective query in this case is "top ten lessons" t-ball.

This is the second Challenge of this type. The first one was a Soccer Challenge--but that blog posting disappeared after a couple of months. So it goes with blogs and lots of Internet information!

Photo Tagging

Three variants of this find-the-photo-in-flickr game are included, all of which reveal the importance of selecting the right keywords or tags with which to search. The fundamental lesson for searching is the 1 in 5 principle and how difficult it may be for two people to think of exactly the same words for a picture--reminiscent of the "picture is worth a thousand words" saying. Another way to search for photos, besides flickr's search engine, is to use the site's subject directory. This is potentially less effective, because you have to start at the most general level and work your way to the specific photo. Even though flickr provides tag categories, knowing which one to select can be daunting, and you're never quite sure you are on the right path until you find the photo.

To illustrate the differences between search engine and subject directory, divide the group in half. Have one group locate the first picture entering keywords of their choosing in the searchbox. Instruct the other group to find the photo using just the keyword categories provided in flickr (see: browse popular tags). Compare their results and times. It may be that neither group is successful in the time allowed. In that case, point out the 1 in 5 rule and ask, how many resorted to browsing--paging through the images? Browsing is the least effective search method, although without effective search terms it's about all that's left to do. On each page of images are tags for the photos shown. Many of those words may be better search terms than the group started out with. Instead of continuing to browse, they should try a different keyword combination or explore a different tag category.

Note: it is more difficult to find photos using tag categories than using keywords and the flickr search engine. Each photo tagging game has a tutorial page at the end that describes an optimal search.

Bad Apple? Silly String Campaign

Based on the information provided by Radio Show host, Tammy Bruce, would you donate money to make Silly String available to troops in Iraq? In November, Time Magazine ran an article about the use of Silly String as a trip-wire detection tactic. Since then a number of news sources have run the article and it has become a topic among bloggers, including Tammy Bruce. Her views tend to be radical and right-wing, although there seems to be some truth to the claims about the effectiveness of silly string. Tammy recommends sending money to a woman whose name is Marcelle Shriver, the mother of a soldier serving in Iraq. The Army doesn't supply Silly String, so Ms. Shriver and her church are currently taking donations to ship as much of the product to the troops in Iraq as possible.

Have your students use the Bad Apple: Silly String Campaign tutorial to gather and evaluate information on Tammy Bruce's claims. Use their decisions as a springboard for talking about the credibility of an idea, even if you disagree with most of what an author says. Note that many of the news reports do not include the information about sending money to Marcelle Shriver. What do your students make of that? What can they find out about Ms. Shriver?

Bad Apple? Free Help Campaign

Just before releasing this issue of the Resource Kit, we discovered that the freehelpcampaign.org target page--a charity launched by the Free Hugs leaders--was defunct. We had designed a Bad Apple evaluation exercise around the charity, for which our evaluation criteria came up 50/50. Since that campaign seems to have self-destructed, we pulled the game from this Kit. For the story behind this authentic search challenge--and our conclusions--see the story on our blog.