Techlearning highlighted a site entitled Inside the Brain: An Interactive Tour. I thought the tour was informative and wondered what others reactions might be to the design (and the content) of this site. We are not spending time focusing on interface design during the class however this site reminded me of some of the issues we talked about as we focused on web site design. What audience do you think this tour is designed for? The end asks for donations for the Alzheimer's Association so that kind of flavors it, but could you use this in classroom settings as an introduction to brain functioning and stimulate increased learning on the topic?
Well I will tell you that one of the dreaded fears that I have is that others will have to take care of me in my later years. I hope that those close to me are not saddled with this. One of the earlier practices of the Blackfeet Nation (Jane and I lived in Browning Montana for 2 years - late 70s) is that older persons would go on a final vision quest to the mountains. They would end up in the "sand hills" - a place many of us white folks refer to as heaven. So I tell my children when I am too old, drop me off somewhere in the mountains with a small pack of essentials for my final vision quest - seems like a fitting last journey!
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I liked the site and agree that it could be used to hilight basic brain function without the focus on Alzheimer's. While user rollover of text does alter the graphics, I like interfaces where the user is able to alter content even more in learning situations.
I'm a big fan of Explore Learning for math and science instruction. Students are allowed to manipulate gizmos and conduct virtual experiments. This allows different students to tweak different variables thus producing different results. The natural question to ask at that point is "Why?". That's a great learning motivator.
As far as the getting old comments, I've got a grandfather who is 90 years old. He's been in a nursing home for over a year now. My parents tried to care for him in their home for a year but were not able to handle it. It is very tough to see someone once so active to slowly decline both physically and mentally.
Although it's natural not to want to burden your kids with caring for you, after seeing what my Mom tried doing for her Dad...I'd sure at least try doing the same for her. If you have children who are willing and able to provide such care, my gosh it beats the alternative. Most nursing homes are so short-staffed these days that they can't provide high quality care.
What a cool website! I didn’t find anything to not like about it! It’s a site/tour that would be suitable for all ages as it is presenting a complex disease in a simplistic manner. I think this would be highly appropriate in a classroom environment. The introductory brain information is very informative with the use of images. I particularly liked how to the key/legend was presented through the document text (ie – lighting up certain sections with a mouse-over). I also appreciated its white background, it helped to keep the site simplistic and allowed the user to focus on the information and images.
While I agree with your thoughts on the website, I can’t say I agree with the idea of the vision quest. I’d rather deal with my elders through trials then drop them off in the woods.
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