Warm-Up

Okay! Your mouse finger is itching to go, so rather than make you read a bunch of text or listen to one of us drone on and on, we've set up an activity, designed to get your heart pumping, your brain thumping, and your mouse jumping!

Mouse Up!
When we present "What a Site!" as a hands-on workshop, one of the challenges is getting a group to listen to us when they are eager to use the computers (this is good!). The following method, pioneered by the "impassioned teacher" among us, is guaranteed to work.
At the beginning of the workshop, announce to your group that when a presenter says "mouse up!", everyone must place their computer mouse atop their monitors. It is very easy then to see who is listening and who is still madly clicking at web sites! When it is time to do an activity, "mouse down!" is enough to get them going.

The point here is for you to experience a variety of different web-based lesson from the view of a student. These are not actual ones in use right now (since you never know when a good example will disappear on you!) but are based upon real examples that we have seen.
So take off your teachers's hat (though a lovely hat it is!), and imagine if some of the sites in our activity were your assignments.
As you are doing this, try not to focus as much on "performing" - we offer no prizes or grades! But do keep in mind the whole time about how these uses of the web are effective as learning experiences.

Are you ready to do something? It's time for our first activity (that means you, there, sitting with the mouse in your hand!)