National Geographic and Anchored Instruction

National Geographic's (NG) Web site demonstrates anchored instruction by presenting a narrative with realistic problems, problem complexity, pairs of related adventures, and links across curriculum. The site transforms information into a tool to mobilize knowledge. The site frames a condition such as global warming to concern the reader or user. Http://www.nationalgeographic.com uses video to illustrate and support concepts and complexities that result from global warming. Furthermore, the site connects the concern to science about animals and environment; the concern involves math through temperature and years of discoveries; and the history of global warming integrates past events and possible further exasperation of conditions. In conclusion, NG presents information in an interesting manner relevant to the user in order to mobilize action for improvement or change.

Initial Ideas for Web Site

The Web site I would like to create has to do with culture. The story I want to tell is how I've been unChinese-ed, rather assimilated into the American culture. I will demonstrate how education or lack of identity development in curriculum, the melting pot era, fear, and media attributed to my feeling lost in my native culture and assimilating to the American culture. I'm not exactly considered "very" Chinese, because I've been told that I'm "Americanized."

The site will subsequently offer stories about others who have or haven't experienced assimilation. The site will provide suggestions on how to regain culture; provide a forum for discourse about experiences related to assimilation and effects; provide data (still thinking about what specific data); provide timeline of immigration; provide information on legislations; and the site will provide resources such as community organizations. In addition, I'm thinking about offering a few items to sell in shopping content and donate a percentage to a charity related to cultural enrichment.

The color scheme will most likely lean toward complimentary colors or monochromatic.

Review of 360's Web site

www.360degrees.org establishes its brand as an interactive documentary through Picture Projects. The Web site engages the people or the human side of the criminal justice system. For example the Web site shares stories from inmates and family, lawyers, police and correction officers, judges, and other perspectives of the complex system and allows the viewer participant to interact on their Dialogue and Dynamic data pages. 360degrees creates visual consistency with repeated use of the circle outlined in light gray or in red; with repeated use of the slate background color; with repeated typeface of what appears as one font; with repeated centered alignment; and with the repeated display of the symbolic red colored degrees or circle encases the 360degrees white colored printed logo surrounded by light gray concentric rings as the navigation piece on the upper left hand corner. Each ring is named with content such as Stories, Dynamic Data, Resources, Timeline, Dialogue, or About. The homepage layout differs from subsequent pages. The homepage displays bouncing circles in various sizes against a slate backdrop; based on visual hierarchy, Dialogue is most important because it is the biggest circle. The stories page contains contents across the top. After clicking a circle containing a photo of an inmate or former inmate, the next page contains additional perspectives that appear on the left side of the screen. Color contrast exists in the circles of the content pages. For example, colored photos of people in the circles of the stories pages are layered on top of the slate backdrop. In addition, the dynamic data page displays colored print within the gray circles. Despite the gloomy information the Web site offers, it is well designed, easy on the eye with little distraction such as advertisements or flickering objects, and its message transpires that incarceration is a gray area to investigate.