======>> S I T E - F I N D E R ======>>   Welcome to Volume 1 Issue 2 of the e-mail companion to the 'Sitefinder: Adventure and Experiential Education Directory' Editor: Roger Greenaway roger@reviewing.co.uk Copyright 1998 Roger Greenaway, Reviewing Skills Training   THANK YOU for signing up for this free monthly newsletter. If this copy is forwarded to you by a friend, you may wish to subscribe direct - by visiting the SiteFinder Directory. If you change your mind at any time simply follow the UNSUBSCRIBE instructions at the foot of this page.   Last issue: MAY 1998 ...... This Issue: AUGUST 1998 I know that from the end of May to the beginning of August is more than a month! Future issues will be more regular - especially now that the directory is taking off. The more news there is the easier it is to produce a newsletter!   WHAT KIND OF NEWS? Each issue aims to include news of: • the latest new entries to the SiteFinder Directory • site reviews and awards (and how you can contribute) • searcher-friendly improvements • other directories of 'experiential' web sites   CONTENTS (TOP) ====>> S T A T I S T I C S   TOTAL ENTRIES = 66 There are now 66 entries in the directory. The initial target of 100 is within sight. Why 100? 100 seemed like a suitable size from which to launch stage 2 - site reviews an awards.   TOTAL SUBSCRIBERS = 100 Thank you for subscribing to this ezine. To celebrate this milestone I am announcing a 'Prize Draw'. (see later)   CONTENTS (TOP) ====>> N E W . E N T R I E S   ENTRIES SINCE THE LAST ISSUE OF 'SITEFINDER' Here are the latest websites to be added to the directory. You can visit these sites direct from the links below, or you can read their 4-line profiles in the SiteFinder directory.   Coleman Wheeler  The Great American Adventure Club  http://www.angelfire.com/il/adventureclub/   Coleman Wheeler  Nature's Classroom  http://www.angelfire.com/il/adventureclub/naturesclass.html [URL may have changed]   Dick Pohl, EdD  LeadYourShip  http://www.LeadYourShip.com   Dr Iain Jennings FRGS FIPD, Director  Peak Activities Ltd., Rock Lea, Hathersage.  http://www.iain.co.uk   John Jeffery  Villanova Challenge Course  http://www.vill.edu/~ropes/course.htm [URL may have changed]   Brian Bell  College of the Rockies, Fernie, British Columbia, Canada  http://www.cotr.bc.ca/prog/mast.html   Dorset Expeditionary Society  http://www.wdi.co.uk/des   John Logan  Experiential Challenge Programs Inc.  http://www.ecprograms.com   Lakehead University Faculty of Education Outdoor Experiential Education Programs  http://flash.lakeheadu.ca/~tpuk/oee1.html   Lee Gillis  Georgia College & State University    Rich Weider  Team Craft  http://www.teamcraft.com   CONTENTS (TOP) ====>> Y A H O O . & . N E W H O O   NewHoo could one day be bigger and better than Yahoo.   Although Yahoo is the most popular directory on the internet, I can't imagine it being so amongst people who are searching for 'Experiential Education' sites.   I first checked the 'Experiential Education' section of Yahoo (within the Education/Theory and Methods section) several months ago, and there are still only 3 entries! 'Holistic Education' also has just 3 entries, 'Service Learning' has 8 entries. 'Character Education' seems to have a little more appeal for Yahoo editors - with 23 web sites listed.   The pace at which the internet is growing seems to be outpacing the editors at Yahoo. NewHoo think they have the answer (although they are still very 'new').   NewHoo is a bit like Yahoo, except that instead of employing staff to review sites, they rely on volunteers to review them. It depends on a huge volunteer army of part-timers rather than on a small professional army of full-timers.   Sharing out the work amongst enthusiasts seems to be a good way to develop a resource and a community. The big advantage we have over 'NewHoo' is that we are a little more focused! And I haven't notice NewHoo offering any prizes! (see below)   I can see no sign yet of any categories that are of interest to experiential educators. NewHoo welcome suggestions for categories and they are also looking for volunteer editors. Have a look. Give it a go. If you do get involved, please write into this ezine and let us know. Tell us if you manage to get more than 3 websites listed in an 'Experiential Education' category (or similar).   I suspect that NewHoo may quickly become better than Yahoo for minority/specialist interests - the kind of interests that volunteers can get enthused about, and that aren't already well indexed on the web.   Please write in with your experiences of Yahoo or NewHoo, especially if you find any interesting 'experiential' categories that I have not mentioned above.   http://www.yahoo.com/ http://www.newhoo.com/   CONTENTS (TOP) ====>> A N N O U N C I N G . A . P R I Z E . D R A W   Everyone who has signed up for this ezine is interested in finding good sites about Adventure and Experiential Education. The current descriptive listing of 60+ sites should help you to find what you are looking for. Independent review comments highlighting people's favourite sites will make it an even better resource. I am hoping that an extra incentive (in the form of a prize draw) will help to get this process moving.   HOW TO ENTER You can find the full details on the site - by clicking the 'more information' link on the restyled reply form at the foot of each directory page. The forms are designed to encourage SiteFinder visitors to 'volunteer' a comment or two. Almost any volunteer contribution is rewarded with an entry in the prize draw e.g.   • review comments about a good site • news, tips or articles for this newsletter • spreading the word (finding a new subscriber) • reporting dead links   You choose the prize you would like when you enter the draw. There are three books on the current prize list. Draws will take place on 1st October, 1st December, 1st February, etc.   What about the months in between? If anyone wants to offer a prize for any of the months in between, please let me know. Awarding a prize naturally gives you instant fame in this ezine!   The first prize will be announced in the October issue of this newsletter.   CONTENTS (TOP) ====>> R E S E A R C H . S I T E S   I have two favourite research sites for 'adventure and experiential education'(what are yours?).   'OUTRES' The first of these sites is not listed in SiteFinder. It is the home of the outdoor research list - where you can visit the archives or join up, ask a question (or reply to one!). http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/outres.html   'eXperientia' My other favourite research site is Simon Priest's well organised eXperientia site. You will find summaries of 25 studies and this list of 5 studies in progress. These are: # all-women's programming # executive leadership canoe expedition # frontloading versus funnelling # demographic interactions # facilitation training for managers You are invited to send in details about other research for inclusion in the research section of the eXperientia site. Simon says: ''tell me about your study and I'll add a paragraph''   The emphasis is on CAT (Corporate Adventure Training) and EBTD (Experience-Based Training and Development), but many of the findings are highly relevant to other kinds of experiential learning. http://www.tarrak.com   8 MORE SITES listed in SiteFinder declare an interest in research.   CONTENTS (TOP) ====>> U.K. S I T E S   'searchUK' This UK search engine automatically indexes UK sites. It has excellent search features with a very useful interactive tutorial on how to use them. 'searchUK' claims to cover over 95% of the .uk domain, "making it the most extensive search engine in the world." After a few test runs with 'searchUK' I believe them! http://www.searchUK.com/