<>  S I T E F I N D E R <> Vol 2 Issue 11 <> ISSN 1465-8224 SiteFinder Adventure and Experiential Education Directory Ezine This is your free monthly newsletter associated with the SiteFinder Directory: http://reviewing.co.uk/sitefinder/index.htm edited by Roger Greenaway roger@reviewing.co.uk <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> This month's sister ezine 'Active Reviewing Tips' describes reviewing tools and strategies for DEVELOPING POTENTIAL. Send a blank email to mailto:reviewing-subscribe@topica.com to sign up for this free monthly pubication, or view the ARCHIVES <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> CONTENTS (TOP) <> 1 <> About this issue After the 'heaviness' of the last issue (which gave you lots of tips about doing outdoor research on the internet), here's an issue dedicated to 'fun'. Maybe there are some seasonal influences around too. The site I have reviewed below will give you plenty of ideas about how to celebrate over the next few weeks (and years). But Deep Fun is far more than a site for activity ideas. It is a site that fits perfectly with the original purpose of this ezine: SiteFinder arose from my own frustrations while searching the net for inspirational web sites about 'adventure-based learning'. I wanted to know ... 'HOW and WHY are people using outdoor adventure for learning, growth, development, empowerment, education, training, therapy, reflection, inspiration, etc.?' At www.deepfun.com you (and I) will find many ways of exploring the above question, and even finding some answers! <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> CONTENTS (TOP) <> 2 <> THE FUN PORTAL Review of www.deepfun.com by Roger Greenaway ''A virtual play community hosted by Bernie DeKoven'' (where 'oaqui' is pronounced 'wacky') This is not a whole review of the whole site. It is just about the bits I happened to explore. The DeepFun home page has an extensive index and links to many other fun sites. Which is why I think of it as a 'fun portal': Fun and Self Fun and Health Fun and Society Fun and Family Fun and Work Fun and Games Fun book, tapes and articles Fun resources Fun connections I looked at one or more pages in each of these 9 sections. The trouble with large sites (including my own site) is that you can quickly find yourself in some obscure backwater. You can too easily bypass the best bits without knowing it. I first found myself looking through the 1995 email archives of Questions and Answers to (and from) Dr. Fun. It took some patience to find the 'gems'. [see later] I formed a very different impression of Dr. Fun when I later discovered the '20th Anniversary On-Line Edition of The Well-Played Game: a Player's Philosophy' by Bernard DeKoven (aka Dr. Fun) at http://www.deepfun.com/WPG.htm The carefully written introduction is in a very different style to Dr. Fun's chatty emails. I was expecting 'The Well-Played Game' to be a collection of 'new games' activities, but it was something far better. It is full of practical insights into game playing. If you see yourself as an 'exercise designer' rather than a 'game-player' you will still find plenty of useful tips in this on-line (and off-line) book. The whole book is on one VERY long page - so its easy to search for keywords (using CTRL + F) and to do some selective reading. ''The Purpose of Purposelessness'' was a subtitle that caught my eye - and is a good place to get to grips with some of the creative contradictions and puzzling paradoxes that populate this site. The first thing that puzzled me was how Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's FLOW THEORY is presented as the theory for fun. According to this view the art (or science?) of fun is to get the balance between challenge and boredom 'exactly' right. What's happened to the carefree and unpredictable nature of fun? I have seen the exact same diagram used as the theoretical underpinning for 'adventure programming' - a lot of which isn't 'play' at all. In fact, I am not at all convinced that flow theory has much to do with either 'play' or 'adventure programming'. My understanding of flow is that it comes with activity that a person has become proficient at with practice until it becomes a part of who they are. One of Csikszentmihalyi's examples (I seem to recall) is of a grandmother reading to her grandchild. Grandmother will surely not have experienced flow in the early stages of *learning* her ABC as a child? Elsewhere Dr. Fun describes a young girl acting as a natural play leader amongst her friends. This might serve as an ideal example of a young person 'in flow' (but she was clearly well practised in this art). My understanding of flow is that it is unlikely to be experienced by people when they are faced with activities that they have never done before - which is precisely what DOES happen in 'adventure programming' and 'new games workshops'. But such issues about 'flow' are NOT a problem about the site - because you will have found yourself on a site that is the best place to explore this conundrum - and any others you might find. There is a very active delphi forum (called the DeepFun Community) attached (seamlessly!) to the site (hmm that's a good idea). There's also a very useful link to the 'flow network' at: http://www.flownetwork.com/biosktch.htm [URL may have changed] where you will quickly learn how to pronounce Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi ("ME-high CHICK-sent-me-high-ee") - or 'Mike' for short. Back at deepfun.com ... you will find that Bernie and 'Mike' have met and you will find out what they think about each other. Mike reveals the difficulties he has had getting funding for studying something as unserious as happiness: ''When I write for a grant, you think I can mention the word "flow" or "fun" or "happiness?" Not if I want the grant I can't." Mike's glowing testimonial for Bernie reads:     ''Bernie DeKoven is the only person I know who not only knows     about play, but knows how to teach it. May his efforts prosper,     for they help us all.'' Dr. (BDeK) Fun is certainly a big player. I would love to have learned more about the game he played with a quarter of a million people. And how loud he had to blow his whistle! I have probably said enough for you to judge whether this site is worth a visit (or printing out), and whether you want to check out the internet facilities of the DeepFun community. It is certainly a great place to LEARN about fun. On my next visit to this site I might be able to find answers to these nagging questions... Fun is a world of paradox and unseriousness. So how far can you probe into 'fun' before being told you are off-limits? For example, the word 'therapy' looks like a no-no for this site. But what is 'deepfun' if it isn't 'therapy' of some kind? Is this just market positioning or is there a real difference? A final recommendation has got to be that not only is this a free and generous website, but also the face to face training that is offered is also free and generous. Check the site to see if you are 'charitable' enough to qualify for this offer! I promised to tell about some of the gems I found. In addition to the DeepFun Community, The Flow Network and The Well-Played Game I especially liked 'The Interplay Experiment' http://www.deepfun.com/intrplay.htm - a neat, if predictable, way of demonstrating the value of fun - for all ages. Another gem for me was Dr. Fun's advice to an event organiser: ''The first thing you want to do when you find yourself in charge of a fun event is to make everybody else responsible... Make each team responsible for making something. Only, instead of having them create a THING, have them PLAN THE REST OF THE EVENT for each other!'' I was also pleased to find advice about allowing and supporting opting out, and allowing anyone to stop the whole game. ''When someone, anyone for any reason, calls 'TIME OUT' you have to stop playing.'' Compulsory fun is not a paradox but an impossiblility. Only desperate comedians TELL you to laugh. Please let me know what gems YOU find at deepfun.com or at any other interesting 'experiential learning' web sites that you visit. Write to: mailto:sitefindergems@reviewing.co.uk Let's continue with the topic of fun and games next year! <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> CONTENTS (TOP) <> 3 <> TRACKERS' TIPS zzzzzz SEARCH WHILE YOU SLEEP! zzzzzzzzzzzz Regular readers will know about these two handy robots: TracerLock http://www.tracerlock.com The Informant They will send you emails when new results appear for your favourite search terms. A new facility from the northernlight search engine promises to do a more comprehensive and professional job. To try it out go to: http://www.northernlight.com and choose the yellowish 'alerts' box in the left hand margin. If you already know of sites that you want to keep an eye on, make use of this robot to do the job for you: http://www.changedetection.com Let these robots do your searching and get a few more zzzzzzzzs! <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> CONTENTS (TOP) <> 4 <> NEW VIRTUAL VENUES FOR ADVENTURE PROGRAMMING AND OUTDOOR TRAINING INTERCOM NOW HOSTS A DISCUSSION GROUP 'interCOM' now hosts a discussion group as well as providing a newsletter. The breakdown of this 300+ international 'list' is: Africa 7%, North America 7%, Asia 14%, Latin America 14%, Australia/NZ 29%, Europe 29%. Anyone can join this list to discuss Experiential Learning and Adventure Programming. Approximately one-third of current list members are also members of AEE - the Association for Experiential Education. BULLETIN BOARDS, BARS and E-CONFERENCES One thing I have noticed about discussion lists is that they are becoming more and more focused on specific topics. But the interests of the outdoor adventure community overlap with many other fields. So how can the internet best support networking ACROSS these special interest communities - without producing information overload? The solution seems to be creating a 'discussion' facility that (a) has high visibility on the web (b) allows users access via email or the web or both (c) allows users to easily adjust the flow of information they receive (and the groups or 'threads' they belong to). In the last issue I recommended the Freepint Bar at http://www.freepint.co.uk/bar/ The 'bar' now has all of the above facilities, and is a great place to ask questions to information professionals. After asking your question you simply click a box if you want to receive (by email) any messages that appear in the thread that you have just begun. Your question (or message title) will be seen by thousands of information professionals, but all YOU will receive is responses to your particular question. This is a neat application of technology for reducing information overload - exactly what we should expect from information professionals! This clever combination of services (that is easily configured and controlled by individual users) makes it a breeze to access other networks in a very selective and focused way. A similar facility now exists at TrainingZone - where the 'bar' is called a 'conference'. See: http://www.trainingzone.co.uk TrainingZone's 'Web Board' technology allows a number of different conferences to happen simultaneously. You simply select which ones you want to join. It's the virtual equivalent of Open Space Technology. This TrainingZone conference facility is a great place to catch up on training issues. For example, a recent ''unflattering'' summary of over 100 research studies about NLP by Gary Platt is something you must read before being tempted by the trainer-training opportunities advertised at: www.inlpta.com/trainers.htm [since disappeared] I have just posted 3 questions to kick off a new OUTDOOR TRAINING CONFERENCE that is now running in the TrainingZone Discussion Area. Go along, take a look, try it out, ask a question, give an answer .... My questions look a bit lonely! This self-running service should provide an ideal venue for 'outdoor training' as more people get to know about it. You can reach it and contribute anytime at: http://www.trainingzone.co.uk Here are some user-friendly INSTRUCTIONS from TrainingZone's Tim Pickles to help you on your first visit to this virtual OUTDOOR TRAINING CONFERENCE: ''You can READ the postings anonymously; to POST a contribution, you need enter your name and email address on the site unless you area already a TrainingZone user. You will be prompted to choose your own login name and password which are then stored and remembered, so you only have to do this the first time. The Discussion takes place on the Web-based conferencing software.  There are several training-related discussions active at any one time, so just click on the Outdoor Training one to join in there. If you would like to receive new postings by email, click on the Help area and set up the personal options accordingly.'' <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> CONTENTS (TOP) <> 5 <> SITEOWNERS' TIPS ''How to get listed in Yahoo and the other major indexes'' http://selfpromotion.com/yahootips.t I thought reviewing.co.uk was listed in Yahoo because it showed up when I searched Yahoo. How wrong could I be! From this article I realised that my site was not listed in Yahoo at all. So I, for one, will be following Robert Woodhead advice in this article and having another go at getting a Yahoo listing ;-) Just how popular does a site have to be before Yahoo takes notice? The chicken and the egg are both laughing! ''How to prepare your site for the search engines'' http://selfpromotion.com/pageprep.t It's never too late to do this job. People either seem to get obsessed by search engine optimisation or give it very little attention. It's certainly worth getting yout title tags and meta tags sorted out and submitting your site to the major search engines every few months. This article tells you how to do this - and lots more! Also take a look at the SPECIAL OFFER for siteowners in readers' comments below. <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> CONTENTS (TOP) <> 6 <> NEW SITEFINDER DIRECTORY ENTRIES Bernie DeKoven Deep Fun IAF, TASP bernie@dekoven.com http://www.deepfun.com People who want to bring more fun into the world, who play and like to bring others into play To learn new games, to find words to help you explain the value and importance of fun New games and old. Articles about the theory and practice, the psychology and sociology of fun. Opportunity to join a community via our Delphi.com website. Innes Jones Shropshire LEA http://www.punjab-express.com Teachers School children and those interested in India It looks and sounds good Great pics+downloads, sounds and maps Teachers School children and those interested in India Cindy Faucher Pathfinder Outdoor Education, Inc. AEE pathouted@aol.com http://www.pathfinder-ed.org People interested in experiential education. For information about our programs as well as a visit to the educator's corner Over 50 curriculum choices plus a new classroom activity or items of interest for educators. Posting letters and pictures sent in from program participants. <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> CONTENTS (TOP) <> 7 <> READERS COMMENTS No comments from readers in this issue, but things can change ... HAVE YOU FOUND A GOOD SITE LATELY? Would you like to review a site - or just send in a brief recommendation? I will be pleased to receive site reviews of ANY length (or shortness). There is NO standard format required (as you may have noticed!) I will not be able to review all of the sites in the directory - so I'm looking for some co-operation and community here - whether or not you are a siteowner. But if you are, here's ... A SPECIAL OFFER TO SITE-OWNERS: If you have a site in the SiteFinder Directory that you would like to be reviewed (in SiteFinder Ezine) then I will GUARANTEE a review of your site if you submit a review of another site in the SiteFinder Directory. Choose any site listed at: http://reviewing.co.uk/sitefinder/index.htm <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> CONTENTS (TOP) <> 8 <> DID YOU KNOW THAT ...? protecting your computer from the latest VIRUSES and year 2000 problems is quite easy! Step 1: [if you use Windows] Go to this site and download all the 'critical' updates. These updates (or patches) will install themselves automatically and protect your system from some of the latest viruses. http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com Step Step 2: Check that you have the latest updates for you anti-virus software. For example take a look at: http://www.symantec.com or http://www.drsolomons.com or http://www.macafee.com If you take these 2 steps there's an excellent chance (but no guarantee!) that you will be able to continue receiving SiteFinder ezine well into the next Millenium!