Explore A What? Why, Exploratree!

Getting students to plan out projects, think clearly and critically, and to make connections among seemingly disparate ideas are among our profession's greatest challenges. For me, that task is even more daunting due to the conflict between my own text-based, linear thought processes and my students' more graphical, associative mindsets. A new site,
Exploratree, an outgrowth of the British Enquiring Minds project, appears to be an excellent resource to bridge these two modalities. The site provides 23 "interactive thinking guides" that can be downloaded and printed to "support the thinking or working through of an issue, topic or question and help to shape, define and focus an idea and also support the planning required to investigate it further." I haven't had a chance to test out the guides (you can also create your own and sequence them), but I plan to more seriously explore the site over break for inclusion in my College Writing II class next spring. If you've used these kinds of guides in your own classes, let us know in the comments!

Lost, But Waiting To Be Found

It's gone--trashed, stashed, or gone in a crash. That one Word document you must do something with today is gone. Before you commit computercide, head on over to HackCollege for a list of 10 ways to find that lost document. If all else fails, check out free programs, Restoration or Recuva.

Kompoze Yourself...

Looking for a good WYSIWYG web editor? I recently downloaded and have experimented a little with Kompozer. Looks like a winner, able to handle css, and free!