Gather Links


Gathering Links

Background & Rationale

Gathering Links is the second phase of the Web-and-Flow design process. This is where you collect the Web sites to use in your activities. Two main features have been built into Web-and-Flow to keep this stage from turning into a bottomless timesuck.

First, rather than send you off to a search engine to find your Web wonders, we suggest you use sites like Blue Web'n that pre-sift links into hotlists on popular topics. A lot of good folks have already spent heaps of time doing a lot of searching for you. We might as well say thanks by taking advantage of these labors.

The second feature that will save you time and help you create a more effective activity is the integration of a new strategy: Link Type categorization. The thinking here is that not all Web sites present the same learning opportunities. For example, some sites are "info-rich" whereas others "perturb" your usual way of looking at a topic. Each of the five types is valuable in its own way and serve specific learning goals. By clicking a radio button to identify the link type, you speed the next phase of Customized Design because our expert system knows which Link Types match best with which activity format. To get a flavor for this categorization scheme, explore the interactive Link Type Show and Tell. If you prefer reading, try Thinking thru Linking.

Finally, like all Flow experiences, Gathering Links allows you the flexibility to Edit Links or change the way you categorize Link Types at any time. Web-and-Flow is here to scaffold your learning, not constrict it. In fact, you can even go back to the Creative Brief if you get ideas that change your goals. No worries, just use Web-and-Flow to grow what you know (not search links in slow mo').




© 1999 - 2008 Web-and-Flow and Tom March