Interactive Media Project

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The Michigan 4-H Children’s Garden Kids Tour creates a lush interactive, online experience, paralleling and extending the actual garden experience.
Michigan 4-H Children’s Garden Kids Tour

OVERVIEW

The 4-H Children's Garden Kids' Tour is a model of elegant integration of virtual and real worlds, visually rich, filled with interactivity, explorations, stories, garden sign language, other fun learning experiences for K-6, and tips for teachers, deeply integrated with the real garden.

CREATIVE MERIT

Awards

  • Golden Web Award, International Association of Webmasters and Designers, November 2001.
  • Surfers’ Choice Award, Surfers Choice Awards, November 2001.
  • Cool Site of the Day, Cool Site of the Day, November 2001.
  • Webmaster Award, The Webmaster Awards, December 2001.
  • Web Author’s Choice Award, Pinnacle-Club Web Author's Choice Award, December, 2001.
  • Busy Educator Award, The Busy Educator’s Guide to the World Wide Web, December, 2001.
  • Exploratorium Ten Cool Sites, the Exploratorium, December 2001.
  • The Teacher’s Corner Excellence for Education Web Sites, The Teacher’s Corner, December 2001.
  • NEM5 Web Magic Bronze Award, NEM5, December 2001.
  • Maestro Awards Bronze, Maestro Awards, December 2001.
  • EduNET Choice Award 1/24/2002 - Award that is bestowed upon sites that "provide and maintain valuable educational content". You will be linked under the category "previous winners and other useful links" category. In addition, you have been chosen "Site of the Week" and will be featured on EduNET's opening page!
  • FlashKit.com 1/13/2002 - Selected as “Featured Sites of the Week”.

Audience Reach:

  • Available online since 2001.
  • Winn, B., Lownds, N., and Heeter, C. Peer-reviewed permanent exhibit in the Apple Learning Interchange about the 4h Children's Garden Kids Tour, live online since July 2002 at http://ali.apple.com/ali_sites/ali/exhibits/1000058/ as part of Apple Learning Interchange at http://ali.apple.com/ali_sites/ali/exhibits.shtml

FUNDING

  • March 2001, The Connected Children’s Garden, Norm Lownds, Carrie Heeter, Brian Winn (Dow), $441,000. Creative Proposal. Funded.

ROLE

Carrie Heeter envisioned and directed software development on this 15-month project, working with content director and virtual curator Lownds, programmer Rhodes, developer Peteu, and videographer/editor Maziak. My role on this project was fairly minor. I implemented the electronic card feature on the site, consulted with the project team on programming and design issues, helped with the QuickTime VR production, and helped promote the web site upon completion. Further, the garden tour integrates elements from other projects I have worked on, such as the ASL Browser and Plant Problems CD-ROM.

VIEW THE WORK

The Michigan 4-H Children's Garden Kids Tour is available online.