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site is designed to fit in with the classical
mythology or world cultural studies program within
the general curriculum. There are a variety of
ways to use the site both in and out of the classroom,
as a supplement, as an alternative textbook or
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in
a computer lab at school as a group activity.'The Big
Myth' is a collection of cross-cultural world creation
myths, designed for comparative study. Each myth is
animated using Flash technology, so it is important
that the school or home accessing the site has a browser
(Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer) of 3.0 or
higher, as well as the Shockwave Player Plug-In, which
is free to download on the Macromedia site www.macromedia.com.
One of the most important aspects of this site is to
introduce children to the web, and allow them to feel
comfortable with the internet as a tool for research,
inspiration and creative learning. |
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THE
MYTHS
Students click on a country on the world map, which
brings them to a page where they can choose to see
the creation myth of that region, the pantheon of
the gods of that culture, and a bit of background
information on the culture itself- the history as
well as about the people today. Once the students
have gone through all three sections, they are lead
to a series of exercise questions, research questions
and ideas for class projects. This section is much
like an accompanying workbook which can be turned
in to the teacher as homework or classwork, either
in the form of a printout, or on-screen. Teachers
have the option of looking at these lessons directly,
from the previous page in the Teachers' Section.
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WRITE
YOUR OWN MYTH:
One of the most exciting aspects of the study of
world mythology is the effect it has on the creativity
of a young person. This section is a basic write-in
form, where students can send in their original stories
to 'The Big Myth' webmaster. The webmaster will read
the e-mails and post them online under "The Gallery
of Answers". |
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DISCUSSION
FORUM :
This page resembles a 'letters to the editor' section
of a magazine. A question for general discussion based
on one of the myths is posted on a rotating basis on
this page, and below that is an e-mail reponse form.
It's open to all who wish to comment- anyone with an
answer to the question can write in. The Webmaster receives
these letters and chooses the best of each month to
publish online on a rolling basis - thus the children
can see their results within a week of their writing
in. A teacher using this site may well wish to incorporate
follow-up classroom discussion around these rotating
topics. |
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LINKS
AND BIOGRAPHY:
This section is a list of further links to outside sites
of interest for students doing research projects for
which they will need a broader base of information.
All sites pertain to world mythology and the study of
international cultures. They are listed by age group,
area of focus and region. If students are collecting
ideas for their own myths, it can be an excellent place
to find wider inspiration. In addition there is a list
of the hard-copy texts used during the creation of this
website. |
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USING
SEARCH ENGINES
The Internet is a vast, disorganized library containing
information on every imaginable subject. There are tens
of millions of websites at this point and new sites
are launched every hour. The number of websites has
grown faster over the years than can be documented and
therefore the best means of finding what one is looking
for is by using search engines.
There are many good search engines online. Almost all
the research for 'The Big Myth' was carried out online
using search engines. It is a vital part of the learning
process for the students to find original material about
the cultures they are studying online; much of what
they might find is written by the indigenous peoples
themselves.
Some common search engines:
Yahoo- one
of the very first and still very thorough
Google- a
newer search engine which has recently become very popular
Northern Light-
a good general search page
Alta Vista-
here one can search specifically for images and sound
files
Excite- searches
by concept rather than keyword
HotBot- has
some unique features including sorting results by date
or type
Lycos- one
of the oldest search tools on the Internet
To find a website about a specific subject, type a few
keywords into the search field. The best keywords combine
terms that are uncommon, such as "maori music". Very
common words such as 'of' or 'is' are largely ignored.
Place the main subjects first and be as accurate as
possible. If the search is for more than one word, it
is best to put them in quotes or parentheses. |
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the engines will come back with search results
with thousands of website pages. Most search engines,
however, allow you to narrow your search by searching
further within the results. |
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