Instructions for MacDougall MacDougall On-line Adventure

Times and Dates

The MacDougall MacDougall in Time™ on-line adventure runs for a total of five weeks. The commencement date is Monday, May 5, 2003 and the completion date Friday, May 30, 2003. You will need to have registered before April 19, 2002.

What's The Big Idea?

MacDougall MacDougall in Time™ is the brainwave of teachers from Upwey High School, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
The aim of the project is to encourage students like you to learn some interesting information about your world and have some fun in the process. It also aims to familiarise you with a range of web based technologies - e-mail, video conferencing (where possible), web browsing and streaming as well as help you develop expertise in the use of such things as digital cameras and scanners.

Who's In On It?

MacDougall MacDougall in Time™ is open to all students in Grade 6 - Year 8 (approx. ages 12-14) from schools both within Australia and internationally.

How It Works

MacDougall MacDougall is hiding somewhere in time and the only way to find him is to track him down over the course of 5 weeks. You will find his trail in two new locations each week but to proceed to each new location, you must first complete a series of exercises and answer a key question from MacDougall himself before you are then e-mailed the web address of the next new location and exercises. MacDougall MacDougall in Time™ is a completely web based project. Your participation will be entirely by e-mail, so having an active e-mail account is a must. You will e-mail all answers to an address provided at the time of registration. Only when you have e-mailed your answers will you get the web address for the next new location. As well as completing the exercises, you need to read the information MacDougall gives you about each of the locations you visit as there will be an online Back Trackers quiz towards the end of the 5 weeks from which you may earn valuable points.
Points are awarded for completing tasks both consistently and accurately. Those with the most points at the end of the five weeks will win the main prizes.

Prizes

Prizes will be awarded by the project organisers in consultation with the teachers supervising your involvement in the project. They will advise you of the prizes available to you in the location from which you are playing the game. Melbourne based students may contact the organisers here for details on prizes.

Can My Teachers Help Me?

Only with the technical side of things, that is, how to do something on the computer; they can't help you by giving you the answers to exercises. At a pinch, they may give you hints as to where you could look for answers, but only if you're desperate.

For Teachers

Teachers need to ensure that interested students have access to their own personal e-mail accounts - these may be centrally provided through your school or made available through registration with many of the free web based email services currently operating around the world eg. Hotmail
A small number of activities will require the students to have access to either a digital camera or scanner. Alternative arrangements can be made if this presents a problem for a school.

Also, the computer/s that the students will use to access the MacDougall MacDougall web pages will need to have the latest version of Real Player installed in order to access video clips. This is free software and if you do not have a copy in the school, it may be downloaded by clicking here or by visiting the Real Media (navigate to the free version of the player) web site. Please install the program after download. Additionally, students will need to have access to recent versions of their preferred web browser. The pages are designed to look and function best in Internet Explorer 5.x and above but if Netscape is preferred, then please run Netscape 6.0 or above.

Advertising the project prior to the commencement date can generate both curiosity and enthusiasm. Prior to the commencement of the MacDougall MacDougall project, you may like to place a poster in the relevant classrooms of each school just to create a little interest. Click here to see a thumbnail image of a suitable poster - if you would like to download a Letter/A4 sized copy of the poster suitable for printing, then please click on the thumbnail image.

The project organisers are available to assist at any time, please click here to make contact.


Times and Dates
	The MacDougall MacDougall in Time™ on-line adventure runs for a total of five weeks. The commencement date is Monday, May 5, 2003 and the completion date Friday, May 30, 2003. You will need to have registered before April 19, 2002.
What's The Big Idea?
	MacDougall MacDougall in Time™ is the brainwave of teachers from Upwey High School, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The aim of the project is to encourage students like you to learn some interesting information about your world and have some fun in the process. It also aims to familiarise you with a range of web based technologies - e-mail, video conferencing (where possible), web browsing and streaming as well as help you develop expertise in the use of such things as digital cameras and scanners.
Who's In On It?
	MacDougall MacDougall in Time™ is open to all students in Grade 6 - Year 8 (approx. ages 12-14) from schools both within Australia and internationally.
How It Works
	MacDougall MacDougall is hiding somewhere in time and the only way to find him is to track him down over the course of 5 weeks. You will find his trail in two new locations each week but to proceed to each new location, you must first complete a series of exercises and answer a key question from MacDougall himself before you are then e-mailed the web address of the next new location and exercises. MacDougall MacDougall in Time™ is a completely web based project. Your participation will be entirely by e-mail, so having an active e-mail account is a must. You will e-mail all answers to an address provided at the time of registration. Only when you have e-mailed your answers will you get the web address for the next new location. As well as completing the exercises, you need to read the information MacDougall gives you about each of the locations you visit as there will be an online Back Trackers quiz towards the end of the 5 weeks from which you may earn valuable points. Points are awarded for completing tasks both consistently and accurately. Those with the most points at the end of the five weeks will win the main prizes.
Prizes
	Prizes will be awarded by the project organisers in consultation with the teachers supervising your involvement in the project. They will advise you of the prizes available to you in the location from which you are playing the game. Melbourne based students may contact the organisers here for details on prizes.
Can My Teachers Help Me?
	Only with the technical side of things, that is, how to do something on the computer; they can't help you by giving you the answers to exercises. At a pinch, they may give you hints as to where you could look for answers, but only if you're desperate.
For Teachers
	Teachers need to ensure that interested students have access to their own personal e-mail accounts - these may be centrally provided through your school or made available through registration with many of the free web based email services currently operating around the world eg. Hotmail A small number of activities will require the students to have access to either a digital camera or scanner. Alternative arrangements can be made if this presents a problem for a school. Also, the computer/s that the students will use to access the MacDougall MacDougall web pages will need to have the latest version of Real Player installed in order to access video clips. This is free software and if you do not have a copy in the school, it may be downloaded by clicking here or by visiting the Real Media (navigate to the free version of the player) web site. Please install the program after download. Additionally, students will need to have access to recent versions of their preferred web browser. The pages are designed to look and function best in Internet Explorer 5.x and above but if Netscape is preferred, then please run Netscape 6.0 or above. Advertising the project prior to the commencement date can generate both curiosity and enthusiasm. Prior to the commencement of the MacDougall MacDougall project, you may like to place a poster in the relevant classrooms of each school just to create a little interest. Click here to see a thumbnail image of a suitable poster - if you would like to download a Letter/A4 sized copy of the poster suitable for printing, then please click on the thumbnail image. The project organisers are available to assist at any time, please click here to make contact.