1. I honestly don't understand what Sodaplay is. I thought it was really confusing. It also seems very boring and not interesting at first glance. There is nowhere on the site where it explains what the purpose of it is or anything like that. I can see that you can obviously create things, but I don't know what you do with those creations or what the point is. I guess you could allow students to experiment on this website and make their own creations.
2. I think that the simulations of the frog dissection and the roller coaster are useful and do promote meaningful learning. My first impression was that I had no idea that these types of things even existed, and that it is neat that you can basically dissect a frog without having the frog and having the mess. Then i wondered, would you learn it any better if you were actually using an actual frog and doing it in a classroom? I'm not sure. I think the frog one was good because they explain what to do and how you do it, and some of the things you can actually try to do it yourself. I thought the roller coaster activity was fun to play with and would be good for students learning physics or something like that. I think that both of these could be used in an older classroom, but I'm not really sure how I would use them in an elementary classroom.
4. Darfur is Dying - When I first read about the website and played the game, I thought it was a hard game to win, and I felt almost bad that I kept allowing these people to get caught by the "bad people." I think if this were used in an elementary classroom, they could take it very seriously and come to feel guilty if they weren't able to accomplish the task. I would not use this in an elementary classroom because it seems like a very heavy topic for young children and it doesn't seem to promote meaningful learning.
Ayiti - The cost of life - I think this website could be useful in the sense that students can get a glimpse of what it might be like living in a country like Haiti, but it still doesn't do it justice. I don't really see how I would use this game in an elementary classroom, unless I, as the teacher used it with the whole class.
3rd World Farmer - I thought this game was easier than the others and it could be useful because you have to think about how you want to spend your money - whether it's on crops, livestock, buildings, etc... I think this game could be used in a classroom, and I believe it does promote meaningful learning.
6. I found a few virtual worlds that are suitable for elementary age students. www.clubpenguin.com is a virtual world that seems to be popular for young children, but I don't think it is suitable necessarily for use in the classroom. In general, i believe that virtual worlds can help children improve social skills, some of them seem to be a safe learning environment for kids. I do like the Quest Atlantis, as mentioned in the textbook, and many other reviews I read about. I googled virtual worlds and didn't find a lot. I found more through delicious and through some articles that researched virtual worlds.
7. I don't have any background in computer programming, html or anything else. I have never used Scratch or anything like it either.