Dive in with Cachalot, a novel digital textbook for marine science and conservation
Deployed on a tablet computer, Cachalot integrates encyclopedic species entries, Open Access journal articles, textbook-style content (including great photos and illustrations), video, audio and animations of animal behavior and anatomy within an annotation interface. Cachalot is crowdsourced, providing students with current information contributed by an accessible global network of marine scientists. Cachalot is not simply a reference, but is rather an evolving conduit for learning about marine science and conservation. The App incorporates a Twitter-based messaging system for students to communicate about course materials and an interface that hooks students into Wolfram Alpha’s computational knowledge-engine. Much of Cachalot’s content is also highly accessible to the general public, providing for new ways to educate people about marine science in informal settings.
Cachalot is distributed free on the Apple iTunes App Store.
