Group items tagged

Jennifer Durn January 24, 2010 ReadWriteThink - http://www.readwritethink.org/ OVERVIEW The ReadWriteThink site is a partnership between the International Reading Association, National Council for Teachers of English, and the Verizon Foundation. The site contains several sections such as classroom resources, professional development, and parent/afterschool resources. The purpose of the site is to provide a collaborative tool to share free resources in reading and language arts instruction. This site would be a great resource for both the prospective and experienced educator. CONTENT Information on the site is up-to-date and clearly attributed to each author. Each of the sections is organized logically and contains links to various educational and reading websites. Cutting edge teaching methods are featured on the site and include teaching with podcasts and online safety for students. I was impressed with the relevance of the information on the site to today's student and current issues in education. DESIGN The ReadWriteThink site is of high quality with many pictures and multimedia graphics. The site also contains interactive exercises for students from K-12, lesson plans available for download, projects, and games. These various tools present information in ways which are useful for a variety of learning styles. This site is also well organized with logical placement of links and toolbars.

Overview: Read Write Think is a website designed for teachers to assist them with lesson plans, classroom resources and overall classroom ideas. The website is unique in that you can search a subject, and it will give you several different lesson plan ideas for grades K-12. Beyond that, the lesson plan ideas tell you the required materials such as internet or textbook resources, and they also tell you the state standards the lesson will meet. This website is great for generating ideas about different subjects, and creating lessons you might never have thought of on your own. Content: The overall content of the site is very reliable; it was created by the International Reading Association and the National Council for Teachers of English. The ideas, standards, and recommended resources are also highly reliable. All the links on the site also bring you to highly relevant information to the topic you have searched. Design: The design of the site is very professional and easy to navigate. The content is all easy to access, and displayed in a way where you automatically know the intended, professional purpose of the site. All the links to other websites are relevant and fully functioning. There aren't many advertisements to distract you; however, there is hardly any use of multimedia. There are occasional pictures, but in general it is a strictly traditional, informational site.

Meghan Frank The purpose of this website is to help teachers not only be able to teach how to read, write, and think but to also provide resources and help to be able to teach these subjects effectively to their students. This is definitely a website that is more centered on teachers and maybe even parents. This website provides lesson plans, different student interactions and activities, professional development, and videos to help teachers in their classroom. When looking over the content evaluation this website proves to be very useful. It is easy to identify the content of these site as well the intended audience, which is teachers. You can easily locate who the author is, their information, that they are creditable, and they provide information to contact them if you need too. It lists that the latest date that it was revised was in 2014, and that it is updated frequently. All links are also working properly. This website also has high quality information. It achieves its intended purpose for the audience, and it is very well organized and easy to understand. The information appears to be accurate and up to date, and the information is consistent around the site and with the other links. This website also has an efficient design, according to cyberguide ratings. The homepage opens fast and you immediately know where you are and what information this website will give you. There is a table of contents, and you can identify the sponsor of the website and how to contact them. The copyright date is also listed. This site is easy to navigate and has pretty straight forward directions on how to navigate through it. All the links are working and relevant to the content of the site. All the multimedia aspects of the website have a purpose and contribute to the site. The information on this website is very relevant to teachers and would make it worth visiting. It is easy to navigate and is formatted the same throughout the site. Over all this would be a resourceful

Daniella Gonzales Late, September 29,2009 Content: This website, SOU: Guide to Writing History Papers, is a very good resource for both students and teachers. It shows different structures for papers, general recommendations for writing a fact document as well as encouraging words for those who might get discouraged. I think this would be an excellent resource for any student having difficulties with writing fact documents, as these are much different than creative writing pieces. Also it is a good resource for teachers to use, so they can teach their students how to write papers before any are even due. Another reason it could be good for teachers is it would be able to help teachers know what to look for when grading a paper for a history based class. Design: The design of the website is very clear and concise. It starts with saying that it is a guide for writing papers, followed by a list that the website provides of everything that this website helps with, including links to help navigate to a specific part easier. After this navigational list the website starts going in depth of everything that was found on the list. It is very simple and even the individual who is completely new at using the internet could follow it. Attribution: I think that this website is an excellent resource for both students and teachers alike. I want to become an IB history teacher and as one you must prepare your students to write history papers in less than two hours that cover all aspects of the question. This website would help me learn how to teach my students to write better papers so that they can succeed on the exams. Also I think any student from middle school through college could use it if they didn't understand how to write a paper. This website is very well written and I would definitely use it as a teacher.

Daniella Gonzales Late, September 29,2009 Content: This website, SOU: Guide to Writing History Papers, is a very good resource for both students and teachers. It shows different structures for papers, general recommendations for writing a fact document as well as encouraging words for those who might get discouraged. I think this would be an excellent resource for any student having difficulties with writing fact documents, as these are much different than creative writing pieces. Also it is a good resource for teachers to use, so they can teach their students how to write papers before any are even due. Another reason it could be good for teachers is it would be able to help teachers know what to look for when grading a paper for a history based class. Design: The design of the website is very clear and concise. It starts with saying that it is a guide for writing papers, followed by a list that the website provides of everything that this website helps with, including links to help navigate to a specific part easier. After this navigational list the website starts going in depth of everything that was found on the list. It is very simple and even the individual who is completely new at using the internet could follow it. Attribution: I think that this website is an excellent resource for both students and teachers alike. I want to become an IB history teacher and as one you must prepare your students to write history papers in less than two hours that cover all aspects of the question. This website would help me learn how to teach my students to write better papers so that they can succeed on the exams. Also I think any student from middle school through college could use it if they didn't understand how to write a paper. This website is very well written and I would definitely use it as a teacher.

Erin Kirby January 23, 2011 Overview: The sight http://www.fema.gov/kids/ is a good sight for young children to participate in fun games and learn emergency information that is important to know. The age groups include any age. The purpose of the sight to teach what to do in emergency situations, and play fun games that connect to these emergencies. The site allows you to click different links that tell about a different things involving disasters and emergencies. The seems simple and entertaining to use for kids of all ages. It is helpful for them to know the information on the site as well. This is a good site for teachers to tell elementary students about so they have the information they need and can apply it to their lives. Content: This website not confusing and very simple to use no matter what you click on. There are no advertisements that become a problem and get in the way when you click on the links. The games are fun and very educational for the children. It would be helpful if a parent was with the child to help them out, but the children can also do it on there own. There are links at the bottom that explain things that a parent or teacher might want to know about the information on the site. One link at the bottom tells you all about FEMA and gives you facts and stats about them. The website is credible and has reliable information, most government sites are very educational and correct. The content of the sight is educational and fun. The links on the site are very helpful because they are simple to use and there is not a lot going on. Overall the sight seems like it could be a helpful way to learn about emergencies and how to handle them. It can also help kids get involved. I feel like it would be smart for an elementary teacher to show their students this website. Design: The websites speed is extremely fast and there are not a lot of things that become distracting or get in your way. The homepage is simple and even when you are off the ho

This site tells you everything you need to know about Montessori teaching methods.

Kristin Gaines September 11, 2011 Overview- Overall, this site is very useful and is designed to teach users about Montessori teaching methods. The intended audience is teachers, but it would be a useful site for parents as well. The available resources are all relating to the Montessori Company and not to other links. This website is definitely useful and is a good site to use when exploring teaching methods of early childhood. Content- The content of this site is very reliable. It is updated frequently; the last time it was updated was just 6 days ago. The only problem with this website's content is that it is biased towards Montessori teaching. This is not a huge problem though, because any user would know that it is biased because the web site developer is Montessori. Design- I could not find any faults in the design of this site. Everything from the table of contents section to the obvious copyright date, this site lays out everything a user needs in order to navigate through its contents. I would recommend this site to others, because it is laid out so neat.

This site is a great site to use in conjunction with another search engine like wikipedia. Although this site is art based, it's a great starting point when reviewing or researching an artist. This site guides you to museums, archives, artists, book, articles and more relating to whatever you'd like to research in the arts. It is like the beginning of a maze so to speak that will guide you on your way toward more legitimate sites with more resent and filtered information relating to the topic of your choice. The design is much like that of wikipedia, tool bars on the left give more specific places within this search engine to do some researching but after clicking an artist you are given many picture of there work which is of course aethetically pleasings. Although unlike wikipedia, not just anyone can change information on the site and there are verification dates in the upper right letting the viewer know that the page they are on isn't giving false information.

Laura Rice 2/5/12 Overview: The purpose of this website is to expand knowledge about artists and their work. This website provides a large number of artists, articles, art news, and images. This websites audience is anyone who is interested in art, teacher, student, or buyer. Over all this website allows people to search by artist, work title, or art museum. One really cool feature about this website is that it allows viewers to see the top 30 artist searched. This feature is really helpful to art students because sometimes you don't know what artist you want to research and so on so this is a great way to start into things. The art cyclopedia is an awesome research engine if you're looking for a certain piece of art as well. When you click on an artist it brings you to a page with a short history of the artist, which museum the art is in, what pieces are on the market, image archives, articles, multimedia, books, and their galleries. This is a great website for information and overall knowledge. Content: As mentioned before this website excels in area of imagery and information about individual piece of art. The art search engine provides visitors the opportunity to search by artist, title of the work, art museum it is located. If the viewer didn't know any of these aspects of the certain piece of art they could browse by the medium or time period. This website has an incredible amount of artist's material. For each artist there is a short history of his or her life, a list of museums there art is in, and any type of multimedia that has been published about the artist. There is also access to different articles about art as well as art news. Viewers can also order posters or prints of their favorite art which is another beneficial aspect to the site. This website provides viewers with the access to thousands of artists work. Design: Overall the design is good. The website is organized neatly and clear

Overview: The purpose of this website is to give teachers tools to help engage student learning about U.S. history. The audience of this website is history teachers all the way from elementary school to high school. The available resources of this website are teaching materials for teachers, content about numerous historical topics, and a section about the best practices for teaching history. I like this website because not only does it offer history content to teach, it gives teachers tools to help engage students in the material. The quality of this material is high and is well organized and it is eye appealing to visitors. Content: At first look, visitors to the website are able to know where they are and it is made clear who the audience of the website is. The authors and sponsors of the website are made available and contact information is provided. The only negative point about this website is its information currency. There is no last revision date, only a copyright year. The quality of information is great. There are numerous links to sources about various historical events and there are links for each grade level as well. There are also quizzes on the website to help enhance student learning. Design: The speed of this website is high; the homepage downloads immediately. The main page is very appealing and the content is accessible from three different tabs on top of the page. The information regarding authors/sponsors is also accessible at the bottom of the page. The navigation of the site is good; however, there are no directions available to visitors for navigating the site. . The site is compatible with various browsers and the content of the website is well organized and is plentiful.

Deneé Chintala October 7, 2012 Overview The purpose of judging101.com is for the instructor of a livestock judging team/class to provide their students with online classes of beef, lamb, pig and horses to learn how to judge livestock. The audience includes an agricultural education teacher or a livestock judging coach as well as their students. The site has a free example class for the instructor to see the basis of the site but further purchase is necessary for access to all of the different species with multiple classes under each. The design of it doesn't appeal in terms of color and flare, but I have used the site when I was a student and was really impressed with the consistent content of the site. Content All of the information on the site is incredibly accurate due to the authors of the site. Despite the fact that it is hard to locate the list of authors, once they are found it is clear that they are reliable sources. All of the reasons and placings are given by judging coaches from all across the nation at universities. The content is easily definable in terms of knowing that this is a large livestock judging website. The url itself explains the topic of the site. Once further into the site with the purchase of an account, the site is easily navigated and the content is consistent with a set of reasons, cuts and placings for each class. From the other links on the page, all information is consistent across the board and tie into each other, such as from the judging101 page to the animalscience101 page to the horse judging page; all of these links intertwine with each other on how to judge horses to the end of actually judging a class. Design This site doesn't have a great deal of allurement, but it is easily navigable. If I wanted to judge a class of shorthorn heifers, I would be able to click on the cow silhouette and find a shorthorn heifer class and easily judge the class then find the reasons, cuts and placings. Finding the authors, when the site wa

Overview: The site focused primarily on science information that focused on an elementary school audience. The site contained a lot of information on a large amount of different topics that would make it easy for a student to find information on just about any topic related to science. Different tabs included for the student are experiments, games, facts, quizzes, projects, videos and images. Students can use much of this information on their studies regarding science. Since there is a .nz at the end of the web address, the teacher can see the website was created in New Zealand. The site can also take you to other subjects like English and math although they seem to be done by same creator of this site. Content: There are a large amount of different topics that would make it easy for a student to find information. Topics include earth science, animals, chemistry, scientists, water, and weather. Each includes information on the topic and also in the site they can do activities and games. A lot of the information appears to be correct but the only problem is it is hard to tell where a lot of the information was retrieved from. It also shows that last updated date being January 9th, 2013 so all the information is fairly recent. Design: The main thing I noticed about the website's design was the color that popped out. The different sections of the site were listed with red, blue, orange, brown and other colors for the different topics. Many pictures were included on the site that makes it more interesting and entertaining for the students to look at while they are learning.

Content- This site covers just about every topic a child could think of from animals, to weather, volcanoes, to teeth. This site has everything. The home page of this site gives the different pages that information and activities can be found based on what sort of information is being looked for. There are pages for facts, science topics, experiments, lessons, videos, quizzes, pictures, and then other sorts of fun random science things. This site can be used for all age levels because there are so many different things to learn about and use on here. All the information is up to date and recent as well and the author is highly qualified to do so and updates the page frequently. The content is written in simplistic terms so that all ages can find and understand it. The site doesn't have any links to different websites but much of the information needed is all in one place. Design- When you come to the homepage of this site it is very well put together and students will know that this site will give them information about all sorts of science topics. The site is not too overwhelming because it does not have large words written across the screen, but words that students can easily read and know exactly what is being taught. The site is appealing to the eye and all pages are set up in the same manner. Pictures and videos are all relevant to the topics as are the games. The games and videos also add an interactive aspect which is important for small children to have because it helps them retain the information better Overview: Overall I really enjoyed this site. It is really easy to read and understand and students don't need a very high level of reading to do so. It is colorful which makes it appealing, especially for younger students. It also has a lot of interactive aspects such as the games, the quizzes, and the videos to help the students learn more about the topic. It is easy to get around and that will make it more enjoyable for the students as well. Also, I

Enjoy learning about science with a wide range of fun experiments, facts, games, activities, quizzes, videos and projects that are perfect for kids.

Michelle Hill February 24, 2012 Overview: The purpose of this website is to serve as a resource for furthering education and academics at the elementary school age. Therefore, the intended audience is teachers, students, and even parents. Available resources include games, pintables, apps, and videos for the subjects such as math, English, history and more. These resources are for ages Pre-K to 6th grade, and vary depending on the subject being learned. Overall, my impression of the website was that it was a great website that can aid me throughout my teaching career and will definitely be used in the future. Content: The content of the website was rated as very useful for my information needs based on the fact that the total number of "yes" answers outnumbered the "no" answers. Some strengths of the website included first look, the information providers, information quality, and further information. More strengths include that the site clearly stated the audience and basic contents of the site, information on the authors, the content was complete, information was consistent, and there were other links to other sites included. Some weaknesses of the site included that the information currency was either not provided or not applicable. The latest revision date was not provided, therefore I could not determine if the date was appropriate, so both of these were considered not applicable. Also, I had no way of telling if the content is updated frequently. Overall, the website provided a lot of content that will be useful. Design: The design of the website was rated as very well designed and easy to use based on the fact that the total number of "yes" answers outnumbered the "no" answers. Some strengths of the website design included the speed, home page, ease of navigation, use of multimedia, browser compatibility, content presentation, and availability of further information. It was all very well organized, the contents were clear, every

Katya Larson February 2013 Overview: This site was created to give educators and K-8 students a cache of websites to go use for educational interactive games. It is easy to navigate to the subject and topic of your choice. Once you get to the topic of your choice, there are many links to outside websites with games. It is appealing to the eye, but I do not know how useful all of the links are. Given that this website was created by educators, the games should be age appropriate, but a few have distracting advertisements.  I would use this site for "extra" activities rather than teaching activities.  Content: There is not very much content on this website because it is mostly links to other sites. The content available is accurate and the majority of the game sites seem appropriate and accurate. The link to the authors (Jefferson County Schools) is very busy and hard to navigate to find credibility, but I think the teachers who created this site are mostly credible. Design: The website looks good. It is appealing to younger students because there are cartoon pictures of other children. The colors are appealing. It is easy to navigate through the website and find what you are looking for. There is no copyright date or revision date. 

How to use sine,cosine,tangent to determine side X in the triangle below Step 1) Based on your givens and unknowns, determine which sohcahtoa ratio to use Since we know the 67 angle, its adjacent side length and we want to know length of the opposite side, we should use tangent Step 2) Set up an equation based on the ratio you chose in the step 1 $ tan(67) = \frac{opposite}{adjacent} $ $ tan(67) = \frac{x}{14} $ (Let's Step 3) Cross multiply and solve the equation for the side length.

Shaya Wolf - 2/26/2013 Overview This website is for teachers need ideas on assessments in the math field. They can choose between Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Geometry, and Trigonometry and assessments are given under each subpage. All of the assessments are complete but in need of small changes to fit your needs. It includes many resources, but they are all very similar and lack variety. Overall, this site is worth bookmarking and provides simple assessments organized by subject. Based on the content and design quality of this site, it is worth your time to visit the site if you have the time. Content At first look, you can easily tell that the purpose of this site is to provide assessment ideas for teachers. The information providers section of this website is lacking significantly. The author and sponsor are not clearly identified nor is their contact information provided. The currency of the information is debatable. The site doesn't provide a latest revision date, but at the same time, most of these assessments will ever change. They don't seem to be too outdated. So far the content doesn't sound too good, but the information quality really brings the site back to a site worth bookmarking. All of the information is of quality. The purpose of the site is clear and achieves the intended purpose, which is to provide teachers with assessment ideas. The site is well organized and easy to understand. It is free of bias, accurate, and consistent with similar websites. Design This site loads quickly but lacks a homepage altogether. The site is still easy to navigate, although there isn't necessarily a main title or base to jump off of. The site sponsor and author are not included. It is very easy to navigate throughout the page and all of the links work properly. There are no dead ends or incorrect links. There is a main graphic used under each page, however that is the only multimedia. The graphics enhance the site overall. This site works well with all browser

Overview: National Geographic always has great information dealing with many different history or social studies events. I really like their website because the 5th grade students can navigate to this website and research a topic. The topics are straight forward and even have pictures to help the students understand what their reading about. I'm sure that if the students wanted to learn more about the topics they could research farther from this website. National Geographic has always been a key leader in what is new and coming up in social studies and other areas. Content: There are so many different topics and articles that the students can read I would highly recommend it to other teachers. You know exactly where the information comes from and if it wasn't true you know National Geographic wouldn't publish it. It is a very trusted source of information. A lot of the information on the website will change with new events. Design: As I was learning about the website I found myself wanting to read some of the articles that they offered. I stopped to read about the tattooed mummy and found it really interesting that it was a female but in the place where the mummy is from there was only male kings. Obviously if they can draw in a 19 year old college student with just a picture and a title the students shouldn't have a hard time finding something their interested in. The website has of course the yellow color scheme but also has other little pictures that offer some intriguing items. I'm probably going to read some more after I'm done with this!

Katya Larson February 2013 Overview: This website is well set up to provide educators pictures and information about artwork of ancient peoples. It is visually appealing and easy to use. There are sources throughout the website to further information. I think it is a very well set-up website and would be very useful for art and history teachers.  Content: The content is easily accessible. From what I know, the information is correct. The author appears to be a good authority on the information. She presents the information in a well-organized format. There are no immediate flaws to the content that I noticed.  Design: The website is visually appealing with moving pictures and a sophisticated color scheme. It is easy to move around the site because most links have small descriptions and it is not overcrowded. There are no immediate flaws to the design that I noticed. 

Samantha Cook 10/11/12 The Renaissance website on philosophy of that time is very useful for someone either looking for some background information on this topic or also for research for a paper. The Renaissance was a time period where there was a great movement into many of the ideas that we have today, like philosophy and the idea of not a large empire but smaller countries. This site gives a good overview of the philosophy side of that change, and how these thoughts started coming around. The information provided is good and accurate and gives a broad range that allows someone to either get a brief or go deeper. The purpose of the sight is to provide information. The intended audience for this sight is either high school students learning about the Renaissance or College students doing the same thing. They use this sight and the quality information provided as more of a summary then a full out research area, to give them brief ideas of the subject but there is so much deeper. The information provided is from all current sources nothing more than 1970s but that is not necessarily a bad thing. This is where academics at universities have gone through and interpreted the older writings into what is needed to know. There is also a large amount of sources which helps weed out the biased sources and ideas you can have by having different opinions added together. My overall opinion of this sight is it is a good sight for basic information, if you want to go deeper then you need to go elsewhere but it is a good sight to give a brief introduction into the idea of philosophy. It is pleasing to the eyes even without pictures and looks academic in that sense, I personally think pictures could make it better but it is fine without them. Overall it is a good trust worthy site.

Overview - This website is suited for all people of all ages who are interested in learning about the history of anatomy. It has articles on anything history, but the page I bookmarked is based on history if human anatomy and vivisection. A very helpful page to anyone interested in these topics. Content - The content of this site is pretty good for somebody like me who is wanting to learn a little more about where the technique of dissection came from and how it was brought into the fields that we use it in today. It has strong information and the writers seem to be very credited and know what they are talking about in this topic. Design - The design of this site is really easy to use and easy to find good information. I don't think that the background and borders really match the topic of anatomy, but that doesn't take from the article and the information in it. To me the design is fair and shouldn't strike a reader as something that shouldn't be there.

Overall This site is extremely useful both content and design wise. I think that I would definitely use it in a classroom when talking about science. Content The content on this site is very good, and very useful. I think that the information good be very useful when teaching kids about science, and energy. Being energy efficient is a very important thing in today's society and children need to know how and why to be energy efficient. Design The design of this site is very appealing and functional; I think that it is very good. The children would be able to navigate through it and use it.

Overview: This website is intended for teachers or parents to find activities and worksheets for Pre K to 8th grade students. The webpage offers free materials on the core subjects in school along with seasonal activities and themes. I believe that teachers would find this website very useful in finding activities for their classroom or papers that children can take home for extra practice. My overall impression of this site is that it includes useful, updated material that is easy to find and use. Content: Looking at the content of information in this website, I have found that users would be able to quickly determine what information can be found on this site. At the very top of the page it specifically states that the website is an "educator's online resource". I also found that the website was created in 2001 but was recently updated in 2012, so it contains up to date information. The quality of this website is very well organized and is simple to understand. Almost all of the worksheets were easy to download as a PDF document, which would be great for printing. The only setback I found with this site is that information on the authors and sponsors were not readily available. Other than that small detail, I would strongly recommend this website to any elementary school teacher or home school parent; I know I will definitely use this site in the future. Design: I have found that the design of this website is very organized and appealing to the eye. Users should not have any problems moving around the site as the information is easy to find from the home page. From the home page you are able to click on the tab of any subject or grade of information you would like to find. One of the draw backs of this site is that there are no instructions on how to maneuver around the site if someone is lost. The best thing about this website is that there is a sufficient amount of information that is available to the public and organized in an easy to underst

OVERVIEW: The purpose of this website is to provide teachers and librarians with good book ideas. Some of the resources the Children's Literature Network's website provides include recommended authors and new book ideas. There are videos that discuss the general plots of books to help teachers and librarians decide if they should include that book in their class room or library collections. My first impression of this website was that it had a lot of useful information that I would use in my classroom. This was a fantastic and helpful website. CONNTENT: As I filled out the website content evaluation form for the Children's Literature Network, I saw that I hardly marked anything in the "No" or "N/A" columns. It was easy to see who the general audience was for the website and what its purpose was. The content was well organized and the author (Children's Literature Network) is given. The one area that I did not see on the checklist, however, was information on the author. Otherwise, the content of the website was great. DESIGN: The design for the website was wonderful as well. The home page (and all of the other pages) was attractive and there was a clear table of contents at the top of each page. It was simple to navigate between pages. When I clicked on a specific link, I was taken to where I expected i was going to end up (there were no dead ends). The Children's Literature Network also updates its website every day, so you know you are getting current information.

Posted by Craig Shepherd on 9/16/09 Overview: Wikipedia is an open-authoring encyclopedia. The purpose of the website is to provide information about any topic to the general public. Content is generated and reviewed for accuracy by the public. Although public documents can include inaccurate information--particularly on hot topics, much of the content is stable. Links to other pages generally function properly, and content is easy to understand. Content: Although maligned by many individuals as a site that promotes inaccurate information, Wikipedia has much educational merit. However, based on the Wiki style of web design, anyone can make changes to articles and can do so anonymously. This means the learned as well as the ignorant have equal access to contribute. Although references at the end of articles may support the credibility of a work, they do not guarantee it and require additional time to peruse. Because authors can post anonymously, it is difficult to tell whether the article is accurate, timely, relevant, authoritative, and so forth. Yet, recent news events highlight the work of this organization to increase credibility of their content. Additionally, one of the purposes of a wiki is to foster collaboration and group authorship. Although individual contributors may not be listed, inaccurate information can be quickly corrected--though it takes some understanding of wiki syntax which may be difficult for beginners to learn. Despite potential inaccuracies, Wikipedia is a good place to begin your research if you realize that contents may contain biases, inaccuracies, and unsupported claims. Design: The site is well designed. A common look and feel permeate web pages, ads and other distractions are not posted, graphics and other visual elements often highlight important points, and links to related articles are prevalent. Several languages are also supported. Modification and revision dates are clearly displayed and the wiki allows you to

Trevor Lenell The first website I am going to evaluate is Wikipedia.org. The educational site that we have been told to never use for a paper because it is editable by anyone. The intended audience for Wikipedia is someone who just wants a quick overview of the subject they are looking for. It does not cover in-depth content or have large amounts of research in the articles. Everything is available on Wikipedia. All you have to do is search anything in google and Wikipedia article will almost always be in the top three links to show up. The design of Wikipedia is actually fairly good. It loads quickly there's a table of contents for each page and it is easy to find the information you are looking for. The content of Wikipedia is where things get a little shaky when it comes to looking for quality information. Since anyone can edit any page aside from a few that have been locked the information of Wikipedia is not necessarily the best way to find information. We do not know who has edited the site or what their credentials are and we have no way of knowing whether it is a great set of information or a joke put on by someone with an internet connection. There is however a bright side. At the bottom of each Wikipedia article there is the references. These are a great tool to find what was used and what is available to use outside of Wikipedia with the same information. These references are a great way to find academic information from good quality sites and can be used when searching through Wikipedia to find actual research. The design of Wikipedia is pretty good. It works equally well on my internet explorer, Firefox, and google chrome. It loads easily, is easy to navigate, and easy to read. Each graphic and audio file on the site serves a purpose to support the material being read. Overall Wikipedia is a great site to navigate and its shortcomings stem from it being able to be edited by anyone. The next website I will evaluate is NationalGeographic.com. An ed