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Posted by Kendra Jones on 09/06/2011 This website has several math games of children and gives the children the option of creating their own game. Design: The home page of the website is kind of boring but once you click into a game the appearance is much better. Content: This website offers a variety of math games. There are several subjects with in math that they can choose from. They have the option of creating their own game also. Overview: The first appearance of the website seems kind of boring but once you click into things it looks like it could be really fun for a child. The front page could use more color. But overall I think this would be a great website for learning math.

2-5-12 Overview This website was put together by the Oswego City School District in NY. It is an interactive game site for kids. The games that are already on the site are math games for elementary students. However there is also an application to build your own game with matching or terms. This makes the website fun for kids, but also useful for others a resource to build your own game. Overall, I think this is a good website for many audiences to help build and practice skills. Content The content of this website is much less varied. The games on the site already are all focused on elementary math. This is nice if these are the kinds of games you are looking for because you don't have to navigate through the site or sort through other subjects. There are also many levels of the games to improve skills and build on previous information. You also have the option of making your own game including directions to do this. The directions are very full and this application would be very useful to others. I think that this is a very good math website for students and teachers. Design The design of this website is less impressive. It is easy to use the games that are available. The descriptions are very helpful in choosing a game and the directions for playing are very accurate. They are also organized well in an order that makes sense. However, I was not able to make my own game. The directions were very descriptive, but I got confused and was not able to pull the game I created up to play it. I feel like if someone spent a lot of time experimenting, it might have been possible however I did not feel like it was very accessible. The website was organized and useable but could definitely be improved.

Sheppard Software is a website for students of all ages in all subject areas. It has hundreds of games for a very wide variety of audiences. However it is a commercial website with as many advertisements as games in the free version. It does have an ad-free version, but it comes at a pretty steep price for a school or school district.  Content: This website does not have a specific audience, it is directed to students in all grades. It covers many bases, but in is mostly online games and doesn't really offer any classroom activities. I was also disappointed by the number of advertisements and user reviews on each page. This only distracts from the true purpose of an educational website.  Design: This website I found to be pretty disorganized. There are breaks in the middle of lists of games for ad banners that do not relate to kids and user reviews of the website. They do have a toolbar at the top that navigates to pages if you are looking for specific types of games, but those are colorless, and still full of review and ads. I also did not see information for when it was last updated or contact information. 

Taylor Pilch 09/09/2011

Taylor Pilch 09/09/2011 Overview: The purpose of this site is to provide an easy online educational website to help with learning and provide teaching games. The fun games use technology to teach kids. The intended audience is for Pre-K to 8th graders, but you have to sign up to use everything on the site, so it is primary for parents at the beginning. I did not find any resources on this website; it just contained things from the website that I could see. The overall impression of the website was that it could be really fun and helpful, but the fact that you have to sign up made me want to find somewhere else to go to that would be easier to start using. Content: As for the content, it was easy to tell what kind of content was in the site and who it was intended for. The information quality was good- the purpose was clear, it was organized and easy to use, and it seemed pretty reliable. On the other hand, I could not find an author of the site as well as information about the author. There was a place to contact them, but I did not see any names about who was in charge or anything like that. Also, I did not see any links to other websites or sources, which could be a bad thing. Design: Everything was clearly identified and you could find where you wanted to go without much difficulty. There was a copyright date and everything seemed to be in working order. It seemed current and the same format is used throughout the site.

Mary Goetz 9/10/11 Overview: ESL Kids Lab is a great resource for teachers. The site provides lessons, handouts, flashcards and other teaching tools for ESL teachers. There are also links to games that ESL students can utilize to practice their English. The lessons are broken down into units and have worksheets, flashcards, and phonics that go along with each unit. The site also provides tips for teachers. Content: The content in ESL Kids Lab is relevant to teaching and learning English as a second language. The content is present in a clear manner and is well organized and easy to understand. There are many functioning external links that lead to other great resources for ESL. The internal links are also functioning and are easy to navigate the site with. There is not a revision date provided on the site but the content appears to be up to date and new information is added. The content of this site provides the information and resources necessary for ESL. Design: The design of ESL Kids Lab is attractive and colorful. The design is also functional and works well. It is easy to navigate the site and find the information needed. There are many internal and external links that are functional. The date of revision is not provided but the contact information for the site is provided. Overall the site is a fun and attractive side that efficiently provides the necessary information.

Overview: Notes in Spanish is a great teaching tool so that students can listen to a variety of topics in Spanish at home or in school. There are different levels of podcasts ranging from beginner to advanced with many podcasts in each level. There are also packets available to purchase that help to comprehend and test your knowledge on the podcasts. Content: The content of Notes in Spanish is relevant to Spanish listening comprehension. The content is presented in a profession yet fun manner. The authors contact and background information is readily available. Both authors are qualified to present the podcasts because of their background with Spanish and fluency level. The site does not present the date last revised but new podcasts are added often. There are not any external links presented in the site but the site does provide sufficient information. Design: The design of Notes in Spanish is attractive and simple. The tool bar on the top of the screen makes for easy navigation. The site is simple and there are not too many links; there are no external links present. The use of multimedia makes a significant contribution to the site because the main information on the site is in the form of podcasts. The site is simple in its design but is effective in delivering quality information.

Mary Goetz 9/10/11 Overview: Conjuguemos is a site that Spanish teachers can use for conjugation activities to have their students practice Spanish verb conjugations. This site can also be used for informal testing. For students the site is useful to practice conjugating verbs in Spanish. All of the verb tenses are present in the site and are categorized from the simpler conjugations to harder conjugations. Content: The content presented on Conjuguemos is relevant to conjugating Spanish verbs, as well as other languages. The content is present in a formal manner with the fun aspect of the learning games. The content available meets the needs of the site. The information is well organized with the tool bar on the side of the screen. The interactivity that the site provides increases the value of the site. There are not any external links present, but there is a myriad of internal links. The date of last revision is not available, but the site is updated frequently with teachers adding new games and activities. The information about the author is also not present, but there are multiple authors, including teachers, that created and create the site. Design: The design of Conjuguemos is attractive and it is clear what information is available on the site. The tool bar on the side is easy to navigate. The activities on conjugations are also easy to follow. The graphics are key to site and make a significant contribution to the site. There is sufficient information on the site because it contains all of the Spanish verb tenses, although there are not any external links. Overall the site is very useful in practicing the conjugation of Spanish verbs and the information is presented in a clear and fun manner.

Ryan Magrum Sept 15th, 2011 Overview: This site is a tour through the exhibits of a natural history museum. The purpose is to experience the museum without actually going there in person. There are many menu options on the home page for kids and for educational purposes. I like this site personally because for students it's like a field trip without ever having to leave the class room (computer room). The site seems fairly main-stream and appropriate for all ages. Content: This is the basic museum home page on the internet. The site has all the information for the museum (contact info, research and curation, business…). There are many links to other similar sites as well as games for kids and to resources for teachers and to merchandising. There are many pictures to lure the user into the site. In terms of the galleries page, The site is a basic tour with captions for each of the interactive picture of real things in the museum that explain what you are seeing in the picture - what a tour guide will tell you. The pictures are mostly for highlights of the museum geared to getting you to visit in person. There is a plethora of information within that is very easy for students and the public to learn from. Design: The site is easy to navigate. All the pictures and colors make the user feel welcome. At first, getting into the specifics of the site and finding what exactly you are looking for is a little difficult but the ease of navigation allows the user to orient their self in the contents after a little exploring. There is a search box so the user can search the site for specifics contributing even more to the ease of navigation. All the advertisements in the site are relevant to education and/or the museum and appropriate for kids.

Overview: This site is so cool; I wish i knew about it earlier. I was refered to it by my current math professor because we are discussing manipulatives in his class now. Manipulatives are usually the little blocks and shapes kids can use for learning math. On this site, they have a huge variety that extends beyond that. It can be used by students of all ages and of any skill level. Content: This site has a huge library of different manipulatives broken up by the age group that would most likely use them. They also have some information about the site and how it came about. I had no problem accessing any aspect of the website. Design: The site is really easy to use. The first thing visible when you open the site is a big grid breaking up the manipulatives by grade level and the sub-subject of math it deals with. All you need to do to access the manipulative you want is click on the square in the grid that it corresponds to and find exactly what you want on the big list. I think something that could improve the site would be to include a better discription of each different manipulative. While it is easy to navigate and well designed, I think the site could have been made more aesthetically pleasing.

This website contains virtual manipulatives for all grade levels in Numbers & Operations, Algebra, Geometry, Measurement, and Data Analysis & Probability. These virtual manipulatives help the student understand the formulas, principles, and concepts in mathematics and science.

Solve basic probability problems.

Aylin Márquez 14 September 2011 Overview: Stattrek.com provides a variety of statistics tools designed for mainly middle and high school students. One of the most useful tools is the probability calculator. It can only calculate the three basic rules of probability. However, this online calculator can still be a very useful tool for students who do not own a scientific calculator. The site also provides the explanation of probability notations that are used to calculate the probability of one event. Content: The basic content of the site can be determined easily. The purpose of this site is to be able to help students calculate their basic probability problems. The online calculator is easy to operate. The site provides an explanation of the rules of probability under the summary report title. The site also includes links to other sites that are designed to improve students' learning. There is no revision date on the site. However, the information seems current, and the calculator works properly. Design: The homepage downloads efficiently and is appealing. The user can navigate around the site easily. The directions on how to use the calculator are clear. If the user puts wrong data on the calculator and clicks on the calculate button, the site has an explanation to guide the user on how to correct his/her data input. The site has advertisements that appear to be appropriate and related to students' needs.

Grammar Practice Park Overview: The purpose of this site is to help whoever visits the site to practice and perfect their grammar skills. The intended audience seems to be student's grades 3-8. A teacher could direct his or her students to this site during a lesson to help practice and bring in some excitement to the classroom. The site sponsor provides a link to their homepage which has adequate information regarding language arts as well. The site gave me a good impression, contained good grammar games and information. Content: First look at the site it looks like options and a paragraph the site states in the paragraph that is meant for grammar practice making it unclear what it is all about. Once you figure out what the site is the links to grammar practice seem clear and interesting. The information providers are a publishing house making the info legitimate. There wasn't a copyright or revision date which brings down the site a little bit. Overall the quality of information is put together well; it provides students with games to play that ultimately improve their grammar skills. When going through the links you can go to the publishing company's page which contains even more abundant information for teachers more so than students. Design: The homepage of this site is inviting to students with the different grammar games available by one click. There isn't much to the site other than games to improve grammar skills making it only appropriate on occasion. Overall the design isn't too thoughtful simply because it doesn't include any lessons or anything jus practice games. One can always learn through practice though, so based off my knowledge it may not be necessary.

Elise Verley September 9, 2011 http://www.ecoliteracy.org/ Overview: This site is dedicated to schooling for sustainability, which they have branded "Smart by Nature". They offer resources to teachers to learn how to teach their students how to live sustainably. The site houses a series of essays, books, activities, lessons and resource listings to use as a basis for teaching students to live sustainably. They also offer seminars and workshops that educators may attend. This site is an excellent resource for a "Green" education Content: It was great to see a place where it was easy to find sources for Ecoliteracy. They offered resources in many different topics including: Climate change, health and nutrition, pollution, population and may others. It impressed me that they were interested in creating a relationship with educators to continue to offer them ongoing support. Design: The web design of this site is user friendly and easy to navigate. The top navigational menu made it easy to find the topic you were looking for. Then the sub-navigational menus allowed me to zoom in on essays and events on particular topics. The contact information was listed many places on the site, encouraging educators to interact with this growing community.

Elise Verley September 9, 2011 http://technologysource.org/ Overview: This is a basic site to review the articles from the peer-reviewed bimonthly periodical "The Technology Source". The purpose of this site is to allow educators to view the articles published, from 1997 - 2003. The periodical published articles to assist educators in integrating information technology tools into the classroom. Since the periodical stopped publishing in 2003 the sources may become out of date. Content: This site had many articles, but may be difficult for someone without a particular article they were searching for to use. Since this was a peer-reviewed periodical the articles can be reliable as sources. There are articles on a variety of topics. Design: There were two ways to search the sites articles. Users could either browse articles or search with a library like search tool. This is a very basic site with a white background, black text and blue accents, there are no pictures.

Kathryn Slothower September 11, 2011 Overview: The purpose of this website is to provide the knowledge and practice to students in math. The website breaks the skills into different sections which is very helpful however the information that they provide within each topic is not very detailed. The website is more designed for a brush up on the skill rather than learning the math skill. The website has numerous topics in math that students can use. The website has also broke the math subjects into the grade levels for students to explore the website through the grade that they choose. My overall impression of the website was okay. Content: At first look of this website the purpose and content are very obvious. There is information right away that tells what the viewer will find within this website. There was no information on the authors so although the information seems correct from my pervious knowledge I do not know if the author is credited. The content on the website is organized fairly well. The content is easy to find. The topics in math are separated however the website also separated the topics by grade level. It felt like this website was very helpful however it would be a website that was used for a brush up of knowledge because the information on the topics does not explain it very well. One of the better parts of the website is the practice that is available to use on each topic. Design: The design of this website is very interesting. On the homepage there is a paragraph about the purpose of the website and instructions on how to navigate through the website. Although this information is very useful it is the first thing that the viewer sees so the website is not very attractive. There are not a lot of other things on the homepage, which makes the homepage not very busy. There is an index on the left hand side of the page along with the top of the page. Even though there are aspects of the design that I do not like, I think that overall the

AAA Math features a comprehensive set of interactive arithmetic lessons. Unlimited practice is available on each topic which allows thorough mastery of the concepts.

This site is intended for Kindergarten through eighth grade, but is useful for both students and teachers. There is unlimited amounts of practice for various content for the students, but there is also lessons for the teachers. This website is very well designed. It's appealing to the eye and very easy to navigate for yourself. There is also a clear table of contents on the side which makes it easy to switch back and forth from different grade level or curriculum. This website offers a variety of tools for example games, practice problems, quizzes etc. There was also a clear author and sponsor for the site. The only thing I wasn't able to find was a revision date, but the type of math that was covered shouldn't have to be constantly revised. I think this website is very useful and if I end up teaching at the middle school level I will definitely introduce this website to my students and have them use it for practice.

Kathryn Slothower September 11, 2011 Overview: The purpose of this website is to help students with math problems that they do not know how to solve. There are different sections available to look through for the correct math subject. The website is easy to navigate through and can be very helpful for students or I could also see it being very helpful for teachers and parents. There are many resources for the students to use and help with math. Overall this website is a good website that could be very helpful.  Content: There is a lot of content found within this website. The main content found is all of the information to help find the answer to the math problems that they need help with. The only purpose of this website would be only to find the answers. There is no lesson on how to master the math skill. However the website does show you how they solved the problem with is very nice because then the viewer can really see how the problem is solved to use on other problems. I could see myself using this website for personal uses when I cannot figure out how to solve a math problem.  Design: The design of this website can be very confusing. Web Math is sponsored by Discovery Education so at first you see Discovery Education and the viewer does not know what to click on to receive help. There is an index at the top of the page that breaks the different levels of math up. This is a huge help for the viewer. Nothing on this website drawers viewers to the website to use it. 

Michelle Jacobsen 9/16 Overview: This website is used to help teachers with their states standardized testing K-12. You have to be a member to be able to access the site; my mom who is a 5th grade teacher in Nebraska showed me this website and said that most elementary teachers in her school use it. Content: The content of this site its web-based instruction, practice and reporting depending on your states standards. You can use it in the classroom, at home or in the lab. It is geared to help improve standardized testing scores in the classroom. Students can also access the program. Design: The design is extremely simple, but very easy to navigate though. Once you create an account all you have to do is log on and select your state from the map and it gives you many options of what to do on the site.

Michelle Jacobsen 9/16/11 Overview: This website is useful to both teachers and students. It focuses on grade levels K-6 and helps improve students reading skills. Teachers can get onto this site and create an account and put on the different book that their students are reading. After they do that the students can then log in and find their teachers name and practice their reading skills. Content: This website is used to help students improve their reading skills by reading for practice, recording their reading, checking with comprehension quizzes and listening for modeled fluency. For teachers there is a "teacher's corner" that helps them learn how to run through the website and even gives printable directions for students and their parents. Design: The overall design of this website is eye catching but not so over the top that it's hard to manage. It is extremely easy to navigate around and has a video on the homepage explaining the reasoning for the website and how to use it.

Overview: This site holds a plethora of quizzes from a wide range of topics. It allows you to keep track of your lifetime score using a free username and password. This site could be used by teachers as extra credit. They could get 10 points EC for every 100,000 fun trivia points. The idea is that students learn on accident. Design: The website design seems lacking, with boring colors and somewhat haphazard organization of the different quizzes. It does label quizzes as easy, medium, hard and very difficult which would supply classes of different grade levels. Content: The content is great for its wide base that spans multiple disciplines. The major downfall of the site is its Wikipedia-like setup. The users of the site are also the authors of the thousands of quizzes. This makes quality control difficult, although using my own knowledge while taking numerous quizzes I saw no mistakes. The reliability issue makes this site inappropriate as an addition to a core curriculum but it does have a place as extra credit to pique a student's interest.

Overview: This is a wonderful site for uniting geography with history. The whole site is devoted to evolving maps showing important events such as Magellan's voyage and historic trends such as the spread of the Hellenistic world. Content: The content is completely focused on maps set to narration which makes this site a perfect learning tool for grades 6 through college. The variety of narrated moving maps spans ancient history to modern times which makes it even more valuable to different classes. The downside to the content is it was developed in France so the content is mostly focused on European history and European viewpoints. It also makes customer support difficult with the only contact coming from France. Also, only ten percent of the maps are free. If a history department was willing to pay for the additional maps it would be a great addition to the curriculum. Design: The design of the website appropriately advertised the site's content. The homepage looks like an old cartographer's office. Any topic map was available from the home page and the multiple categories were well organized. Overall it's a very good site.