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Shelley Limegrover January 22, 2011 OVERALL The fourth site I evaluated was the Physics Front. This site is intended as a resource for high school physics teachers. It contains links to sites containing lesson plans, activities, and labs searchable by topic and grade level. The site was very nicely organized and contained a lot useful information. CONTENT This site is made available by the American Association of Physics Teachers and is funded by the National Science Foundation. A list of contacts is provided. The site claims that the content is frequently reviewed and updated for accuracy. The bulk of the content on this page is links to other websites. However, the Physics Front is much more than a list of useful physics resources. All links are summarized in detail as to their subject matter, application, intended grade level, etc. Rather than having to fish through a never-ending list of links, the advanced search options make finding relevant material very easy. All links that I tested at random were functioning properly. DESIGN This site is very well designed. The layout and formatting is consistent on all pages. Navigation is simple with a menu bar accessible from all pages. There are no irrelevant graphics or advertisements. It is easy to scan the pages for pertinent information. The copyright date is clearly presented at the bottom of the all pages.

Shelley Limegrover January 22, 2011 OVERVIEW The second site I evaluated was phet.colorado.edu. This site contains interactive simulations of math and natural science concepts relevant to all grade levels including college. This site is intended primarily for Teachers. Besides science simulations, the site contains suggested classroom activities and lesson plans corresponding to the simulations. All content can be downloaded or run directly from the site. CONTENT The content and intended audience of the site is made immediately clear on the first page. More detailed information about the intent of the site as well as about the authors and sponsors is made available via a list of links at the bottom of the homepage. The information on the site is not immediately easy to understand. However, this is remedied by instructions and suggested uses of all the content on the page. The site also offers dates for teacher workshops so that they may learn how to apply the material. As I mentioned in the overview, this site is primarily for teachers. A student would not be able to navigate through the material effectively without guidance. DESIGN The homepage downloads quickly and is clear of distraction. A simple navigation bar is provided at the bottom of the page. No scrolling is necessary to see it. The copyright date is clearly identified though dates of last revision are not. There are no broken links and all material appears to be up-to-date. The format of all pages is consistent and a navigation bar is always present. The site was compatible with all three browsers that I had available to test. The simulations are neatly presented on a single page, searchable by subject matter or grade level. There are no unnecessary graphics or video files on other pages of the site.

Purpose: This website is a section of the Discovery website designed for children. It is used to help kids learn about the world they live in. In this section, it is a lab area and children can follow instructions to many science experiments. Content: The website is easy to use and looks fun. The labs are fun and educational and provide explanations at the end of each one describing why these phenomena occur in science. However, though all of the science experiments are interesting, not all of them would be useful in a science lesson.

Lauren John 1/31/2011 http://www.learn4good.com/kids/learning_spanish_online/free_lessons_for_children.htm Overview: Although the web design is not as well put together and eye catching as the first site I reviewed, it fared much better on the checklist than the first. The site is much more organized and user friendly to navigate, with working links and activities that don't require membership. They also are available for contact and do not require any downloads/installation of products to participate. It is fairly obvious what the site covers and the content available for free versus the products you can buy. This page is effective, efficient, and conducive to several learning styles. I would use this site in my classroom someday in the future. Content Summary The content of this page is clear and indexed well so that the user can very quickly navigate to their desired lesson and know exactly what they will be learning about. I was impressed that not only the information providers were clearly identified, but the currency and the quality of the site very obvious. They also had a variety of categories to learn about, which in a language site is very desirable. All the links worked correctly and were worthwhile to the learning taking place. It covered all the areas of the content checklist with ease. Design Summary: I was happier with this site than the first for several design reasons. First of all, the homepage that downloads is not only fast, but the only place you need to go. The first site had a homepage that then took you to another menu that asked for a download before taking you into the learning space. Although it doesn't have the same eye appeal, I knew what the content was and who the sponsors were with ease. They were also available for contact! The menus had clear pictures and labels to help the user navigate efficiently, and the directions to the learning games were clear and easy to follow. Everything seemed to be in its appropriate plac

Caitlin Pilch 8/31/11 Content: At first look, this website is obvious as to what the content is and who the target audience is. The information providers are clearly shown. The information is current and updated frequently. The information on this site is educational and informative on the subject. The content of the site is clear, easy to use and valuable. Design: This website is organized, quick to load and visually appealing. The provider (NASA) is clearly identified. It is easy to navigate, use, and the directions are clearly stated. The graphics are great and the website works without problems on Internet Explorer. The website and its contents are current. Overview: The purpose of this website is to teach and entertain children about NASA and space. The intended audience is for elementary school aged children. There is a wide array of activities for different skill levels. On this site, users can play games, read about NASA, watch videos, ask real astronauts questions and look at real pictures of space. Based on my summaries, this site appears to be educational easy to use, organized and fun.

Kayla Hyde 10/20/2013 Overview: This website is made by NASA to help children understand and explore the topic of space. They do this with games and challenges to entertain and educator the student. It is a great resource to help add another element to a lesson about space. Content: This Website is very organized and easy for both kids and teachers to use. Just looking at it at first glance, it is obvious who that target audience is, kids of all ages. All the information is current and up to date. Design: This website is easy to use and is organized very well. At a quick glance, it is easy to see what the website has to offer and what you can use to enhance your lesson. The activity links clearly show what the target goal and information displayed in the game.

Brian Peterson9/6/11Overview K5learning.com is a website targeted at parents who want their children to do really well in math or reading at a young age. Many resources are available to learn about the website before becoming a member. In my opinion this is a very good website for parents who want to actively be involved with their children's learning.Content As a nonmember of the site only a few things are accessible. These things help tell you what the site has to offer and even allow you sample the lessons available on the website. This makes it very nice to see if it is in fact something you would like your child to learn from. Design The design of the website is very simple but has enough flashiness to bring you into it. With a simple way to navigate the pages most anyone can figure out how to get around it quite easily. This makes it very nice for parents and their kids to be able to utilize this website more effectively.

Overview: The website is great and has many different websites that teachers can use for free to assist them in their everyday teaching. Diigo.com is number three on the list. This website is not only just for bookmarking but gives websites for research, different apps on Google, and even lesson plans. Content: The content of this website is very helpful. It gives teachers so many good tools. There are websites for templates and lesson plans, research and reference, bookmarking, games, reading and writing and the list goes on and on. I think it is a great tool, maybe for more than just elementary school teachers. Things such as Diigo and Google Maps can be used at any level. I would use this website in my classroom and for my own benefit. Design: The design of the website is lacking in flare which could cause people to easily overlook it. It is very easy to navigate though. It gives you the link to the website and a short explanation of what the website is used for. All of the links are up and running and work how they are supposed to. The one thing I really didn't like about the website is the amount of advertisements that were on it. It could cause someone to question the credibility of the site. Overall, I think the site was designed well.

Overview: This website is intended for Preschool teachers who would like lesson, ideas, and printouts. Within each subheading there is background information of the subject for the teachers, as well as activities and printouts for the students. There are up to date materials that relate well to students, and are easily accessible by teachers. This is a wonderful, one that I will be using once I graduate and start a Preschool. Content: When the website is first opened it is easy to determine the purpose and audience that was intended. There are no authors available but the sponsor is at the bottom of the website, with a link to give feedback. This was last updated in 2010, which is very current considering the type of material; material for little kids do not change all that much within a year. There is a ton of information available on this site. There are themes as well as activities. Within each of these there is a little info about the subject for the teacher and resources, activities and printouts for the students. There is also a links that leads to what they call their sister sites, which provide more ideas. Design: This site is pleasing to the eye. There are colors that go well together, but are not over-powering. The information is well organized and clearly defined. Each link works and leads to where is desired. There is a link to many others links that are helpful and along the same subjects.

From the website: Folger Education offers a world of online resources for teachers, from lesson plans to study guides to videos. As a national leader in the way Shakespeare is taught in American classrooms, we believe that the best way to help students succeed is to provide teachers with the best classroom resources possible.

Overview: This website is a good website for teachers who need fun and creative ideas for many different activities and lesson for Preschoolers and Kindergarteners. The last time this webpage was updated was in 2010, this is fairly recent, since that is within the last year. There are a variety of activities, games, quizzes, and many printouts. The intended audience is teachers who are looking for ideas. I love this website. It was easy to navigate and gave me a ton of great ideas and printouts I can use. Content: This website is full of links, all of which work, that lead to many different types of content from letters and numbers to animals to coloring pages. Within each of these sub-headings there are many activities and ideas to use for the children in your class. Each section and sub-sections are clearly defined and have pictures that correspond. The last update was last year, this seems to be a while ago, but since material for pre-k does not change drastically in a year, it is still up to date. There is not any information on the author, so that is lacking, but overall the content on this website is up to date and easy to access. Design: The design of this website has all links well defined and organized. There are pictures that also correspond to all of the links and headings. There is easy navigation throughout the whole website and everything is easy to access. Everything is up to date. There are a few varieties of media, mostly in the form of words and images. There is a copyright, also with a description as to how the website can be used for educational purposes.

Taylor Pilch 09/09/2011

Taylor Pilch 09/09/2011 Overview: The purpose of this site is to give teacher resources such as lesson plans for special education from early childhood all the way to grade 12. The intended audience is for special education teachers. There are many resources such as discussion forums, teaching themes, and things to print out for students. Overall, my impression of the site was good and I think it could be useful to teachers. Content: This website had a lot of strengths for the content of it. It was simple to navigate and to see what was available. It also had the information providers listed at the bottom of the website. The information quality was also very good. As for weaknesses, I found a link that did not work, and I could not find the date of the last revision of the website. Design: The design of this website was pretty good overall. It was not very attractive, but it was pretty easy to navigate. You could choose which grade level you wanted to read about and go right to it. As for the weaknesses, I am not sure how up-to-date this website is because I could not find the date of last revision, and I also found a link that did not work.

Regene DePiero 9/5/2011 Overview: This site is geared toward students in math courses.  It provides a number of online calculators to help solve anything from equations to derivatives.  Its layout is a little confusing after in depth exploration.  Some links do not work or content listed is not what is actually provided.  Also calculators do not offer step by step explanation which only helps students get an answer, and not learn anything about the process.  From a teacher's perspective, not an ideal tool for actually learning math. Content: There is no clear author or sponsor listed.  Information appears to be correct but many of the calculators do not return answers for many problems attempted.  There are almost no actual math explanations provided, only tables and answers.   There is no revision date listed, merely a copyright date at the bottom of the page.  There are links to other pages on the site but most are actually ads and not specifically sponsored but the site itself.  Several links are broken, however there is a link to contact for more information.   Design: This site is confusing to navigate.  What appear to be links to other pages on the site are actually ads.  Several links either do not work or bring you back to the page you were on.  The calculators seem like helpful interactive tools until put into use.  They are difficult to use and there is not a good explanation as to how to input the problem so that they are solved properly.  Also several calculators don't even return an appropriate answer.  Links to "courses" and "lessons" actually only bring you to pages with tables of equations.

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.

Overview: I think this website could offer a lot of opportunity for teacher's when it comes to subjects and unit ideas. It seems to offer a lot of ideas for many units and themes, and also provides opportunities such as providing coloring questionnaires, and other activities easily accessed. This website is membership only to have access to everything, and it does cost money as well. However, navigating through the site I feel it would be a beneficial resource if a teacher was in need of lesson plans or activities for a unit. The design is okay, nothing too grabbing, but the website is easily navigated and a quick resource for opportunities when it comes to ideas for a unit. Content: The content is not so easily accessible, most likely to me not becoming a member for the site. The things that I do have access to seem like fun activities that can be included within a unit however; there are limited items to have access to. The items located underneath the membership field seem to offer a wider range of ideas and lesson plans, so it would seem that becoming a member would be beneficial if you needed ideas for a lot of units over time. For quick access, however, there is little to offer if a teacher needs resources quickly without having to pay a huge fee. What little links there are offered without becoming a member appears up to date and reliable, and there doesn't appear to be a bias with the website, unless having to pay a membership fee counts as being bias. Overall I feel this website would be a great resource as a teacher, the only hassle apparent is paying in order to receive all of the benefits. Design: The direction for this site are very clear, there are tabs at the top to help direct onlookers to different themes and units if Olympics is not a unit needed. There is an area for non members to access and an area that you are able to see what members are able to access. There is color added to the design which helps catch the eye, but this website is d

The Dynamic Earth Overview: This website is set up in a very operative way. The purpose is to inform its viewers about the earth and its components, the solar system, and how the earth came to be here today. The intended audience seems to be teachers for grades 4th through 12th; the teacher could design a lesson plan and incorporate this site into a class activity. Outside of the classroom this site could be targeting anyone interested in earth sciences. My impression of this site was positive; it has tons of information about the earth, solar system, gems/minerals and plate tectonics. Overall this is a well put together site for teachers to incorporate it into a lesson. Content: The overall layout of this website is adequate for any teacher to obtain information or use the site as a teaching tool. Right off the bat it gives you an option of multimedia or printable version, which could please a variety of people. When going through multimedia it provides four opportunities to discover what you want to know about the earth. The quality and abundance of information is set up in an organized fashion. From my knowledge the information is all up to date, but it can't really be outdated when it's about how the earth developed, the solar system etc. The only flaw about this site would be that nowhere to be found directly on the site is an author; it only refers to a National Museum that put the site together. There is also no revision dates. Design: Right from the start, the site loads up and provides the viewer with two options, one being multimedia. At every new screen there is a ton of information regarding earth sciences. The content is designed with a lot of pictures that look very real, allowing it to be interesting and engaging. The way the site is laid out makes it easy to navigate and find what you want, everything is just a click away. At the bottom it has the sponsor and creator, the creator being a National Museum, the link goes to the museum website