Group items tagged

Levi Jensen September 2, 2010 Website Review http://www.nclark.net/Biology Overview The Amazing Biology Teacher Resource website was created to provide science teachers a place to reference when teaching their classes. I assume that this site was created by a present or past science teacher. The main focus of this site is in assisting in making lesson plans for teachers and to give helpful ideas for science activities. This site covers both biology and chemistry subjects and also offers many links related to science education. Overall, I found this site to be rather elementary in design, and also had some difficulty using some of the drop-down menus. Content At first look it is quite easy to understand that the intended audience is for science teachers. One drawback that this site has is that information about the author is vaguely apparent. There are no sponsors given, and the only way to contact the author is through a management email to which there is no name given to write to. It seems as though content is updated quite often due to the links posted but there is no revision date provided. As far as information quality I believe that this site does a nice job and the content is readily available and easy to read. Design I had some problems using some of the dropdown menus on this site. Upon trying them a second time they worked just fine for me. The visual appeal to me looked as if a child had designed it. This is supposed to be a professional website that is used by professionals. Also the home page is just a list of topics that could be broken down into groups in order to create a more orderly page. Finally this site needs to have citations behind the information that they are providing so that the reader is able to look the information up to confer the information.

This site provides several virtual manipulatives, lesson plans, and other resources for mathematics teachers. It also documents the NCTM standards

Kathryn Slothower September 11, 2011 Overview: This website has a very clear purpose to help and inform students and teachers about math. There is a very nice website as it very easy to navigate through the website. This website is for all age groups in math. The website is broken down nicely into different sections to find what you are looking for very fast and easy. Although students could use this I feel like the main purpose and audience is for teachers to make math fun and interesting for students. My overall impression of this website is very good.  Content: There is a lot of information available within this website. Between the information that the author placed in this website and the links that are found on the website it provides lots of useful information. The last revision date was not found, although the information seems to be up to date from my prior knowledge. The content meets the purpose of the website and is very organized to find.  Design: The design of this website is very appealing. There is not too much white spaces to make the website look plain but there also isn't too much color or activity to make the website too busy. When you are on the website it is very easy to determine where you are and what you are able to accomplish through this website. There is a very nice presentation of this information through this website. 

Website with lesson plans that will be useful for my WebQuest on the Basics of Acting. Jennifer Durn.

Sarah Skinner on January 22, 2010 Overview The purpose of this website is to allow teacher to find literacy web resources. There are a variety of different links available for primary grade teachers that are beneficial to their students and their learning. You can learn about some favorite books and authors and also retrieve lesson plans that use the tips provided on this page. My impression on this site sit that it's very useful. There are many links available that can be used as a teacher. Content It is very easy to determine the basic content of the site and the intended audience is clear. The author is not on this site and no information is available about the site so it is unclear if they are qualified to give out this information. The sponsor is not clear as well and there is no contact link to ask questions to the sponsor. The latest revision date is available. It is very out of date. The last time this site was revised was in 2007. Links all still work. The purpose of this site is clearly informational. The content seems to be complete and well organized. It offers information related to my needs. The content seems to be not bias. There is no interactivity that increases its value but does have a lot of useful information that is consistent with similar sources. The grammar and spelling are correct throughout the page as well. Design The homepage downloaded efficiently, but the homepage is very plain and not very attractive. The page tells you where you are. There is a clear index at the top of the page that leads you to many other links. There is no sponsor provided that is clear. There is not information for contacting the sponsor and there is no copyright date provided that is easy to determine. It is very easy to navigate around the website. There are directions to help you where to find information. The links to other pages are appropriate. The graphics fit well with the information that is being provided. I have only tried Internet Explorer a

Katie Hurrell January 21, 2010 Overview: Apples4theteacher.com is a website that allows students and teachers to access interactive learning games in creative arts, foreign language, language arts, math, science, and articles. Teachers can also create quizzes and worksheet generator tools in the previously mentioned areas. Additionally a teacher may get articles and literacy coloring pages. Parents may also access the website. The intended audience in this website is teachers, parents, and students. My overall impression bases on my content and design reviews are the website is very easy to use and the content is very simple and easy to understand. Content: Based on the first look on this website the user is able to determine the basic content of the site, also the user is able to determine the audience of the website. The author is clearly identified and information about the author is available. Sponsor of the site is also clearly identified and there is a contact person and address on the bottom of the website. The information quality of the website is all generally easy to understand and locate on apples4theteacher.com. There are links to other sites that are related to both mine and the audience's needs. I would say that this website is very useful and definitely worth bookmarking. Design: The homepage is not very attractive, it is kind of plain but you can tell that you are on the homepage and near the bottom of the page there is a table of contents that describes what is in every section of the website. The copyright is established and very easy to find. The user is definitely easy to move around the website and links to other websites within the original website are very easy to use. There are not very many graphics on the website but it is still easy to use even without the use of graphics or animations. There is sufficient information to make the site worth visiting and it is very well organized. When I was on the website I

The content of this website is focused on teachers and students. It is for elementary classes. The website developer is Judy Miller. She has provided links for every subject. She has also provided lesson plans and activities you can print off and use. Most of the ones i veiwed would be fun and useful in an elementary class room. It was however had to detirmed what tabs were for teachers and which were for students. The design of the website was quite plain. Its does have a clear tilte, description, and image captions however. The boarders are filled with advertising and i did run into a lot of pop ups. These things were very destracting. The website was fast and easy to navigate. The list of links were well organized and easy to use. It was also very easy to contact the person that created the website if you have any questions. The website was up to dat. I couldn't find a date that it was last revised, but the copy right date was 2010. My over view for this website is good. I have saved it in my favorites and will refer back to it for future lesson plans. I found the design and content to be helpful and appropriate for elementary education.

-Overview: This website is a very good resource mainly for teachers that provides ideas for worksheets, activities etc… for them to use. It is not a very visually appealing website, but it holds some good information. It is a good informational source for parents and teachers to gather resources and information for their children. -Content: The content is well organized and fairly easy to access. It is mostly simple worksheets and activities for teachers and parents to print out and work with the students on. There are specific ideas that are featured on the side based on the time of the year and what holidays are coming up. It is good to have the students aware of the holidays and will help the students in the classroom to understand and learn the history of the holidays. Also, the teachers can use the print out coloring sheets as parts of projects or decorations for the classroom. -Design: The website is organized if you are able to look past the advertisements that are on the top and sides of the home page. If you know how to navigate the website, and you are able to focus on the content it way easier to use and the design improves. There are specific tabs that help teachers and parents to find exactly what they are looking for and browse easily around the website and find things that are useful for them.

a. Overview: The first thing I noticed about this site is that it is a dot-com site. Even though this is the case there are virtually no advertisements. There is a section on the bottom of the page that you can subscribe to this site through RSS feed, google, my yahoo, my MSN, and my blogline. b. Content: The content of this site is very strait forward that this is a site for educational purposes for all ages and audiences. The "about" section contains the authors/owners of the site and why they built the site. There is contact information included. This site is dedicated to sharing knowledge to other teachers. The menu bar includes kids activities and lesson plans. There are no costs involved in this site so it is accessible and easy to use. The only problem is that the credentials of the authors is not listed anywhere which makes the site slightly untrustworthy. c. Design: I personally enjoyed visiting this site. The content was put together very well with the readings enjoyable. What I liked about this site is the homepage specifies that this is an educational site. The homepage is professional and inviting. Each menu bar is linked well to other resource pages for further explanation on the subjects. This was the first website so far that mentions home schooled students and the teachers.

Olivia Mabie-January 24, 2010 Content: This website has suggestions for games, activities, and lesson plans used to encourage team building among elementary school students. There is a description of the website located near the top of the page, therefore if it does not match what the teacher is looking for then they do not have to waste their time on the website. There are hands on activities for parents and students and for teachers to use in the classroom to get the students to start working together. Once the links are clicked on there are many other interactive activities on those websites also. These links have many subjects incorporated within them, which is nice that the students get to work together and learn about the subjects at the same time. Design: There are no pop-ups or ads on this website which makes it very easy to navigate. One nice thing about this website is under each of the links there is a description about what will be on the website. If a teacher is in a hurry to find a link they are not wasting their time trying to figure out what is on the website. The layout of the website is very neat and organized. Who published the site, when it was published and last updated are all located at the bottom of the page and helps knowing they go through and get rid of the old information and websites which are located on the home page. Overview: This is a great site for teachers to use in order to get their students working together. I liked how this website stated at the bottom of the page that there have not been standard assigned for this source. This site has all the information that needs to be posted on the website such as, who the publisher is, who you can contact if you have any questions, and when it was revised, which means that they have gotten rid of any old information and sites.

Content Summary: The content for this site was lower than the other sites I looked at. The authors name is not located on the site nor was the latest revision date. All of the links to other sites were currently working properly and were useful extra information that was helpful for the topic. The purpose of the site was clear right when you first looked at it. There is no grammar or spelling errors throughout all the information on the site. Design Summary: The Science Kids web site is full of information that was organized and easy to navigate around within the site. The home page was very busy but it was broken down in sections like, Projects, Lessons, Quizzes, Games and Experiments and Videos. They had graphics that fit the idea of the page and topic. The site was also easy to navigate around and had useful links on the page that downloaded efficiently. Overview: Science for Kids is a site that provides information about science and technology. The site can not only is used by kids but also by teachers and parents. The site was very well designed, easy to use, and contained useful information. It had a wide rang of useful information and had pictures to go with every subject fro visual learners.

Robb Lancaster January 25, 2010 This site is a website evaluation site which is designed to help researchers and anyone interested in finding the best sites with history information. Content: This site is one of the better ones that I've looked at. It has information on every kind of history; from prehistory to modern history to oral history. It's really interesting and engaging. This site claims that it's an "award winning portal that contains annotated links to over 1200 history web sites". Furthermore, there are lesson plans, guides, history activities, games and quizzes. Design: The design for this site has tons of information and links to other websites. Through these links you can read descriptions of the sited and how good and relevant they are. The design is also full of pictures of historical figures and other useful informational links that are easy to see and to navigate to and from. This site is truly one of the best tools for anyone interested in easy and quick results.

Colter Huhn 1-24-10 The purpose of this site is to be a resource for science, specifically biology, teachers. The site contains quizzes, worksheets, lessons, labs, and information on biology. The intended audience is science teachers across the country. My overall impression is fairly strong with this website. The content is great and could be very helpful for a biology teacher. The design is simple, but well put together and easy to navigate. As far as content goes, there are many strengths, and definitely some weaknesses. Upon first look the basic content and intended audience is clearly stated in the opening paragraph on the home page. Also, the information quality is excellent. It's well organized, easy to understand, seemingly accurate, and most importantly does a flawless job of fulfilling the sites purpose in helping science teachers. The major flaw I did find was the information providers and currency. There were no authors or references sited anywhere. Given, most of the links were to worksheets, labs, etc. but an author or creator should be listed somewhere. The only way of finding out who the author of the site is, was to email him/her. Now to the web design itself which was nearly perfect. The site was fast and usable on at least Firefox and Internet Explorer. The homepage was attractive and well organized. The site itself was very easy to navigate with directions in the opening paragraph. There were clear categories to content and helpful links for further information. Finally the content presentation itself was perfect. It's easy to use, organized, same format throughout, and sufficient information. The flaws seem to be there was no date of last revision, and a copyright and site sponsor were nowhere to be found.

Good resource for lesson plans, labs, worksheets, quizzes, etc.. for Biology and Science teachers.

Justin Sanchez Reviewed 10-21-13 www.biologycorner.com Purpose: The purpose of this website is to provide biology related teaching material. There are quizzes, worksheets, and other teaching material tools. Intended audience: The intended audience is teachers who are looking for education material. Available resources: There are many links to other education material websites. Overview: This is a really good website for teachers. There is a ton of different educational material. This website is also creative commons. The website seems to be well maintained and easy to download. Moving from link to link is very fast and easy. Content: All of the content seems to high school biology related. The content is mostly targeted towards teachers through education material. Design: The website downloads fast. The site is not too busy. The site seems to be well maintained, there is not broken links or under construction pages. All of the links are obvious as to where they will take you.

Katie Hurrell January 21, 2010 Overview: The website transforming teaching through technology is a website that provides students with free plug- ins that allow them to play interactive games for learning on the internet. The intended audience is both teachers and students. The available resources are the programs that are needed in order for the students to use different websites. There is different websites and sections that students can visit to find a game that sounds interesting to them. This website seems like it could be hard to use but the design of the website makes it look not as intimidating as it could be. Content: This website makes it hard for the user to understand what the basic content of the site is. There is no information on the author but the website does talk about plug-ins which might be helpful to a student who does not know what a plug-in is. There is a contact person which is helpful if a user has questions about installing plug-ins. The content on this website appears to be complete and the content of the site is well organized and the site does offer a lot of information on the plug ins and the games that the website has on it. The content of linked sites is worthwhile and appropriate to the audiences needs/purposes. The site is very useful and worth bookmarking. Design: The homepage downloaded efficiently and the copyright date was easy to find. When installing a plug-in there is directions for the user to follow in order to insure that they have downloaded the plug in correctly. The links that are provided to other pages within the site are helpful and appropriate. The site is equally effective with a variety of browsers. There is sufficient information to make the site worth visiting and the information is clearly labeled and organized. The links are well organized and easy to use. A working link is provided to contact the website with any questions or comments. This website is complicated but the design

Olivia Mabie-January 24, 2010 Content: This website has multiple links used in the classroom for teaching with technology. There are many interactive activities for all the subjects aimed at elementary aged students. There were a few things I could not be found on the website such as when it was published and when it was last updated. Before using the links to the other websites you have to make sure the correct media players are installed on the computers, most of these are free. The website is organized in a way that would be easy for elementary students to find what they are looking for. With the topic titles at the top of the page it is easy to get to the place where they need to be in order to complete the assignment. Design: This website was very easy to navigate and it was made easy for the elementary students to navigate it too. There was not any distracting pictures or pop-ups that made it hard to find the links. There are topics/titles at the top of the page which will help find the different links for the subjects. Once the link is clicked on it takes you right to the homepage of the next site, it does not take multiple clicks to get to the website you want your students to go to. There was information I could not find on the website such as when it was published and if it had been updated recently. Once the other links are clicked on there are many multimedia uses in the new websites. Overview: This is a wonderful website for teachers to use because it gets students out of their seats and they get to do something on the computers instead of just listening to the teacher at the front of the classroom. Some students learn differently and teachers need to do more interactive things in the classrooms to get students to understand the subjects better. The site was very easy to navigate and to find the other links/websites found within the original one. This would be a site teachers need to keep in mind to let students learn in a different way.

Katie Hurrell January 21, 2010 Overview: Theteacherscorner.net is a website that is designed for teachers. The purpose of this website is to provide teachers with tools that will help their students learn better. It provides teachers with titles of popular books for elementary students as an example of an available resource. The website also includes lesson plans, thematic units, seasonal items, teacher resources, printable worksheets, and collaboration projects. My impression based on content and design is that the website is very easy to use and has helpful information for teachers. Content: Based on the content of this website it is easy to determine the content of the website. The author of the website is identified at the bottom of the website. The purpose of this website is very clear; it provides teachers with some resources and links to other websites that might be helpful for teachers to use. The information on this website is definitely accurate because it is solely dedicated to help teachers improve their teaching skills. There are links that are related to the needs of the audience. Theteacherscorner.net is very useful and definitely worth bookmarking. Design: The homepage downloaded very quickly and the homepage is attractive and uses graphics to make the user know that they are on the homepage. The user is able to move around the site with ease and links to other websites are helpful and appropriate and the information is clearly labeled and organized. The copyright date is easy to find however, it does not show the date of the last revision. This website is very well designed and easy to use.

Overview: The purpose of this website is to be a resource for Teachers and Students alike in English as a Second Language (ESL). There are links to lesson plans, quizzes, and more. It's a very simple website but the links are helpful and up to date. Content: The content of this site is relatively up to date. Towards the bottom it tells the viewer when the last revision was made. There is a lot of information in this site that can take a while to go through, but all of it is helpful. The information is well organized with headings and titles. You can register for free and gain access to even more information. Design: The layout is simple and there aren't a lot of advertisements. The information is divided into sections and has main links listed, but when one selects the main heading another page comes up with a ton more information. This design is easy for anyone to use.

Katie Hertel 1-22-09 Overview: This website provides various educational materials to its primary users of students, teachers and parents. The purpose of this website is to educate about numerous subjects and provide preparatory material for standardized testing. It is set up so you can click on links such as Weekly News, Info Central, Global Warming, Elections in the US and Games and more. It also has Student and Teacher Resources containing lesson plans and study guides and practice tests for the standardized testing. Overall I found it to be okay but definitely has room for improvement. Content: When navigating through the links I found that there was quite a range of information that you can click on to learn about your desired topic that was accurate, according to my viewpoint at least. Although it had that, I also found that the Weekly News and the Elections in the US did not work. It supports decent educational value and has stated authors for certain articles and even a link to read about the author giving it credit that is reliable. This website has a twice monthly publication so the web page has authority and accurate information is being placed on the site. Design: Its design was easy to understand and eye catching along with very few to no advertisements that distract from many other sites. It had various links to other pages that relate to the site and shows how to use the site. Because of its structure, it may be hard to access the information you want unless you know what you are doing.

Posted by Amber Rittenhouse on 1/24/10 Overview: This site is intended for anyone who wants to get better at multiplication, primarily students in elementary school. The site offers many different strategies and a lot of help to learn the multiplication tables. The site offers many games to apply their knowledge of multiplication to win the games. This site accomplishes its purpose of teaching. There are many links available through this site to go further and learn more. Content: This site contains many games, as well as techniques, tips, and secrets, that deal with multiplication. There is a way to contact someone in the case of questions or a problem of some sort. The purpose of the site is to help kids with their multiplication problems. The site does this through games, so the kids are entertained. Through the entertainment they are learning. The content is well organized. All of the games you get to choose your level of difficulty, so kids of a variety of ages can use this site. There are further links provided for more practice. There are only a few ads spread around the outside of the web page, so they are not very distracting. Design: This site is well designed. The homepage downloads quickly, and all of the links do so as well. It is very easy to get to the lessons and the games. Strategies to help someone better learn their multiplication tables is also easily found. The whole site is very colorful, and it catches the eye very easily.

Posted by Amber Rittenhouse on 1/23/10 Overview: Coolmath is a site that assists ages 13 and above in learning math. The site teaches a math concept with a lot of detail, and then encourages the viewer to try it themselves. Links to further pages work properly and are generally useful. It is very easy to understand and follow. Coolmath looks like it is a very useful and fun website that helps students better understand math. Content: Coolmath contains pre-algebra, algebra, and geometry lessons, with many different categories in each. It also contains many math games. Information about the author can be found through this site. The author has a master's in math and is a college math teacher, so she is well qualified to present information on math. The site is well organized and easy to understand. However, there is no date of last revision, so it is unclear about how often this website is revised. Therefore, the accuracy of the site can not be detected. There are a few ads around the outside, but they are not very distracting since the main page is more colorful and catches the eye very easily. Design: Overall, Coolmath is well designed. The homepage is very colorful, making it look very appealing. There are links to go to specific places to learn specific math problems. There are, however, numbers that follow the cursor when it moves, which is kind of distracting. The information of the site looks well organized, so you can go to exactly where you desire. There is a link to contact people in charge of this site. There are also links to other math websites for further reference.

Overview: This website is targeted for people between the ages of "13-100" its means for people who are confused, hate, or are bored with math. Cool Math is updated frequently and was created by Karen who is a teacher and has a Master's in mathematics, she made the website because she had a difficult time growing up with math and she did not want others to have the difficulty that she had. Content: There are math lessons, practice, and games all focused on math. Though this website does not cover a wide variety of math subjects, the subjects that it does focus on Karen did a wonderful job. These subjects include: pre-algebra, algebra, pre-calc, calc, and geometry. This site is definitely focused on the students and helping them. Design: The design is child friendly, very colorful and welcoming. The cursur is the numbers 1 through 6 which is a fun change, the graphics are cute and as a younger student I would have been attracted. The only negative part of this design is that it seems a little cluttered at times but I might think that because we are always taught "less is more" but a student might find this "clutter" appealing.

Overall I think that this is a very good site; I think that it would really help children that need help with math, or need help enjoying it. The author has a master's degree in math, and is a math teacher, which I think helps because she is knowledgeable about math and teaching it. This site could be a very helpful math resource. I also think it is a good idea that it is for everyone over the age of 13, not just school age children. Design The design of this site is very good, the page does not have any links that do not work or that aren't relevant to the purpose. The graphics are all relevant and appealing and they do not take too long to download. Criteria There are many different types of activities on this site that will help the audience enjoy and be better at math. The information is all relevant and the author provides a long page about herself, her qualifications and why she created the site.

Posted by Amber Rittenhouse on 1/23/10 Overview: This site is particularly intended for grades K-8. The site focuses on the basic skills in order to be successful in the games. It does not offer any lessons to teach the skills. It just assumes that you already know the material, so you can use your knowledge to play the games. There are no further links available through the site. The site does accomplish its purpose of entertaining kids using math, but the site is not very credible. I would not recommend the use of this site. Content: This site contains many math games for many levels of math. The author of the material is not shown, but it does seem to be sponsored by Jefferson County Schools. There is no information given to contact someone in the case of questions. There is also no dates of revision, so the accuracy if the site is questionable. The purpose of the site is to entertain kids with games, using their math skills. The content is well organized, so it is very easy to get to the desired place. There are no math links available to go to further sites. There are no ads or distractions, so the viewer is not distracted from the games. Design: This site is not very well designed. The homepage is not very colorful or eye catching. It is pretty dull. However, it is very easy to follow the steps to get to the games for a certain type of math problem. The copyright date or the date that the site was established is not available. The information is well organized, and information is easy to find. It is unable to determine the date of the last revision. There are no further links to other useful sites.

Keenan Zimmerman 2/1/2011 Review of: http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/ Overview: Busyteachercafe is a site designed to help K-6 teachers come up with ideas. There are printables, strategies, themes, email sections and a store where I'm not sure what exactly you can buy. Most of the sections have useful ideas a teacher can use. The website is very colorful and looks like it is geared more toward 1-3 graders rather than on up to 4th 5th and 6th grade. It is not a very good website both in content and design. It has potential but at the moment it is not a very good site. Content: The content of the website seems very useful but it is very limited. There are few actual lessons or printables in each section. If the website is brand new than in a couple months I might say the website is very good content wise but at the moment the content is rather poor, another strike because we have no idea how old the site or information within the site are. The author of the material is nowhere to be found and even the e-mail section gives no clues as to who you are writing to. Design: The design is the worst part of the website. Although it has easy directions and it is rather easy to find what you are looking for, the site is littered with adds which are annoying and the search option is horrible finding almost nothing on the site when I used it. The search in the store section doesn't seem to come up with anything and because everything on the site is free I'm not sure why a store even exists.

Shelby Shatto January 22nd 2011 Overview: Purpose- Provides educational resources and lesson plan ideas. Attended Audience-mainly educators of various ages and subjects. Available Resources- "Shout" allows connection with experts and other educators. Overall Impression- Lots of information and great activity ideas for teachers. Content Overview: Attended audience is clearly identified; content is well organized and offers sufficient amount of info. Design Overview: Downloads efficiently; basic format used throughout the site; links are easy to use.

Emily E. Krabbenhoft January 22, 2011 Overview: This website is a resource for teachers who are using SmartBoards in the classroom. It gives teachers different ideas for using the SmartBoard in Math, English, and Geography subjects. Content: The content of the website is really useful for people who are looking for new and innovative ways to use a SmartBoard in their classroom everyday. The website was created by a teacher in the UK. The website provides a way for teachers to lead the conversation not the entire lesson plan so it allows for teachers to decide what will be learned.Design: The website is very easy to navigate. Clearly labeled titles and links on the left side of the web page allows the user to switch from different subjects easily.