Group items tagged

Interactive site for math, vocab, memory, and geography and puzzles.

Ryan Pinkston January 22, 2011 1) Overview- This is a web site that parents and kids can use to learn basic skills while having fun. This goal is to provide a safe place to learn computer skills, math skills, reading skills and problem solving skills in a context that is fun to use. 2) Content Credibility- It is easy to determine the basic content and intended audience. The author was not clearly identified however, the contact information was readily available and easy to locate. The latest revision date was not given and it's not stated how frequently the page is updated. The purpose of the site is effective for the intended use and is well organized with information that is easy to understand. 3) Design Evaluation- The page downloads efficiently and it is somewhat attractive and appears to have strong eye appeal to children. There is an index, the information for contacting the provider is available, and the copyright date is at the bottom of the page. The same basic format is used throughout the whole site, the information is easy to find, and everything is clearly labeled. 4) This is a site that I would use. It has a variety of games for children to use to learn about math and English or science.

WatchKnow.org Michelle Petty, January 22, 2011 Overview: This site is aimed at students ages k-12, with a variety of educational portals from science to math to social studies. The site allows the user to select the area they are learning about, for example social studies and then within that category they can specify a content area like the Trail of Tears. Once the search results come back it offers a variety of information, however the information is only presented through videos and pictures. The site is easy to use and covers a wide variety of topics that makes it useful for students studying a variety of topics. However, without articles it makes using this site in research type projects difficult. Content: The website is clearly aimed at students and links to all content area taught to them. At the bottom of the site there is both a contact link and an about us & visions tab that informs the viewer who maintains the site, its goal, when it was last revised and how to contact someone with questions. When search results are found, the viewer can watch the video, go find the history of the videos to see where they came from and what the video has to offer and a separate tab to leave comments under. All of the video links work and are of good quality and offer a wide range in video content, from people reenacting historical events to math problems being solved step by step. Design: The website, while aimed at ages k-12, caters more to the younger audiences. The graphics used and even the color of font indicate that it wants to appeal to younger aged students. It is easy to navigate and use, and gives plenty of choices in videos and gives the appropriate information about the video that it can be used in an educational setting. I feel like this site would be very useful in replacing youtube videos used in class, because all of these videos are educational and meant for that use. I think I would use this site periodically, but I don't think I would

David May 1/23/11 This site is very educational. Great information with a reliable source. Too much advertising the museums. Overview: The website of the Smithsonian museum with a fun educational spin. The site has a few games with animations that are well put together. The games have good images and great animations that put complex things in simpler terms like comparing a planet size with a beach ball compared to a golf ball. The site overly advertised visiting the actual place too much. Everything that was clicked on encouraged visiting and it got very tiresome very quickly. Content: The site is very easy to navigate and find what one is looking for. There is a constant sidebar with information about where you are and what things are easiest to link to.. They list the curator of the museum who is in charge of the content on the website. The copyright of the website is 2010 which shows recent content on the website. There is an informational theme to the site, but the clear objective of this site is to get visitors to the museum. Design: The website is very well put together. It is impressive with the amount of graphics and page design that they put in effect on the site. The problem is that if users don't have the latest flash player they will have to download it and go through the download process. If this is for students the schools might restrict the ability to download the software. The website other than over advertisement is good for information and reliable for what one is looking for.

Laura Rice 2/5/12 Overview: The purpose of this website is to expand educational knowledge and resources for education. The intended audience ranges from educators, families, and students. This website provides many resources for public use. The educators are provided with resources for field trips, professional development organizations, lesson plans, resource library, and online events. For families the website provides information about what is available at the Smithsonian, time you can spend together as a family, and events families can do together. The students are also provided with information about the Smithsonian, topic they can explore, secrets of the Smithsonian, and events available for kids. This website is a great source to a variety of people. The links to each page provide a lot of information useful to educators, families, and students. Content: The website is extremely useful to all types of people from educator, families, and students. Teachers have access to lesson plans for all subject areas ranging from K-12th grade. Teachers are also provided information about taking a field trip to the Smithsonian and the programs it has to offer students. The tab for educators also has a link to online events that are taking place. For families the website contains different activities the Smithsonian has to offer as well as activity sheets for children. Students are provided with events at the Smithsonian that may interest them, as well as topic they may enjoy to see there. Overall the content is very educational and centered around what the Smithsonian can offer to others, and also provides lesson plans that could help educators in their future career. Design: The overall design is easy to understand and information is extremely easy to access. Tabs clearly identify the intended audience from educators, families, and students. Under each tab there are others that provide information useful to each age group. At the bottom of the page ther

Jessica Chandler January 24th, 2011 *Overview: This website is to help kids with their math skills. The ages are from preschool- eighth grade. There are very many links to click once you choose the appropriate age group. It seems to be quite simple if you know what you want to expand your learning on. It may be difficult for the younger kids to read the different types of things to learn, but the requirements for each are quite simple. *Content: There are several skills to choose from among each age group. This is just a math website, so it deals with different sorts of categories such as the Pythagorean theorem, shapes, fractions, exponents, and etc. The games are very educational and help the students to learn the content. I especially liked this website because it gives explanations to the problem you missed by going through step by step. It also gives the score and how much time was spent doing that certain exercise. You can complete the different skills in however much time you prefer. It will give you feedback once you hit submit and finish. Otherwise, you just keep practicing! *Design: The design of this website is very clear. It opens by stating, "Where your math journey begins." It is very eye appealing and colorful. There isn't too much content to overwhelm the users. It is very easy to use. The grade levels appear right on the home page, making it clear for students to use on their own. Once the level is chosen, different skills appear-all categorized, and then the only thing left to do is select what you would like more practice on. The site looks very professional and up to date. Overall, the design is catchy and great for students to use!

Overview: This website is designed for K-8 aged children, and it includes several different games primarily focused in math. The website is highly interactive and clearly represents the idea of integrating education and fun. Each game has a clear purpose, and they are actually very entertaining. Content: The purpose of the site is easily identifiable in the homepage, where bright colors and very childlike design catches your eye. The content is organized primarily by grade level, so it is easy to find appropriate games for whatever grade you are teaching. Although it is unclear when the website was last updated, the information appears to be up to date and relevant for elementary education standards today. There are not outside links to similar or relevant websites to enhance what is being presented on the site, but the content on the site is very thorough, so other resources aren't really necessary. Design: The design of the site is obviously very child-centered; however, it is well done, not cheesy or obnoxious. The homepage catches your attention, and the information is easy to access. Each game is unique, has its own fun, vibrant design, and is highly educational. Since the website is primarily organized by grade level, the design enhances the user-friendliness of the website. I believe this website would be good for use in the classroom because there are minimal advertisements, and children could easily find a fun and educational game that suits their needs.

I really like this website; I will be using it in my WebQuest design!

Erin Kirby January 23, 2011 Overview: The sight http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/index.asp is a good sight for grades 4-12. The site provides information to help you learn about schools, find a public library, play different games, take quizzes, learn different subjects in math and more. The site does have many different links and it is a simple easy to use site. It has many different educational facts that some kids might find interesting. I think overall the information could be helpful and many students in a classroom or at home would enjoy learning about the facts, getting involved and playing the games. Content: This website is simple to use and the links are easy to follow. It is a government website so there are not a lot of pop ups or things that get in your way when trying to learn or play games. The games are interesting and educational. There are certain games that allow you to pick what grade you are in so the information applies to that certain age group. At the bottom like on most websites there are links that will show information about the site, but there is no place to find one main author. When going through the site I found that it was all very educational and kids that are into math would really enjoy it, but kids that arent may have a problem enjoying the sight. The links on the site are very simple to follow and allow students to do many things on there own. This is a sight that involves a lot of involvement that can be very fun. Overall the sight seems good for grades 4-12, it would be a good tool for students to use for many different reasons. The sight has a lot of math, quizzes, and educational facts that change daily. Design: The websites speed is fast and the links all work very smooth. The graphics are good and very smooth. The homepage has very clear links and it is not busy. It is simple to use! There are not a lot of distracting things and the site is simple and to the point about educational information. The sight is great for s

Jessica Chandler January 24th, 2011 *Overview: This is a website for students to practice different types of skills. There are different tabs to choose such as: History, Religion, Calculus, Biology, Algebra, and etc. These skills I found to be very useful and definitely help the students to have a better understanding of what is going on. Once the desired subject is selected, another list appears. This list shows the different topics that can be taught. Some are informational, while others are games. It is a simple and fast paced website to be using.: *Content: There are different subjects for a student to learn about through this website. I really liked this site because it was simple and clear. It made it much easier to deal with. The majority of the links are to assist student learning. It is demonstrated that students use this website to have fun, yet still learn through the selected subject. *Design: The design doesn't have much color besides brown and white. This isn't very amusing, and does not draw the readers' eye, but it is very helpful with the problems that one is having. The games are related to the certain topic and are educational. I feel that the design could be more attention seeking, but once this sight is discovered, the content should catch the eye.

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

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.

Overview: The purpose of this website is to attract children, grades K-8, with educational activities online. The intended audience is children but the site carries extended links to teacher and parent resources. Thus, this website is for all ages. The available resources go beyond games to include online books, comic books, math activities, arcade games, and many more. There are also links to pages for parents and teachers. My overall impression was positive about this site. It was very appealing and allows for children to experience the internet while learning. I also felt that the teacher and parent resources led to some potentially important websites filled with a lot of information. Although this site was very educational, it seemed to be a lot less personalized than previous websites. Content: The content of this website was sufficient for the needs of any teacher. It is organized in a way that allows children to search for games that interest them but also has a teacher's guide. In this guide, the teacher can locate specific features that are appropriate for their lesson plans. There is an identified sponsor along with contact information. It is an updated site with a copyright from 2011 but no recorded last revision date. This site has the purpose to entertain, be informative, and also has some advertisements for upcoming literature events. This site was well organized and complete. It was easy to understand and very user friendly. The interactivity of this site does make it a lot of fun and easy to visit. The information provided, to my knowledge, was pretty similar to outside sources. The website was edited well and provided links to relative outside sources. However, this site did not provide much information on the actual authors of the content. Overall, I would rate this as a highly relevant website. Design: The overall design of this website was very affective. The home page loaded efficiently and was very appealing to the eye. The home page

Overview: the Between the Lions website is a very good website for both students and teachers. It gives teachers ideas to make reading and learning more fun for young students. It also has games right on the site that students can enjoy and learn to read without really knowing they are learning. The games do take a little long to load though and I'm sure children would get very impatient with that Content: The content of this website seems to very reliable. There are stories kids can read themselves, there are video clips and games. They all seem to be helpful and very fun. If I found them helpful I'm sure the young learners would too. The website also offers tips to teachers and parents about how to help their children and students have fun while reading. It does not give a specific age group. Design: The layout of this website is very user friendly. It is very easy to navigate. Children using this site would have no problem at all figuring it out. It is very colorful and designed cleverly. On the home page when you scroll over the picture they talk to you. For example, if you scrolled over the words stories, the character would say "stories". I think the design is great I would use it in my classroom.

Overview- This site provides relevant and educational news stories for both kids and teachers based on the selected subject. The content is put together from many sources and reviewed by members of the site. Credibility for some news sources is pretty questionable at times. Though, they still always site all information for all news stories provided. They even have a part of the site dedicated to teachers, but could not get into it because it takes a membership. Content- A lot of information on a variety of subjects solely designed to inform kids. The only problem with it is some of the news sources have questionable credibility. Also, they do not fully specify whom the person is writing the article. It would be a great way to inform kids on current events, but it is just hard to tell whether the information is accurate. Design- The design is pretty great. It has an easy to use format that allows kids to look for articles they are interested in with ease. It is very eye catching and just has a fun design that keeps you interested. Many images to go along with each article provided.

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.

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

Overview: This site offers learning tools for students as well as lesson plan ideas for teachers. It offers online resources to teachers and parents as well. It has interactive learning from games to activities kids can do for hands-on learning on topics such as math, science and language arts. Content: The homepage is laid out in a child friendly way. It is organized and grouped in all the different subjects so kids can find things easier. The author is hard to find but it is an educational sponsored site. There is a place on the bar left of the screen that offers a link to ask questions about the site. The site is frequently updated to keep the resources current. Design: The design is fun and brings value to the site with its interactive graphics. It is a great site for children to use as well as teachers. There is a table of contents to navigate to different links easier as well as places to seek help for problems. All links uploaded easy and were very organized so you didn't feel lost.

Mark Hyde www.quizlet.com Overview: This site is for students to study on using on line flash cards that they can make or use some that is already on the site. It can be used for any subject and any age of student preparing for a test. Once you get sick of flashcards you can also put them words and phrases into game settings to have a little more enjoyable time studying. Content: The site has various styles of study guides based on flash card studying. A student can do anything from study math to bodyparts in already save flashcards. If wanting to study their own words they can create flashcards of their own. It also has different kind of activities to do including testing mode and game mode which allows you to find out where you are. Design: Simple design that is easy to use. It is not much of an attention getter, but students can see what they need to do and is straightforward on how to use it. The only problem that may occur is some of the flashcards that are saved on there may have wrong information.

Quizlet is an online vocabulary tool designed to simplify vocabulary learning thru flashcards. It allows users to create and share flashcard sets with anyone on the web via facebook and twitter. Due to its simplicity and multidisciplinary capabilities, I definitely believe this site has a legitimate place in educational settings.

Overview: The purpose of this site is to serve as a professional development aid for teachers as well as a classroom tool. It covers all grade levels and all subjects which makes it useful for the whole school or a whole school district. Design: The design is kind of all over the place. There doesn't seem to be any unifying theme or color scheme. The home page is boring to look at and has too much coming at the viewer all at once. It was also difficult to figure out what the primary purpose of the site was. Content: The content is actually pretty good but the site is really more of an educational catalog rather than a free aid for individual teachers. This site then only becomes truly useful if a school pays for it. The "interactive" history section was dreadfully disappointing as there was nothing interactive about it. Overall I would not use this site in the future but it still has uses for some school systems.

Overview: This site is mainly for teachers to help improve their skills and knowledge and by providing information that is useful for them to view for free or purchase. Although this site can be helpful, I think it needs some additional work. It provides videos and workshops for teachers which can be beneficial. Content: The content is clear and easy to navigate although I had a little trouble finding the lessons for students or teachers. One problem I noticed was I couldn't find other links to web sites. The authors weren't clearly identified and there was no information on them. This site is also for others to use. There are lessons that students can learn from on their own at home. It covers Arts, Foreign Language, Literature and Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies and History. Teachers and students of all ages can find lessons or material to learn from. Design: The design of the web site is good. The homepage is organized. Other than the homepage, I didn't notice many graphics; however, there are videos of workshops that teachers can view from their own home. The other pages could use more interesting graphics and this site needs to provide other links to other sites.

This website reviews the effects of play in early childhood education.

Kristin Gaines September 11, 2011 Overview- The purpose of this site is to inform its audience about play based learning in early childhood. The intended audience is both parents and teachers of young children. This site does not contain a list of available resources, but contains valuable information. In my opinion, this site is very useful if you want to learn about the teaching methods used in early childhood today. Content- Upon rating the content of this site, I found that it met the almost all the criteria for content. The site was only lacking in interactivity and links to other relevant sites. One problem I did find, was that the site was a bit biased, so that makes it not as relevant. Design- This site is not fancy in any way, nor does it catch your attention, but it contains the vital pieces that make up a working website. It is organized and clear, although there is not much content in the site. Either way, this site met most of the criteria for design and is a good and easy to use site.

Overview: This website is intended to help students, parents and educators with math. Though there is a lot of tools on this website that can help a student as well as educators the main website its too helpful, I'm sure if I bought the full membership it would be more helpful but there are several people who cannot afford to get memberships for websites. Content: For students this website offers discussions, problems of the weeks, a "Ask Dr. Math" feature, and other math tools to help with homework. For parents and teachers there is newsletters as well as teacher to teacher discussion group and a discussion page about the NCTM Standards. Design: The design is a little hard to follow, for a student I would have had a difficult time figuring out this website. Due to its mature design it seems like it is targeted more towards educators and how they can introduce math and NCTM standards into their classrooms.

Overview: This website is intended to pass information about the proper use of grammar in writing. The website does a great job of conveying those grammar rules. It also has online tests to check for comprehension of what the viewer just learned. The site is based off of a book from a very credible author, but because of that there are no links to other sites with similar information. Overall, the website is very plain but passes along the information it intends to successfully but may lose visitors to the site because the design does not draw people in. Content: This website is full of information, and has tips for every grammar rule imaginable. The rules for grammar are incredibly accurate and helpful for writing for high school students. A criticism of the content would be that there is a chance for information overload with all of rules that are listed Along with the rules the website also has online quizzes to test the rules that were just reviewed on the site. That immediate chance to test comprehension is very helpful for students. The information is highly credible and the website does a great job of listing the credentials of the author. However, because the site is based off of one book there are no links on the site for other places to find similar helpful information. Design: The design of this website is extremely plain. Their audience is clearly adults or upper level high school students. The site is easy to navigate. It utilizes bullet points for the different grammar rule the viewer wants to learn about and links to the information without a problem. Then, from there, the viewer can link directly to a quiz pertaining to the rule they just learned. In general, the design of the website is easy to use but unappealing to the eye.