Group items tagged

The sites purpose is to provide a second source to Beowulf for the students in 11th Grade English. The site is composed of Beowulf translated into English as well as an index that has links to each individual section of Beowulf. I find the site to be exactly what it needs to be, an accurate, line labeled, online source of Beowulf. It is laid out very simply without distractions. The layout maybe dull, but it should be used in order to look up specific lines, so a lack of visual appeal is fine.

Design Evaluation: When a viewer first arrives at this site they are welcomed by a colorful home page. The topics are organized in a table of contents. A viewer can easily navigate the site; the topics under each page are grouped to allow easy navigation. All the interactive games on the site work properly and are relevant to the purpose of the site. The copy right date can be easily located at the bottom of each page. There appears to be no dead ends and the pages load with ease. The overall design of this site is appropriate and relevant to the audience. Content Evaluation: When a viewer first arrives at this site the target audience can be determined quickly; the audience of this site includes teacher, parents and special needs children. The purpose of do2learn is educational. The information on this site gives parents and teachers tools to use and provides children with educational games that can help in overcoming aspects of their disabilities. The content is well organized and allows for easy navigation. The information seems up to date however the revision date cannot be located easily. The content of this site is appropriate for the intended audience. Overview: Do2learn is intended to be an educational resource for teachers, parents and children. The content available on this site includes basic facts about different learning disabilities, tools for teachers to use in the classroom, and educational games. To access some of the features on this site you need to sign up for an account; however a majority of the information is available without an account. In my opinion this site could be utilized in a classroom to assist with classroom instruction. I can see myself using this site as a reference source and I could see this site being used to help children with autism and Asperger's to understand nonverbal communication. Over all I feel this site would make a good resource.

Ivey Barnes 10/13/2014 OVERVIEW This website is an interactive math help website. It provides sample problems for many different topics from Pre-K skills all the way up to High School level materials. If a student enters in an incorrect answer, then the site provides a brief explanation on why the answer is wrong and how to fix it. Overall, I think that the website is a good resource to help students master math concepts either in the classroom or at home.   CONTENT The copy right is up to date by the current year and it is even stated that new topics are constantly being added. The source of all the information on the site is from a technology company whose goal is to create products to solve problems in education. This site is actually one of the products to help teachers and students. The only disadvantage to this website it that to get unlimited practice you have to pay and register to the site. The good part about registering is that they have different payment options for both parents and teachers.  DESIGN The IXL site is easy to navigate; it is broken up by tabs for each grade level and then the links are organized by subject from there. Each of the tabs are color coded and a preview of the content in each of the links is given before you click on the link. 

Sarah Schepp September 1, 2010 Website Evaluation #2 Overall- This website was created to give high school students worksheets they could do that would let them still have fun like kids. The worksheets focused more on engaging the students so they don't always have to do book work or listen to a teacher give a lecture. The worksheets seemed very useful but I didn't care for the layout or design. I couldn't find the information I was looking for very easily. Content- The content of having the information that gives students worksheet that is fun to them is a wonderful idea. This will keep the students wanting to do the homework. I couldn't locate any information from this website other than the copy right date at the bottom of the page and sponsor who's name was in the lower left had corner. Other than that I couldn't get any of the information and it made this website not seem so good. Design- The design was very flashy and full of graphics, this livened up the website and made it seem like students might actually like the worksheets that it provided. It had a black background with white words which seemed to make the words explode from the page. The information seemed more interesting. Everything was labeled clear and seemed to be easy to locate, it even brought up worksheets for elementary students.

Kelsey Merrick ITEC 2360 Sept. 1, 2010 Good Website www.studyspanish.com Overview The basic purpose of this site is obvious. It is to help you learn Spanish. The intended audience is anyone who wants to learn to speak Spanish. My overall impression of this site is that it is very professionally made. The information appears to be very helpful. Content The content and audience of the site can be identified easily. The author is clearly identified and information about the author is available. The author is qualified on the topic. The last revision date is not provided. The purpose if the site is informational. The content is complete and well organized. The site offers sufficient information for learning Spanish. The content appears to be accurate and consistent with similar information on other sites. The grammar and spelling are correct. Design The homepage downloads efficiently. It is attractive and has strong eye appeal. The entire site looks very professional. The title of the site is clear and visible. The table of contents and the navigational tools are clear and understandable. The copy right date is easy to determine. The navigation of the site is very well constructed and the directions are easy to follow. All of the multimedia serves a purpose. The site is worth visiting. The information is organized and easy to find. The information appears to be current even though I could not find the revision date.

Overview: The National Geographic website is informational and entertaining it is Is full of startling photography and mind-expanding writing on space, the environment, animals, and even world music. Its purpose is to inform people on interesting news and events along with many entertaining stories and topics. Its intended audience is for anyone and everyone even a link for children. Content: There is so much content and information on this site. On the homepage there are top stories, videos, photos, and polls. There are tabs to photography, environment, travel, adventure, National Geographic TV, kids, and shop. There are also links to the magazine, news, animals, science, video, education, maps, games, music, blogs, movies, in the field, and a site index. When you access the site is easy to determine the content and intended audience. There is available information about the authors and researches for the different articles. The information is always constantly being updated and revised so nothing is out of date. The links also are easy to use and work properly. The information and content presented is not biased and achieves the intended purpose of informing and entertaining Design: The design of the National geographic website is very organized and easy to navigate through its many links of information. It is full of eye-catching photos and colorful links and tabs. It is easy to read and very understandable and accessible. The website downloads efficiently and the site is appealing and grabs tor attention. There is a site index and search box. The sites also provide copyright informational the provider is clearly identified. The links are clear and helpful and all the information including the photos videos and articles serve a clear purpose to the site.

This website is highly recommended in the world of educators. National Geographic is a well-known magazine. The purpose of the site is to make their information more accessible. When looking for an article for a science report this is a good site to go to. The audience for National Geographic is from 5-100; they have articles designed for young children but also sophisticated articles for a more mature audience. Also on this website if you wanted a hard copy of the magazine you could subscribe. My overall impression was very good. The content of the website is easy to maneuver around and find. Because National Geographic is a well-known magazine you know that the information presented is reliable and accurate. The website has access to games and videos to further explore the concepts.  As for design, it scores just as high as content. The homepage is appealing to look at and easy to use. When searching for a topic many articles come up giving many different perspectives one could choose from. The site has many colorful pictures that make your research more appealing to conduct.  Overall this website is very well designed and easy to use. 

Posted by Kelsey Potter on January 24, 2010 The web page was intended for students looking to pursue their education in the education field. Content: The web page loaded quickly and the audience is obvious to the reader. I could not find an author or any contact information to contact a source. Although the source of the website was very clear on each page. No information was given that the webpage had been updated frequently but each of the links was working appropriately. The purpose of the webpage was clear upon entering the site and each of the links was purposeful for the content of the site. The webpage was a little overwhelming with all of the links everywhere throughout the page and the information is also somewhat confusing. Although with all of the links there is a sufficient amount of information given on the webpage. The webpage is designed to fill in information to directed someone to a more specific topic which is a beneficial. None of the information on the webpage is bias, it is all given facts. The information is consistent and grammar is accurate. Design: Loading onto the webpage without very much color and a lot of words is not only overwhelming but is not as appealing to the eye. Although the information on the page is clear and there is several index to guide someone in the right direction. The sponsor is clearly identified but information on the sponsor and contact information were not identified. Copy right date was included on the webpage. Moving around the site was overpowering in that there were so many different links to click on and without directions was a confusing process. There were no graphic on the webpage which would have made the page more appealing. There is enough information on the site that makes visiting the site worthwhile but maybe almost too much on the first page. The same format was not used throughout the webpage making the page harder to read. Summary: Overall the webpage was overwhelming and confusing. T

Posted by Kelsey Potter on January 24, 2010 This website was designed for teachers and schools. Content: Entering into School World it was evident who the audience and what the content was intended for. The content of the website accomplishes the purpose clearly. There was no specific author for the website although the group that published the site was reliable and easy contact information was access able. The website was created in 2010 so it is still a fairly new site. All of the links and content are working appropriately and appear to be complete. The links and information on each of the links are easy to understand and sufficient to the content. There is a plenty of information for each of the links and for background on the website. The website is not biased but rather informative about schools using a content management system and a center for communication and education for the teachers. Design: The website loaded promptly and the homepage was an appealing to the eye. It was clear as to what the purpose of the website is and the different index tabs were descriptive to direct the reader in the right direction. The site sponsor was clear and background about the sponsor was also clear. Contact information has easy access and a 1 800 number was clearly identified at the top of each page. Copy right was easy to find at the bottom of each page. Directions for using the website were not provided but rather self explanatory to use. Each label had more specific labels underneath. The animations were for more of a decoration than a purpose. The website as equal access through different browsers. The organized information on the website was apparent and made the website very resourceful. The same goal is visible throughout the website although nothing was repeated. Summary: Overall this website is a very resourceful place to come for a teacher or a school. School World gives valuable information for the needs of diverse schools and teachers. Teachers

CONTINUED: Teachers have access to a website with content and design for the in the classroom and outside the classroom. School World is build by three elements including: "applying Web technology best practices, proactively listening to district and school personnel, and staying abreast of the education industry's trends and happenings." The website has accomplished many different awards in the limit time it has been offered. This is a very reliable, useful and beneficial website.

Rebecca Gardner Jan. 24, 2010 The content of this website offers a lot of different sources and links. It is a little hard to determine what this website is offering, because there is so much going on. It also is intended for a wide audience. There are links at the top of the page that will take you to the different sources, but then navigating though them can be a little tricky. Information about the author of the website is available and so is there contact information. The latest revision date was not provided, but the sites copy right dates were current, and the links were up to date. The purpose of this site is informational. They did however have some entertainment under the kids area tab. The links to other sites were related and appropriate to my needs The design of the website is to give you information on education, study abroad programs, and international jobs. It also offers information on career training and learning different languages. The tabs at the top of the page are easy to navigate though. The links to other pages were useful and appropriate. I didn't run into in dead ends when using the links. There was little to no multimedia except for ads. The website was very effective with a variety of browsers. There is a lot of sufficient information if you are researching topics that they have high lighted. The same basic format is used though out the website and it is fairly easy to find other links. My overview of this website is that I would highly recommend it to students that are learning another language or teachers who teach different languages, and also if you are interested in teaching or studying abroad. There is a lot of information and that to me was over whelming. But the over all content and design was helpful and appropriate.

Jaymes Talkington January 23, 2010 http://www.gilderlehrman.org/ Content This is a great American history site. It is full of historical documents, maps, and podcasts of historians by era. This site also contains curriculum models and quizzes for history teachers to use in class. It also has a lot to offer for students as well. Most of the information is either talked about by a historian, or comes from digital copy of a historical document so it is cited and creditable. The content of the site seems to be updated daily. Design The website is pretty user friendly and simple to use. The headings are noticeable and specific. There is a search box instead of an index. The site loaded regularly with no delays as did the podcasts. There is no unnecessary advertising on the site. All the links I tried seemed to be sufficient. The browser capability works for Internet Explorer. There doesn't seem to be any 'out of date' material on the site. Overview The web site seems to be mostly for the use of teachers; however I think it has a lot of information that can be used by students. The historical documents, maps, and podcasts are primarily for students, but can also be used by teachers. Its main purpose is to educate, and aid teachers with American history. I think this site would be very useful for teaching an American history class or even writing a paper on a certain event in American history. I was impressed with the amount of information the site contained.

Nicole Sutton 9/5/11 Overview: The Mathematics Lessons that are fun website is a simple website that provides math lessons and activities. The age range the website is extremely unclear. The website is only for math and no other subject and I find the home page rather confusing. The author of the website is very clear however the website looks very jumbled and not professional. The website is unclear in many areas. Content: The Mathematics Lessons that are fun website contains a jumbled set of boxes that are links to games and lessons for math. The quality of the website is not very helpful. I find it hard to find the information reliable because there is an author but no title or reason she is an expert. There is not a list of people involved and there is no clear purpose of the website given. There does not seem to be a sponsor nor any way to contact the owner of the website. There are no other resources given on the website. My overall impression with the content of the site was that is it very poor and unreliable. Design: The Mathematics Lessons that are fun website has an attractive but simple lay out, however is over powered by the confusion of the confusing links. You are not sure where to go upon the arrival of the home page. The copy write is given at the bottom of the page however it is not current which gives the impression that the site has not been edited in a long time. The use of multimedia is confusing there are random graphics and almost annoying colors everywhere. The information including grade level is not clear and the website does not contain easy to navigate links. The website is not a very reliable one and not one I would use for my classroom.

Nicole Sutton 9/5/11 Overview: The e learning for kids website is a nonprofit foundation that provides free and fun learning activities on the Internet. The website is for ages 5-12 but can also be used by people in the education department, parents who want to connect and learn what their kids are learning, as well as game developers who want to contribute. e-learning for kid's hopes to be a better source for children 's learning through being available through the Internet so it can be accessed from anywhere. It's free and offers course content in math, science reading and keyboarding. The website helps children master these important basics so they can be successful in their future lives. e-learning has many partners and supporters; there are also helpful resources such as a media link that connects you to new, case studies and other important information. Content: The e learning for kids website is very easy to navigate, and is very high quality. There is a very nicely laid out home page where you can click on the grade level you need. Below the grade level there is a list of subjects you can choose from. There is also a choice of languages to choose from at the very top of the page. Once you click on a grade or subject it gives you a list of fun and helpful activities as well as what grade it would be best for. The content of the site is very helpful and well laid out. The website seems reliable as well because it gives you a list of board members, executive team and advisory board so you know exactly who is involved in the website and what they do for the site. Overall I got a very good impression from the content of this well laid out website. Design: The e-learning website is very easy to navigate and very pleasing to the eye. It is colorful and lays out all the links that you need on the home page. There is a clear area to contact the creators of the site and sponsors or partners were very easy to determine. The copy writes date is clear and the

government library, primary sources

Jaymes Talkington January 23, 2010 http://www.loc.gov/index.html Content This site is full of collections of books, newspapers, videos, and other documents on thousands of historical events and people that are kept in the Library of Congress. There are resources for kids, librarians, publishers, researchers, teachers, and visitors. All of the informational documents found on the site come with citations, and since the information is in the Library of Congress it is most likely creditable. There is also a link that allows you to ask some of the librarians specific question. Design The front page of the web site is pretty easy to use considering there are many specific areas to click on depending what your use of the site will be. Everything is clearly identified on the front page. It didn't take unusually long to load either, and all the other links I tried came up pretty fast as well. The "search" bar at the top of the front page makes it easy to find exactly what you are looking for. It may take some time to download copies of texts, but the videos don't take long at all. There is no advertising on any of the videos I observed so it gets right to the chosen subject. Overview This site's purpose is to make the Library of Congress's information available to anyone without leaving their home. Their audience can include kids, librarians, publishers, researchers, teachers, and visitors. The resources on this site include digital copies of books and journals, and also educational videos. Overall the cite seems like an accurate and easily accessible source of historical information.

This webstie allows students to research primary sources.

Posted by Kate Guerrieri 9/18/2009 Title of web page: The English Teacher- Lesson Plans for a Creative Writing Course Content: This website offers an entire 13 week lesson plan for teaching a creative course. The lesson plan is broken up into different sections that a teacher would cover for the 13 weeks. Each section covers a different topic and offers links to other websites that offer additional information or examples. There are writing prompt ideas and ideas for different assignments a teacher might consider using. If it meets all the state requirements of a teacher's location, it would be a good source to use for developing a lesson plan. If not, it is a general guide for what a creative writing lesson plan should look like. Design: This web site is split into thirteen sections, in correlation for the weeks that the lesson plan is made for. Each section has a description of what is being taught and ideas on how to teach it. There are examples and links in each section. It is easy to navigate and user friendly. Attribution: The site seems credible. Anyone can use this information as long as they cite the page. I couldn't find the copy write information on the actual page but it is part of a larger website that would have it.

Posted by Kate Guerrieri 9/18/2009 Title of web page: Creative Writing Teacher Resources (Grades K-12) Content: This is a general web page for teachers. It just offers link to sources about teaching creative writing. It is a good resource for research. It offers links to sources for all different grade levels. Design: This is a just a web page that has a list of links a teacher could use. It is easy to navigate. There are some advertisements but not too many. Attribution: This website is credible. It is copy righted and the information for citation can be found at the bottom of the page. The information is open to everyone.

Posted by Kate Guerrieri 9/18/2009 Title of web page: Tips on Teaching Creative writing. This website has helpful hints for new creative writing teachers. Content is easy to understand. Content: The content of this website is just a list of things that a new creative writing teacher might consider doing for their class. It offers insight from an experienced creative writing teacher, who knows what to expect when teaching this course. It deals with issues that may arise when teaching a creative writing class and offers solutions. This website is short, precise, and just a singular view point about teaching creative writing. It doesn't offer much information but the information is does offer is useful. Most of the idea's can be used for teaching any class and any new teachers might find this website helpful. Design: The design of this website is pretty standard. It has a bulleted list that highlights the information of the text. Unfortunately, there are many advertisements on this website that are somewhat distracting. There are no links to additional information. It is just a one sided view point that may be opinionated and it may not be credible. Attribution: This website is friendly for everyone. It is copy righted. People are free to use this information as long as they cite the author when necessary.

This website is designed for the use of teachers for grade levels 2nd and above, but could be used for gifted children in 1st grade or kindergarten. The site provides a step by step process to create games, quizzes, or crosswords. This could be a fun way to integrate spelling, history, or any subject into a lesson. I personally am a big fan of finding a fun or creative way to teach a subject and would use this site, and suggest others check it out as well. The website is set up in a manner that expresses its purpose to users right away. The site is created by the company Kubbu and was last copy righted in 2012 by a company called Soft Glow. Although there has been a couple years since it has been updated, the purpose of the site being a creator and the user (teacher) being the provider of the information, makes it a good source to use still. The design, while not fun or very inviting is simple and leads users through the site with ease. They not only have words to get you to the area of the site you might want but provide pictures as well. While the color scheme is dull, and it doesn't feel very inviting, the design is effective enough for users to be able to successfully navigate their way through.

The site is intended to give students an example of the APA format, which is given clearly and effectively. The students will be of the 9th or higher grade level and should be able to follow the instructions and rules set by the site. The site itself also allows students to look into other writing style for future assignments when similar or different styles are required. The site has some visual appeal, an amount set enough to where a student would be able to more likely remember the website when the need for APA style rules are needed. Overall the site is simple enough for the basics allowing students to still try to remain original in their texts without just copying and relying on the site. The general setup of the site is enough to keep interest without interfering with the information it provides.

Content: This website contains lots and lots of stuff. It is set up like a classroom and has a reading link, a math link, a playground link, and an arcade link. I think this is more of a game site than an educational one. There are also lots of links to other help sites, but the majority of the links are for advertiser's webpage's, distracting visitors. Design: After looking at it for awhile, I started to feel lost and uninterested because of all the advertisements and the lack of visuals. There are thousands of links for kids to go to, and the actual site doesn't really support a good learning environment. As said above, it's mostly games with reading sections that really looks fun, but if you have to look through the games to get to that section, students will probably never get there on their own. The visual part of this website is interesting. The homepage is pretty boring and filled with links, but the reading and games tabs are designed for younger students. Attribution: The purpose of this site is probably intended to promote learning is fun, but becomes easily more of a distraction with all of the advertisements. I don't think I would promote this site in my classroom without adult supervision because students could so easily be distracted by toys and games.

Overview The purpose of this website is to help kids interact with math and reading. The intended audience is K-8. My overall impression of the website is that is very beneficial and a good free website for students to practice math and reading, whereas with other websites you have to pay to use the website. Content The only thing that I would critique on this website is having other links that would be appropriate and have to do with reading and math. But other than that, I would highly recommend this website. Design I think that everything is up to date but there is no for sure way to tell on the website, there is the copy right that does say 2013 but there is no one hundred percent way to tell if it has all been updated. So this is one thing that I would change on the design for the website.

Trevor Montgomery For this resource, we see another website that in a way, tricks students into thinking they are just playing games by giving them subject related activities. With the subjects of math and reading, students having interactive games, books and comics and even more fun links, without thinking they are doing much work. Through the "Funbrain" arcade, students can also complete activities and must pass obstacles to get through an interactive game board. If they do not successfully complete an activity, they will not be able to get past their current location, but will feel challenged to get through each activity and will most likely attempt multiple times until mastery of the activity. The great thing about this website is that students can also use codes to pick up where they left off on the game board so that they do not have to start over each time they log on (with their parents' permission of course). From grades 1st through 8th, there is a great variability from subjects, and students who are feeling extra brave might even try a level of difficulty higher than their current grade level. As someone who used this website in school when he was in elementary school, I can say that this resource is extremely effective and I think that students will come back to it time and time again. Navigating the website is easy enough. If you type in www.funbrain.com in the url box, you will be directed to the site. From here, you can choose to use the math arcade, reading, fun arcade, playground, and all games tabs, as well as books & comics and more fun activities. This website is specifically directed towards the audience of students in grades 1st through 8th, so as a teacher you can trust it to be safe and student-friendly.

kids.discovery.com Reviewed by Kristie Neises on 8/30/2010 Overview This site is a branch off of the discovery channel main site. It features the television series that are on the discovery channel for their younger viewers. It also has games and activities and some television episodes meant to teach that are themed with the popular shows. This site is overall good for its content and design but it can be a little overwhelming for the audience it is intended for. The site has great graphics and would capture the attention of any child visiting the site, it is worth the bookmark to come back to because of how well it integrates teaching with its activities. The useful information that adults might need is a little hard to find. The main down side I can find is that younger kids might need an adult to find games and activities that they can do on their own since the site takes in such a wide spectrum of age categories. Content The content of this site would not be rated very high by adults. Sponsors are not credited, there are no specific things like author information or reviews. Even finding the contact information is a little tricky. Copyright is not posted since each part of the site has a different one based on the show the game or activity is themed after. There are no links to other sites since it is made to go with a very specific set of content to match the television channel. It is very clear on what the purpose of the site is, it is to entertain and even have a little bit of marketing to advertise for shows and the television channel itself. The website has its obvious upsides in that it is something that has accurate information as an educational program and it is made easy to understand for the age group it is intended for. Design The design of this site is well done. It stays true to its roots and copies the same theme colors and graphics that the television channel itself uses such as the chomping teeth and themed background of the month

Brienna Gregor 10/11/12 Overview: This website is very useful for students, teachers, and other educators in that it fulfills a plethora of scientific inquiries. This website is targeted for children from all grades and ages. Its purpose is to instill scientific exploration in children so as they grow older, they continue to be curious in the science world. This website provides many opportunities for both teachers and students to learn through interaction of available resources that include: Games, Puzzles, Activities, Quizzes, Tell Me More (further analysis for many different scientific interests), and more. I believe the design and content of this website is very, very well done. Content: The information currency and quality is superb due to the fact that it is sponsored and created by Discovery Channel. Contact information can be located at the bottom of the page through the link "viewer relations". This website is professionally done and very credible. Design: It is very easy to navigate and provides a huge amount of information. It is very fast, functional, and uses many different modes of media to stimulate children in their learning. Teachers can definitely bring their students to this website and build a lesson plan on one of its many subjects with ease and gratitude from the children. It is very appealing to the eye while stimulating little minds with information.