Group items tagged

Information on child development including prenatal, physical, intellectual, language and social development.

Ryan Pinkston January 22, 2011 1) The site provides the information and tools parents need to understand the uniqueness of children and to enable them to help each child develop into the successful human being they were meant to be. Their mission is to help parents develop a positive parenting style that leads to a family where parents and children can listen to each other, support each other and have fun playing and enjoying family activities. 2) Content Credibility- It is easy to determine the basic content and intended audience. The authors of the material are available and easy to find. According to the information given the authors appear qualified to present information of this topic. I couldn't tell when the last update occurred but information seems up to date. The website is well organized and the information is easy to understand. 3) Design Overview- The page downloaded in a timey matter. It is a little boring to look at, however, it is clearly organized and has tabs highlighted in different colors depending upon the information you are seeking. The site definitely has information worth visiting; the information is all clearly labeled and organized. Information is easy to find and the links are easy to use. They have links that lead you directly to the staff that provide the information for this website. 4) This is a website that I would use to help parents understand their children. It has a ton of information that can be used to help parents better understand and help their children.

Overview: This website is helpful when learning about the social development in children of all ages. This does include newborns all the way to 6 years old. This website is able to get across the basics of what goes on. However, it is pretty vague; I would hope to have more detail. Content: The content is correct from what I have read already. It also tells you what you should expect from your child at these certain ages. Design:It is easy to follow and not an eye sore. It isn't confusing with a bunch of links.

Overview Report: This website is called the "Institute of Education Sciences" and it functions on educational research, assessment, development and statistics. They strive on helping raise the bar for all educational research and evaluation. They work on developing a better understanding of education and schools, as well as studying how development and research can help create more successful schools. Content Summary: I was quickly able to determine the basic content of this site. Right when you open up the web page, it talks about the "Institute of Education Sciences" and I knew right away that it was an educational website. The intended audience was for educators and researchers. There are further websites for more information, and the links are placed in an organized manner according to content area. The purpose for this website is informational. It is informing and educating people on the importance of educational research. The content of this website shows that it is made specifically for the importance of educational research and the further knowledge of educational resources. Design Summary: The homepage downloads quickly and efficiently.There were different tabs that were displayed for different areas of knowledge, and there were tabs that told me about who the director was, and what her credentials were. There were a lot of links that provided further contact information, and there were many links that lead to other websites as well. I felt like this website was reliable and relevant to my research.

Jennifer Durn January 24, 2010 ReadWriteThink - http://www.readwritethink.org/ OVERVIEW The ReadWriteThink site is a partnership between the International Reading Association, National Council for Teachers of English, and the Verizon Foundation. The site contains several sections such as classroom resources, professional development, and parent/afterschool resources. The purpose of the site is to provide a collaborative tool to share free resources in reading and language arts instruction. This site would be a great resource for both the prospective and experienced educator. CONTENT Information on the site is up-to-date and clearly attributed to each author. Each of the sections is organized logically and contains links to various educational and reading websites. Cutting edge teaching methods are featured on the site and include teaching with podcasts and online safety for students. I was impressed with the relevance of the information on the site to today's student and current issues in education. DESIGN The ReadWriteThink site is of high quality with many pictures and multimedia graphics. The site also contains interactive exercises for students from K-12, lesson plans available for download, projects, and games. These various tools present information in ways which are useful for a variety of learning styles. This site is also well organized with logical placement of links and toolbars.

Overview: Read Write Think is a website designed for teachers to assist them with lesson plans, classroom resources and overall classroom ideas. The website is unique in that you can search a subject, and it will give you several different lesson plan ideas for grades K-12. Beyond that, the lesson plan ideas tell you the required materials such as internet or textbook resources, and they also tell you the state standards the lesson will meet. This website is great for generating ideas about different subjects, and creating lessons you might never have thought of on your own. Content: The overall content of the site is very reliable; it was created by the International Reading Association and the National Council for Teachers of English. The ideas, standards, and recommended resources are also highly reliable. All the links on the site also bring you to highly relevant information to the topic you have searched. Design: The design of the site is very professional and easy to navigate. The content is all easy to access, and displayed in a way where you automatically know the intended, professional purpose of the site. All the links to other websites are relevant and fully functioning. There aren't many advertisements to distract you; however, there is hardly any use of multimedia. There are occasional pictures, but in general it is a strictly traditional, informational site.

Meghan Frank The purpose of this website is to help teachers not only be able to teach how to read, write, and think but to also provide resources and help to be able to teach these subjects effectively to their students. This is definitely a website that is more centered on teachers and maybe even parents. This website provides lesson plans, different student interactions and activities, professional development, and videos to help teachers in their classroom. When looking over the content evaluation this website proves to be very useful. It is easy to identify the content of these site as well the intended audience, which is teachers. You can easily locate who the author is, their information, that they are creditable, and they provide information to contact them if you need too. It lists that the latest date that it was revised was in 2014, and that it is updated frequently. All links are also working properly. This website also has high quality information. It achieves its intended purpose for the audience, and it is very well organized and easy to understand. The information appears to be accurate and up to date, and the information is consistent around the site and with the other links. This website also has an efficient design, according to cyberguide ratings. The homepage opens fast and you immediately know where you are and what information this website will give you. There is a table of contents, and you can identify the sponsor of the website and how to contact them. The copyright date is also listed. This site is easy to navigate and has pretty straight forward directions on how to navigate through it. All the links are working and relevant to the content of the site. All the multimedia aspects of the website have a purpose and contribute to the site. The information on this website is very relevant to teachers and would make it worth visiting. It is easy to navigate and is formatted the same throughout the site. Over all this would be a resourceful

Jade Line April 14, 2015
This article is about how finger painting benefits children in all different ways. This resource is intended for mothers of toddlers and preschool teachers. It talks about the different motor skills that finger painting can help the young children develop. I think this website is well put together and easy to follow. It gives me great ideas for my lesson in class. This site is credible and the author is known, although she is a demand media, and isn't a credible teacher. In this article she talks about how fine motor development is the number one component of finger painting with children. She compares finger painting to having child zip up their jacket, they are using hand eye coordination which is helping them develop fine motor skills. Finger painting also opens children up to creativity and literacy/vocabulary. For example, the child could describe how the paint feels: squishy, slimy, or sticky. This website helps the teachers and parents to understand the importance of finger painting. It also helps them realize that it isn't just a mess, its fun and productive. The resource gives them ideas on what to do with the children and shows them different content areas they can take the finger painting with. The overall design of the website is appealing to the eye and very easy to navigate around. There are links provided with different content of finger painting as well, that work as well. There were no ads on this website that distracted the eye.

Adrianne Lauman September 02, 2011 Overview The purpose of this free website is to provide knowledge and awareness of North American bird species and their habitat. The site encourages people to make connections to science and nature through bird watching. The information is directed toward people of all ages who have an interest or curiosity to learn more regarding ornithology. Video clips, audio clips, colorful photos, range maps and life histories are available for investigating bird species. The site provides expert knowledge on the subject of birds in a clear and visually pleasing manner. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology developed this website and the National Science Foundation supports it. Content The site appears well organized with a visible heading to initiate a search for information on bird species. The search feature has an automatic fill in based on the first letters typed to allow the user to locate the bird of interest. Interactive selections allow a person to listen to bird sounds, as well as watch video footage of the bird. The site provides opportunities to "ask an expert" about topics concerning ornithology and information on how to participate in bird projects. One project named Feeder Watch allows people to send in their own data based on their bird watching experiences. Design The website has clear headings to locate topics and information. The copyright information and developer of the site are displayed at the bottom of each page. The photos of the birds are eye-catching and appealing. The information provided by the site is abundant and well worth viewing.

Chelsea Eisenbarth 9/11/11 Overview: This website was developed by the Missouri Historical Society in devotion to teaching about the museums, history, and educational ideas with Lewis and Clark. The site has a page devoted to and made by educators with lesson plans as well as other pages devoted to information using different media types. There is video as well as written information on the topic. Content: In addition to providing information on the Lewis and Clark expedition this site also provides a section devoted to educators and lesson plan ideas. The lessons were developed by teachers and provide a rubric of content covered in each lesson and the different grade levels that they can be associated with. The content seems up to date and all of the different links are in working order. There was possible bias in that they are trying to get people to visit their museum but overall the information seemed valid regardless. Design: The design didn't appeal to my personal taste, I thought it was ugly but it still served its purpose and the site was in working condition. I liked that there was different media options for obtaining the information and the lesson plan page was convenient. Everything seemed to be in working and current order and overall the website looked to be helpful for a future teacher.

Content: The content of this website is very straight forward. However, at the same time it's well organized and puts off the feeling of professionalism. The main purpose of this site is to express the overall goal for every child, which is to make them into life long readers. Yet, with that goal they need to have guided instruction and engaging materials to make them efficient ones. So with that, this site gives a list of areas teachers can focus on to make that goal achievable (literature, reading comprehension, vocabulary, writing, ECT...). Since the primary focus is dealing with 2nd graders, teachers need to be able to present this material in a way that actively engages the students. Once that's accomplished hopefully they will begin to develop a real joy of reading and to read a wide variety of materials. Some might think this site is only for those who are educators but active parents can help guide their children by reading to them and helping with their homework. Design: Personally I believe that this site is designed very well. The colors they use are very appealing to the eyes and it is also presented in a manner that is easily understandable. When accessing this site it downloaded efficiently while also allowing the user to move around the site with ease. The information that is provided is very helpful, if teachers don't already have the basic knowledge of what is expected this site will give a brief insight on what is to be anticipated from each student. Attribution: This site seems to be a very established and projects information that is not only useful to teachers but allows children's development levels to be ranged all over the map. Meaning, this site is designed to help children that are struggling as well as the ones who are already progressively succeeding in this area of learning.

The purpose of the National Art Education Association website is to help with the growth of the art educators' profession, to help adapt to change and new information, as well as leadership. The website specifically has written that its mission is to advance the visual arts education to fulfill human potential and promote global understanding. The intended audience for this website is more specifically for Art Educator, but anyone involved in the visual arts would find it helpful. It provides resources such as mentoring, networking, conference information, lesson plans, important art world news, and developing and sharing art education resources. I think it is a very successful website based on the content and design review guidelines.

The mission of the website of the National Art Education Association (NAEA) is to create a "dynamic community of practice where visual arts teachers, scholars, researchers and professors, students, administrators, and art museum educators, and artists can come together around a shared belief in the power of the arts in developing human potential." The website contains news surrounding art education along with events that are happening. It also contains lesson plans, access to the art education community, advocacy resources, research and knowledge of art education, grants and various opportunities, and careers available. This website seems to be an easily navigable, one-stop location where you can gather a lot of information about art education.

This website discusses the role of play in early childhood education

Kristin Gaines September 11, 2011 Overview- Overall, this is a very up to date and useful website. The purpose of this site is to learn about early childhood and what the research is telling us. The intended audience for this site is parents, teachers, and theorists who are interested in young children and how they develop. Content- The content of this site is very up to date and the information providers are credible as well. At a fist glance, you can tell what the basic content is and that it will be useful. Design- The design of this website is pleasing to the eye, although it is not a busy web page. The site has a clear table of contents and is extremely easy to navigate. There are many links associated with this site and they are all working and useful to the content of the site.

Overview: This website has a lot of information and is very detailed in each paragraph. It is kind of tedious to read, because it is long and there are no subtitles. It is just one long page of paragraphs. Content: It has a lot of good information with details, it also has a medical editor and an editorial advisory board. The information was also updated just a couple months ago. Design: I would prefer subtitles so it isn't just a long block of words, the page isn't hard to follow.

Overview: This website is very imformative of the stages of social development in children. It also gives links for parents to follow into other websites if they still have questions. It includes birth-5 years old Content: The content is done in bullets, so it isn't detailed. But with the minimum it is able to get a lot of information across. Design: The design is easy to follow and graphics are cute and really fit the site.

Overview Professional Development in Literacy and Technology Integration is to help teachers strengthen and learn more about teaching of reading and writing. This website is to help grade levels K-12. The lesson plans for teachers are very informative and this site tells you which books would be great to read for reading and writing for different grade levels. Some of the lessons plans are little outdated, but overall this website is very informative for teachers to learn what they need to for reading and writing. Content This website has a tab at the top of the page that says "What's New" It updates teachers about what is new on the website page, and each month it tells you what the site has been awarded for, updates on technology in certain subjects, and also important articles that teachers should read to get updated in reading and writing. The contents of the website are well displayed for teachers to easily find their lesson plans . Design The web pages are very eye appealing. They show pictures and animations for each reading and writing topic.This site has a search button for teachers to help them find what they are looking for.The books that teachers are able to find for reading are updated. I had trouble getting into some of the other different areas, but other than that this website is helpful for teachers to find materials they need for inside their classroom, great lesson plans for them to teach to their students, and a better understanding of reading and writing.

10-11-12 Step up to Writing is a website designed to show students how to write a well-structured paragraph using the step up method.  The Step up method is simple and compares writing to an everyday concept. The intended audience is for all students but would be best used for students between 3rd and 5th grade. Other than the links to the different paragraph sections no other resources are presented. If you want a good website to teach writing methods this is one to use.  The content on this site is very well organized that you can maneuver is very easily. At first look it provides basic information, the method is simply put until further clicking on each link to further diverge in to the each section. The information is written in a way that children can understand the information.  The website design was good but not perfect. Everything downloads effectively. When looking for the developer you need to go to the link at the bottom; it isn't very easy to find but is still accessible. No other links are on this section of the webpage but on the main homepage many helpful links are presented.  Overall this website need to improve the design a little but presents good information worth investigating. 

Casey KarchOctober 5, 2012Overview: The purpose of the Math Drills website is to provide a mathematics tool to instructors and parents through worksheets. They provide worksheets for elementary students to complete in grades one through six, ranging from just about anything they will need to learn to move through the district channels. Answer keys are provided as well. The intended audience is parents and teachers, helping to develop the children. The resources available to this site are links to worksheets, a tour of the website, and a link to contact the teachers and technicians that worked on the site. My impression is that it can be extremely useful for instructors and parents needing to get their students extra practice in mathematics. It is not an overwhelmingly designed site, so it is nice to navigate. Everything is in order and easy to understand. Content: The content in this site is exceptional. The main downfalls of it are the lack of hard information and varying information. It only contains worksheets, not explanations of the material. Other then that, it does not contain a date of last revision. On the plus side, the first look and information quality are excellent. The content will be very useful for teachers and parents, saving a lot of time. Design: Design is not very eye catching, but all the information is clearly labeled and easy to access. Home page is a nice touch, not too extravagant but not too boring. The use of multimedia, browser compatibility, and content presentation all appeal to multiple ages, making it an excellent source. Also, it contains an excellent link to find out further information by contacting the makers.

Tyler Rogers February 4, 2012 Overview:  The purpose of this site is to provide users with concise and easy-to-read space science materials, and to help educators guide their lessons involving space science. This site is geared towards educators looking to solidify understanding, or develop new ideas for lessons. Though the site does not specifically provide lesson plans, it does provide the knowledge from which teachers could derive their own. There are links to other educational space science sites, as well a handful of interactive activities. I feel that this site is a valuable resource, contains high quality content, and could be well utilized by educators seeking to teach space science. Content: This site's overall content is clear from the homepage, though no specific authors are listed. All of the site's content is well organized in categories. Once a reader finds their desired section of the site, the content is coherent. The material is strictly factual and contains no bias, and none of the links are broken.  It is important to note that this site fails to provide any revision dates, rendering the currency of the site unknown.  Design: Amazing Space is easy to navigate and is compatible with many web browsers. There are two viewing options a user can pick from. Not both options present the same information, but it is all organized the same. A sidebar to the left of the screen organizes all of the site's content. Users can easily find lists of clearly labeled fact sheets and activities.  The site makes use of multimedia, especially photos and pictures. The pictures contribute to the visual appeal of the site, but do not serve a greater purpose. The site's organizational downfall is that users often have to click through many links to find the desired material.

Lacey Boyles April 15, 2015 This website ran very smoothly. I was able to find what I was looking for and also browse other articles easily. The intended audience is anyone who is interested in early childhood development. The purpose of this site is to give advice to parents/teachers, and also ideas on games/activities/art. Over all this is a very well set up website. This site is set up very well. Things are easy to locate as they have blogs set up in different categories. From what I read through the authors grammar and spelling is all correct. They try and set up two blogs a week, I would say they stay pretty current. I did not have any problem clicking on different blogs/articles, I was able to access all that I clicked on. The only thing I think they could add is links to other websites that relate to what they are talking about in a specific blog/article. When first clicking on this website it is very clear as to where you are. The site is nothing fancy so it does not take away from the content. On the homepage there is not too much going on and is easy to read. There is a variety of different information that would help with many different questions. From what I read through articles seem to be up to date and there is not a lot of very old material. This is a website that I will be returning to in the future.

Peggy Hall\nAugust 31, 2010\nWebsite Evaluation\nOverview:\nI reviewed the website, Reach Every Child which is a website that helps teachers establish lesson plans. I believe the point of this website is to link the viewer to other websites that have information (i.e. lesson plans, facts, and data) about certain subjects. It is mostly a resource for teachers and students looking for information in whatever subject they need to discover more information in. I feel like this website could use some more content in explaining its overall use, but it does have a lot of great links for the viewer. This website needs to be enhanced, but the meaning behind it is good. I did also find some lack in labeling each section effectively. It took me a little while to completely understand how this website works and the author's credibility and contact information is lacking. \nContent:\nAs I previously mentioned it was not easy for me to decipher the overall objective of this site, I knew it dealt with lesson plans, but how those lessons plans were presented and used on the site was a little confusing at first. It is known on the webpage that Horace Mann developed it and that it is founded by educators for educators, but it does not have a bibliography page or link describing who Horace Mann Company is. It addresses in its disclaimer that if there are any questions to email them, but there is not an email address. This website does have over 5,000 resources and different links which I do find beneficial. However, it does also mention that you could hit a dead end and to not be discouraged. It is not apparent how current the information is that is being displayed on the webpage. This site does have some organization, but as I previously mentioned there is not exactly a clear homepage or labeled content links etc… There are a lot of links which do not clearly explain where they will be taking you next. \nDesign:\nThe design is lacking. It does not catch my eye appeal when I first l

Jaymie Sheehan ITEC 2360-04 9/2/2010 OVERVIEW For this review, I visited the National Council of Teachers of English site, http://www.ncte.org. The intended audience for this site is clearly for English, literacy and language art teachers, from the elementary to college levels. The intended purpose of the site is to provide these educators with information and resources that will help them improve in the classroom. The site has various resources including professional development, press relating to English and education, shopping, and the ability to interact with different educators. I felt that this site was great for a multitude of reasons. The layout is simple and extremely easy to navigate, there were seemingly unlimited resources and links for teachers of each grade level, educators are able to use this site to interact with one another and become more proficient in their classrooms. located at NCTE. By scrolling down the page, one can find the sponsor's address and phone numbers if quandaries arise. There is also a specific tab that allows the user to contact NCTE for any variety or reasons. The information on the site is kept current. All links seem to work and are relevant, however I found no date telling the user when the last revisions were made. The information quality of this site is superb. The purpose of the site is clear and everything seems to be complete. There is myriad information located within the site for teachers. Of course, since this is a site aimed toward English teachers all grammar and spelling seem to be correct!