Group items tagged

Scott Chanthongthip on January 23, 2010 Overview: National Library of Virtual Manipulatives is a free website offered online to help teachers us visual aids to teach mathematics. The content is from the Utah State University and is edited by the university. Content is easy to navigate and understand because it focuses on students from K-12. Content: The National Teachers Council of Mathematics five content standards are listed vertically in a grid, while the grades for each of the standards are listed across the top of the grid. Navigation based on the content standard and grade level appropriateness is accessible because of this organization. Teachers just need to find the content standard and line it up with the appropriate grade level. Although the site has a version that it offers to schools many of the virtual manipulatives are easy to use as long as one's computer has JAVA capabilities. There are four different language options for the different virtual manipulatives, so it makes it easy to use in bilingual settings (English, Spanish, French, and Chinese). The main reason for this website is to offer teachers with computer technology to teach manipulation of different math areas when the physical manipulatives are not available. Teachers can also use the site to help explain concept clarity of hard to understand math functions. Design: The initial web page offers a grid of math standards and grade levels from K-12. Teachers can click on the appropriate link and it will lead them to more options on different subjects in the content areas. None of the links are broken for the virtual manipulatives. Design of the website is updated often by the USU. NLVM also allows users to select from four different languages.

Kaci Philpot Overview: The purpose of this site is to provide teachers and students with fun, interactive Math manipulatives online, because manipulatives help students to see visual relationships in Math and help to actively engage students. The website has the following standards for math education; numbers and operations, algebra, geometry, measurement, and data analysis & probability. Each standard has four different age groups to choose from: pre-k through 2, 3 through 5, 6 through 8, and 9 through 12. This website is one of the very few educational websites I have found that is free and clear or useless information and clutter. Content Summary: This website content quality is very high; it has an index chart on the homepage with grade levels and math standards. Each box on the chart is linked to a page of full of various virtual Math manipulatives. If you navigate to the credits page you can see who is in charge of creating what, however it does not provide information about or credibility of those individuals. It also does not have revision dates. But the site is well organized and has very rich content. The manipulatives are an excellent way to get students excited about learning math. Total yeses: 19 Total no's: 2 Total N/A: 3 Design Summary: The homepage of this site is very easy to navigate and understand, but it does not have very strong eye appeal at all. But the manipulatives are very useful and all have clear directions if necessary and all internal and external links work properly. It does not appear to have any outdated content, if Mathematics can even be outdated. My favorite link on this website is the link to the Spanish page. This would be very useful for teachers with ESL students; it helps to ease the language barrier. Total yeses: 22 Total no's: 2 Total N/A: 0

Chelsey Lynch 1/31/11 * Overview: This website is for the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives. The intended audience of this site is teachers, and students of all ages. The available resources are a wide array of virtual math manipulatives. This website is extremely useful to teachers because it provides children with a firm grasp on concepts by letting them learn directly through physical objects that enable students to visualize relationships and applications. * Design: This website is attractive and very easy to navigate. The main page of the website contains a large grid system which serves as a menu for the math content area and grade level. All information to contact the sites provider is given, and all the information is current. The instructions for the manipulatives are very easy to follow and the site even provides examples when necessary. This site has adequate graphics, though the music and sounds in games is a little dated and sometimes annoying. * Content: The authors of this site appear to be highly education and experts in this field. The purpose of this site is very clear and the content achieves the intended purpose effectively. This site is extremely interactive, well organized, and easy to navigate. I have personally used this site numerous times and love it. The only things I wish this site contained more of are links to websites that are similar to this or had further information.

Monique Koller Jan. 24. 2010 Invention at Play is a website designed to get kids interested in being inventors. Content: This is a cute website that has good stories about people who have done some inventing. It also has informational videos and games that encourage parents to allow play as exploration. The games are educational and logic based. Design: This site is very easy to navigate. The links work well and guide you to places that you might find interesting later. The games are educational and encourage creativity. It is easy to find who you would need to get a hold of if you had any additional questions or concerns. I wouldn't be super surprised if this site added new stuff regularly. Overview: The big goal of this site is to encourage learning and imagination! It is built for children and parents. This site has a lot of great stories of people who have become inventors, it has learning games, and informational videos that encourage parents to keep their kids exploring! I really enjoyed Word Play and Tinker Ball, the videos were reassuring and the stories of inventors are inspirational.

Kayla Rider January 23, 2010 Overview This site is amazing for kids of all ages! Even if you are a kid at heart, it is still a great site. Also, it is very informative. It is a history site for the United States of America. It has games and loads of information on it, especially information that is normally not found on information and educational websites. It is brought to you in a fun way. I would definitely use this site to teach my students a thing or two about history and to keep them involved with it. I would also use it in the home for my children. Fun and very informational. Content This website provides a fun filled environment of historical facts about the USA and people of the USA. It is provided by the Library of Congress, so therefore it MUST be credible. However, if you don't believe in the title of it, there is a very informative About Us section that will have you believing in the content of the site. It also provides contact information so that you can ask questions about anything on or off the site. Overall, very impressive. Design The design of this website catches your eyes immediately. It is fun! It is easy to navigate through, especially since it was designed with young minds in mind. There is a table of contents and colorful links to navigate through. Overall, again, very impressive.

Mandy Schumacher 1-24-10 Overview: Internet 4 Classrooms is a website with many components. The purpose of this website is to help teachers use the Internet effectively. On the "Home" menu the user can choose to visit any of the seven links posted. Those include: Grade Level Help, Links for K-12, Technology Tutorials, Assessment Assistance, Daily Dose of the Web, On-Site Training, or About Us. This is a free website that is designed to help teachers find free Internet Sources to use in the classroom setting. Content: This site is full of information and consists of many separate components. This site is mainly visited by teachers who are hoping to find a way to integrate the Internet into their classrooms. From the site the user can choose a specific grade level and subject. Once the user has selected a grade level and subject a list of sites that can be used for classroom instruction appear on the screen. For example, if the user chose Language Arts for Elementary Students, sites such as "American Literary Classics" or "Brain Food" would appear and the user would then choose one of those links to instruct their students. These links can take you to anything from a list of good books to read in the classroom, word puzzles to challenge your students, or anything else related to Language Arts for Elementary students. Design: The website is somewhat organized, however, it can be a little confusing to navigate since there are so many separate links on the Home page. There are also several ads which can become distracting. Overall this site provides good information for teacher and students about using the internet as a learning tool.

Trevor Santy Sept 14 2011 Overview: This site is mostly a teaching resource with activities for grades from preschool to 12th grade. With many different activities ranging through different class levels. The activities also cover a large variety of topics from science to math to English making it a good learning tool as well as a good place to practice the skills associated with that subject. It even says the grade level the activity was meant for making it a must have for a teacher's resources. Content: This site contains different activities for different subject matters such as history, math, science, and a few others. It also has a games tab that contains learning activities for all ages ranging from the easy to some that are very challenging. Also the activities make great lessons for aspiring teachers and the site has help sections in case you get lost or don't know what grade to do an activity for. Design: This websites design is extremely simple and straightforward. With tabs to take you to individual class levels and activities. On top of that it has a handy on site teacher training for using the activities that is pretty easily designed using a mix of videos and text.

Randi McInerney September 15, 2011 Overview: Internet4Classrooms is an educational website primarily for teacher usage, but could be used by students. There is a good amount of information available on a variety of topics, but the site is not as organized or appealing as it could be. Helpful links, educational games for k-12, assistance and information for teachers, technology tutorials, and SAT/ ACT prep are available. Content: There is a lot of information available, but the SAT/ACT prep is only accessible if you become a member. Interactive games, tutorials, and information are available. The content could be easier to find and access. There is email information to contact the website developers. Design: The site does download, but is not that visually appealing or organized. The site provides tabs to find information, but then will just list a large amount of information that you are expected to look through in order to find what you need.

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.

Overview: Russian language interactive site with audio.

This site provides several examples of universally designed ebooks for students ages 10 and up. ebooks provide scaffolding techniques to understand passeges (editable by teachers), read content back to students, provide Spanish translations, and allow markup and note taking

Scott Chanthongthip on January 25, 2010 Overview: Although the website has seven books students can read from, it offers a helpful tool in learning to read while listening to the computerized voice. The computerized voice can be distracting to young readers though that cannot put aside the monotonous tone and lack of colorful personality a real teacher can provide. Manipulation of the tool bar for the story can help students highlight text, translates highlighted words from English to Spanish, and allows students to stop the reading to answer critical comprehension questions. The design of the website looks simple at first but I think if this a website to help students read it should be in simpler terms. Use of the computerized reading voice can read the whole page to students, so this can be helpful to navigate the pages. Content: Most of the content is laid out simply but it takes a while to get used to navigation of the different tools. Students that would use this site would probably have some background in reading already, as stated ages 10 and up by the UDL. It takes previous knowledge of reading ability to understand some of the more complex stories the site offers. Using the "Stop to Think" option asks listeners to pick multiple-choice answers that show the student comprehends the story they just heard. If readers miss the questions, clues to the right answer help the reader find the correct answer. As a teacher, I would use this site sparingly because I believe the computerized voice reading to students can bore them quickly. The website also takes away the ability for students to learn from their peers. The books used in this selection from the UDL provide just small glimpse at the plethora of reading material out there. The project team for the website consists of people with Education Doctorates , Master's of Education, and translators. As far as the content update, I could not find when its updates or when the site came into ex

Scholastic.com Learning Activities (Grades K-5) Sara Scribner 1/23/10 Overview: I found this website to be very helpful. It has numerous resources for student activities and links to other sites with information and resources for teachers. Ads are present throughout this site, but they do not overwhelm you. Also, on the primary page with learning activities for students there aren't any ads at all. Not only would I use this source in my classroom, but I would recommend it to others. Content: Scholastic, a website for teachers is very credible. Information found on this site is current (updated and links work) and information to contact or learn about the sponsor/author is available. There does not seem to be any hidden agendas on this site. This site is organized according to grade level, K-2 or 3-5, and has activities for both age groups. Its information is consistent/accurate, easy to understand, and organized making it easy to navigate. Another positive aspect of this site is that it has activities for subjects like math, science, language arts, social studies, and Spanish. Design: This site is definitely worth visiting. It's content and links to other useful websites makes it a valuable resource. Content layout is organized and everything is clearly labeled. Graphics provide a glimpse of what each game entails and add appeal to the page/game description. Animations and sounds make one's experience as he plays the games enjoyable and exciting.

Alexis Lunberg: February 1, 2011 The purpose of this site is to help children with their reading by using interactive games and guided reading. The intended audience would be for low level readers like kindergarten through third grade. The site also has a few things for teachers to use so teachers are also an intended audience. The website offers interactive games and guided reading stories for the children. The website also provides literacy worksheets, lesson plans, and reading software for teachers. Overall the design and content of the website is good, but could use improvement. Content The viewer is easily able to see the intended audience for the site and it provide quite a bit of information about the creator. It even gives a link for his blog if the viewer wants to learn more about him. The site is up to date and outdated information is no longer on the site. The information is effective and there are reviews on the site that praise the website. The site would be good for small children because it is easy to understand and has interactive games. Design The design of this website could use some work on the home page. The homepage isn't very appealing and the visitor can't tell what the sites title is right away. Also the site does not clearly identify the sponsor and the copyright date on the website. Another problem with the design of the website is that the view doesn't know when the last time the site was updated. The website also has beneficial things about it. One of the good things about the websites design is that it is easy to navigate. It takes less than three steps to get where you want. The site also uses good graphics and is effective in several different browsers. The overall design of the site could use some work but it is usable and worth visiting.

Roy, the tale of the singing ZebraOverview- This website is very cute! It is such a good idea to get young children involved. The audience is young grades such as k-2. The website is all about reading. I thought it was a really cool way to get kids to read in a different way. The interactive reading games and guided readings would really help those kids just learning to read. Although the site may be a little busy for the little ones to navigate with a little teacher help they would get a lot out of it.  Content-  At first look this website looks like it is easy to use and looks fun for kids. The author of the website is clearly defined, you can access his blog and look at investors and contact him personally. Which would be great if any teachers had questions. The website looks current although it does not have any current dates or update dates. The links work great within the website. The content in the website is great, all of the spelling is right and the information is helpful. The site would be very helpful for young children. Design- When opening this website it loads quickly and looks very appealing. Although the home page is not clearly labeled you can tell that you are there. There is a clear index at the top of the page telling you where you can go. Which makes the navigation in the site great. The use of media is great! They have moving pictures, which is very appealing to young children. The site looks current although there is no current date. But everything in the cite looks wonderful and would be great for kids to navigate. 

A website full of interactive games for math, english, science, etc.

Overview: This site is all about interactive and fun games to help enhance learning for elementary school-aged children. You can sing songs, play games in math, language arts and vocab. It is child friendly so you can easily find what it is you want to play. Content: The author is not very clear but at the bottom lest side of the page shows the sponsor which is Time4Learning, a online home educational program for homeschooling, afterschool and summer learning. There are links to all the different activities the site has to offer from fun interactive learning games to free worksheets to online learning. The content is mainly the focus for elementary aged kids. It provides the needs to teach and help children learn new concepts and refresh old ones. The information is consistent and updated frequently. Design: The design is fun and appealing for kids. There are pictures to go along with the links which make it easy to navigate and know exactly were to go. Everything loaded fine and had extra places to visit for extra help.

Overview: This website provides games for young learners to explore even before they reach classroom age and throughout the early elementary years. The website covers several subject areas including but not limited to Health, Spelling, Animals, Science, Math, Art, Geography, and Literature. The games are fun and challenging. Content: There are games for young learners that are both challenging and entertaining in a wide variety of topics. Each topic has sub topics and then a multitude of game options for that sub topic. There are illustrations of cartoons throughout the site. The author is not clearly identified but the sponsor is. The website links to other young children's websites and cartoon television shows. Design: The amount of subjects and then sub-subjects is outstanding. The entire website is geared towards young children which is not only seen through the illustrations but also through the advertisements. The games are easy to get into the first time but after you have gone into one of them it is difficult to get back out to the website's main menu. While it has links for the subjects it doesn't have links such as home, about, contacts that may be helpful additions. A copyright is not readily available. The directions for the games are clear and concise.

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.

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

An online text book for teachers

Lyle Wiley September 10, 2011 Overview: Shakespeare Help is clearly a for-profit site focused on attracting educators which attempts to sell Shakespeare teaching resources on a front page. But this site contains many linked educational resources from other sites for 10 Shakespeare plays which include current links with lesson plans, texts, power points, and current research articles. The linked resources are the gem of this website. These appear to be frequently updated, relevant, and helpful resources for the teacher approaching a Shakespeare play. With that being said, Shakespeare Help itself has very little free original content to contribute on this site. Content: The bulk of the useful content on Shakespeare Help is found in the linked material to external resources. In many ways, the site works as a nicely organized list of helpful links for the educator approaching Shakespeare. This is helpful to notice, as the authorship information for the original content on the site (which is being marketed to sell) is not readily available to the reader. This puts into doubt the reliability of content, but as the mass of the free useful content is external, this does not make the website unusable for educators. The site is updated frequently and many of the links would definitely be helpful for Shakespeare educators. Design: The relatively simple design of the site is easily navigated even if it is not extremely eye catching. The website loads speedily and follows simple indexed lists for informative links to be found. The frequently updated links all appear to be live and are extremely useful for teaching purposes. There is very little original site content available for free, but the available information is well organized and easy to locate. There is little media content on the site, but there are some nice external links to some quality media content. Essentially, Shakespeare Help works well as an external links site for teaching resources.

Lyle Wiley September 10, 2011 Overview: The About.com Shakespeare site is a resource site for educators and students dedicated to the Bard. The site is intended for educators and students and would mostly benefit the novice in all things Shakespeare education. The site contains many linked brief articles with Shakespeare information, historical background, lesson plans, teaching tips/ideas, and a frequently updated blog. While the site is housed in a template web page with few interactive media features and little eye appeal, it is well organized and certainly provides some useful information and ideas for educators needing a jump start in Shakespeare studies. Content: The basic content and intended audience for the website is easily discernable. Furthermore, the author of the content along with his credentials and contact information is readily available. The content of the site appears to be frequently updated and the author looks to at least post a blog entry monthly with new or updated site information. The information is well organized and easy to access and understand. While the site is relatively free of bias, there are a number of advertisements which often distort the flow of information but not severely. There are few external links (outside of About.com) on the website and no real media interactivity tied to the information. However, the information on the site looks to be accurate and certainly provides some good information and ideas for educational approaches to the works of Shakespeare. Design: While the homepage downloads quickly and the site navigation (complete with clear indexes of site content on the front page) is easily managed upon entry to the site, the immediate feel of the site is a naked template. This may not be eye catching, but the ease of information dissemination is handy. There is essentially no multimedia in play with this informational site, but the information communicated is worthwhile, succinct, and well organized.

Lyle Wiley September 10, 2011 Overview: The Folger Shakespeare Library is an exhaustive site of Shakespeare resources with specific large pages for different audiences including a site for students and one for k-12 educators. While the site has a clear focus on selling published Shakespeare works and resources, there is a good deal of free information and resources available for students and teachers alike. These resources include Shakespeare information and history, lesson plans for teachers, study guides, audio and video embedded helps, space for teachers to interact and share ideas and experiences, and a frequently update blog (called "Making a Scene: Shakespeare in the Classroom"). This rather attractive site has some very helpful and interesting resources for the Shakespeare educator. Content: The basic content and intended audiences of this site is easily discerned upon entry. There are numerous authors of the material available on the site, but for the most part the author's contact and educational information is easy to find. The site appears to be frequently updated, and certainly the blog attached to the educational resources on the site is updated often. The purpose of the site is both business and informational which sometimes colors the available information on the site, but there is a large amount of rather good free information including lesson plans, teaching ideas and tips, audio and visual resources, and access to a creative community. There are few external links, but the information available looks to be very helpful to the Shakespeare educator. Design: The Folger Shakespeare Library loads quickly and has a nice aesthetic appeal. Well organized and heavily indexed, the site has an impressive ease of navigation which is complimented by some nice photo design and occasional embedded multimedia (which is always relevant and helpful). Again, much of the material on the site is up for sale; however, there are a good many quality resource

Overview The Folger Shakespeare Library site is the home page for the Folger Shakespeare Library located in Washington, D.C. The site has any number of features that any good library web site would have: an online catalog, listed hours, ask a librarian. The site is designed for teachers, students, scholars, and the average Joe who is interested in Shakespeare, Renaissance literature, and early modern literature. Areas of the web site of high interest are the Visitors section, Students and Families section, K-12 Teachers section (which includes monthly lesson plans), and a Scholars' section. Content The content included on this site is amazing. The Folger Shakespeare Library has a catalog of over half of the world's books published before 1640, and the catalog is, of course, accessible online. There is a section of Hamnet (the online catalog) for electronic resources as well. The site is interactive-offering a free e-newsletter, social media, a calendar of events, and an active blog. There are podcasts chock full of lectures, poetry readings, etc., digital images, an archived list of lesson plans. There is a six minute YouTube documentary on the First Folio! You could spend many happy days lost in this site. Design The site's design is simple, elegant, and business like. It is a light blue color, which is easy on the eyes. Most of the navigation is at the top or to the left. The site is sometimes difficult to navigate unless one has at least an idea of what he or she is looking for. A site map is made available if one gets distracted or lost though.

Learning Math: Geometry Overview: The purpose of this site is to help an individual create a lesson plan or simply learn geometry themselves. It provides step by step process to learn geometry. The intended audience is probably a teacher. Any teacher who needs help designing a lesson in geometry can go to this site and learn what to do and in what order, it has a list of each session and what should be covered to move on. The site itself, learner.org, has many options in different lesson plans from geometry to trig to English. This site appears to be free, and contains legit information which is a pretty good deal. Overall, my impression on this site was that is has good information but it all seems boring which is why the audience must be a teacher, its not flattering to the eye. Content: First glance tells you the site is about how to learn geometry or better yet, teach it. About the site including the authors is a click away on a separate page than the home page. The group seems credible and they provide contact information for any further questions. The way this page is laid out makes it very easy to maneuver around, the quality of the information is fulfilling to any math teacher, there is not only basic information for teaching geometry but extra tid bits one could choose to look in to, to teach. Every page you click onto contains links to other lesson plans or different subjects making it very useful for any teacher. In general the content is sufficient to not only a math teacher but any teacher. Design: The homepage and the other pages load up quickly and efficiently. This website doesn't necessarily have strong eye appeal but when targeting teachers as an audience, and giving basic information it isn't a necessity. Everything needed for the page to be legit is included, from the copyright date to site sponsors, etc. It is easy to navigate, with links to each lesson session and to other pages. I would definitely recommend this site to a teacher; it

Whitney Lindt Purpose: The purpose of this website is to make it easy for teachers to find fun activities for their students to do but also make it easy to use in the school setting because it is enforcing what the teachers are teaching. Overview: I think that this site would be great for teachers to use in their classrooms for several reasons. One of them being that if they give the proper direction to their students they would actually be able to have the students use it in the classroom, this is important because they need to become computer savvy as they continue on in school. The other reason that this website is a good one to use would be because it covers more than one subject so teachers could use it for several of the subjects they are teaching instead of trying to find a new subject with each subject they teach. Content: The content of this site is really well organized and it is easy to look through and find what one is looking for. The nice thing about this site is that even though it is all learning material it is presented in games which is really nice especially for younger students. It has learning material on math, English, animals, printing, and typing. These are all essential as one moves up in school. One thing a really like about this website is that is has a how to print area and a typing area which most of the other websites don't seem to have and with the technological world that we live in today the younger the children start these activities the better. All of the links on this website work really well and open quickly which is also good to keep the children's attention. Design: I do not think that this website is appealing enough to the eye especially for young grade school students. Like there are some playful things in the background but I just don't think that there are enough colors to get the attention that the site is looking for. The other thing I like about this site is that it is split into different grade levels so that i

Bridget Stein 9/14/11 Overview: On this website, there are many resources available if you need a dictionary or thesaurus. I think this website is ideal when writing a paper, or needing some extra help from the dictionary. Not only does it have a dictionary, but it has words of the day, sources and different categories to choose from. Content: This site is very helpful, especially when writing a paper. There is the dictionary, then there is also a thesaurus for your use, different categories to search within, words of the day for fun extra tidbits, and timelines as well if you need some history based knowledge as well. Design: The design of this website is pretty basic. It has the main links on the site, and from there it can also take you farther to where you want to go specifically. It is very easy to navigate and search around, finding what you are looking for.