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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.

Posted by Erika Jeffs on 1/24/2010 Overview: Math Apprentice is designed to show kids that math is used in the real world, and not just the obvious careers like an accountant, but other developing areas such as graphic design. The students get to pick from 8 different careers, and explore the features of the line of work they choose and do some hands on math related activities. These activities make the website very interactive. The site is designed to use in the classroom for middle school students, but could also be useful for high school students as well. Content: The website clearly states the purpose of the website and the audience, in fact, it has a tab specifically for this information. The "About" tab gives and overview of the entire website. Sponsor and contact information is easy to find, however the authors of the website are unclear. The site was copyrighted in 2009 and is fairly new, so it should be up to date. The links are relevant to math and are in working order. This site is very interactive and gives many examples of math in the real world that would come as surprise to many students. There is also a tab that gives teachers a detailed description on how to use the site in the classroom. Math Apprentice's sole purpose seems to be to educate and not to sell anything. The website is easy to navigate and well organized because there is only four tabs. Everything seems to be accurate, up to date, and correct as far as my knowledge. Design: Math Apprentice loads very quickly, especially considering all of the interactive features the site provides. The home page is attractive, easy to navigate, and the format is held constant throughout the entire site. Copyright and contact information are easy to find. Directions for using the site are easy to find and very helpful. All links are working properly and quick to load. The site specifically states that the site works best with Safari or Firefox, and that there may be some bugs th

Seth Orndorff February 1, 2011 Good site review Overview The website, ixl.com is a very useful tool when it comes to math education. The site is kid and parent friendly with effective teaching strategies. If a teacher were to use this site as part of their curriculum, their students would each have their own accounts that keep track of their progress in various math subjects. The site has math questions to answer from kindergarten through eighth grade with different topics in each grade. Students may be assigned to answer ten questions from a certain topic. They would be able to easily navigate the site and find the questions to answer. Once completed, the student receives a score and time which is recorded. It would be advantageous for a teacher to give a pretest on this site at the beginning of the week then give them another quiz on this site to see their improvement. I am very impressed with this site and would definitely recommend it to others and bookmark it. Content summary The content of this particular site would be very useful for my needs and is worth bookmarking. I have several reasons for giving the content of this site such a high review. At first look, it is easy to quickly determine the basic content of the site and the intended audience. The authors and creator of the material is clearly shown and easy to access. There is a tab that gives a full summary of the creators with contact information at the bottom of the page. This makes it extremely easy to get in touch with the authors of the site. The content and information has been revised and has a new copyright for 2011. Along with the outstanding first impression, information on the providers, and information currency, the site has incredible quality when it comes to the information and further information. The sites interactive math problems that include rewards for correct answers are highly motivating for any student doing math from kindergarten through eighth grade. I was also very

Alexis Lunberg: February 1, 2011 The purpose of this website is to provide games and activities for young children in math, science, and literacy. The site also provides a link for homework help. Each section of the website is supposed to provide interactive teaching games and activities for the subject provided. The intended audience looks like it would be around kindergarten through third grade. The design is really simple and not very eye catching and there isn't very much content on the homepage. Since there isn't very much content it is hard to know what is actually on the site. Content There are a lot of things to critique on the content of this website. First of all it is very hard to identify what age group the site is intended for, and there is very little information about the person/people who made the website. Also the viewer has no idea when the site was made and whether the site has been updated. Some of the links to the other sections of the website are not working and the site doesn't really meet the purposes that the teacher would think it would. The games are of low quality and outdated. Overall the site doesn't have very good content. Design The design of the website can overall be confusing if you are trying to get back to where you started. The homepage isn't very attractive and the graphics can be kind of confusing. For instance the math section has a graphic of numbers above the text, so you would assume that the games in that section would be very basic. There are some basic games in this section but there are some that are so challenging that they seem like they don't belong. Several of the links are outdated or broken and there isn't a consistent format used throughout the website. Also the links on the website aren't very useful. Overall the design needs a lot of help.

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

Shelley Limegrover January 22, 2011 OVERALL The fourth site I evaluated was the Physics Front. This site is intended as a resource for high school physics teachers. It contains links to sites containing lesson plans, activities, and labs searchable by topic and grade level. The site was very nicely organized and contained a lot useful information. CONTENT This site is made available by the American Association of Physics Teachers and is funded by the National Science Foundation. A list of contacts is provided. The site claims that the content is frequently reviewed and updated for accuracy. The bulk of the content on this page is links to other websites. However, the Physics Front is much more than a list of useful physics resources. All links are summarized in detail as to their subject matter, application, intended grade level, etc. Rather than having to fish through a never-ending list of links, the advanced search options make finding relevant material very easy. All links that I tested at random were functioning properly. DESIGN This site is very well designed. The layout and formatting is consistent on all pages. Navigation is simple with a menu bar accessible from all pages. There are no irrelevant graphics or advertisements. It is easy to scan the pages for pertinent information. The copyright date is clearly presented at the bottom of the all pages.

Shelley Limegrover January 22, 2011 OVERVIEW The second site I evaluated was phet.colorado.edu. This site contains interactive simulations of math and natural science concepts relevant to all grade levels including college. This site is intended primarily for Teachers. Besides science simulations, the site contains suggested classroom activities and lesson plans corresponding to the simulations. All content can be downloaded or run directly from the site. CONTENT The content and intended audience of the site is made immediately clear on the first page. More detailed information about the intent of the site as well as about the authors and sponsors is made available via a list of links at the bottom of the homepage. The information on the site is not immediately easy to understand. However, this is remedied by instructions and suggested uses of all the content on the page. The site also offers dates for teacher workshops so that they may learn how to apply the material. As I mentioned in the overview, this site is primarily for teachers. A student would not be able to navigate through the material effectively without guidance. DESIGN The homepage downloads quickly and is clear of distraction. A simple navigation bar is provided at the bottom of the page. No scrolling is necessary to see it. The copyright date is clearly identified though dates of last revision are not. There are no broken links and all material appears to be up-to-date. The format of all pages is consistent and a navigation bar is always present. The site was compatible with all three browsers that I had available to test. The simulations are neatly presented on a single page, searchable by subject matter or grade level. There are no unnecessary graphics or video files on other pages of the site.

Shelley Limegrover January 22, 2011 OVERVIEW The first site I evaluated was physicsclassroom.com. This site is intended for both students and teachers of physics at the high school and early college levels. The site is very comprehensive including everything from curriculum and worksheets to tutorials and simulations. I found this site so helpful and easy to navigate that I imagine I will be returning to it many times in the future. CONTENT As noted above, this site is very comprehensive. Information is easy to access including information about the author, who is a graduate of chemical engineering and now a high school physics teacher. The author claims to make frequent edits to the site, thought the dates of last revision are not apparent. As far as I can tell, the information appears up-to-date with current-day physics knowledge. All pages contain complete information and there are no broken links. DESIGN This page is very well designed. The author did an excellent job presenting a lot of information in a concise format. The navigation is easy to use and the layout of the pages is consistent. Portions of the site that may be problematic for the user are accompanied by a brief introduction and, when applicable, instructions (such as for the interactive portions of the site). Should any confusion arise, the author's contact information is available.

Ericka Chorniak October 7, 2012 Overview: The purpose of the Physics Classroom is to provide examples for teachers, as well as ideas for instruction and worksheet opportunities. This site is also a good resource for high school level physics students because it provides practice problems and explanations to answers in addition to physics games for the students to entertain themselves during their free-time. The links available on the site can be used as good resources a wide range of purposes. For example, there are sections on this site that provide guidance for using the site, there are review, explanation, and even ACT sections for the students who are struggling with the content, as well as a section for teacher that will provide ideas for teaching the content and problems to work through. Based on these things and personal experience with the site, my overall impression is that this site is not only worth using, bookmarking and referring to, but also it is worth sharing with others. Content: The content of this site is easy to determine at first glance and it is easy to determine the intended audience. The authors of the site are clearly identified, their information is available for viewing, and appear to be qualified. The sponsor of the site is also clearly identified and they provide contact information for any questions. This site provides the date it was last revised and it is appropriate for the material. All of the links are current and work properly. The purpose of this site is clearly identifiable as informational and it achieves this purpose effectively. The content appears to be complete, is well organized, is easy to understand, offers sufficient information related to my needs/purposes as a future high school physics teacher, is free of bias, provides interactivity, is accurate, and is consistent with similar information in other sources. The spelling and grammar are correct. The site provides links to other sites (within the site) that are related

Caroline Wittman (Virginia) January 31, 2011 Overview Worksheets4teachers.com aims to provide educational resources for children in kindergarten through high school and their teachers. I focused on the sections of the site dedicated to elementary school science. It quickly became apparent that worksheets4teachers.com has a large number of links to other websites and ads. Unfortunately, the other websites rarely contained any useful information, and they were more often than not entirely unrelated to science. The website did appear to contain significantly better resources for other subject areas, such as math and reading. In addition, the science activities for the upper grades were of higher quality than the ones for elementary school. Content The activities available on the website itself seemed like they would be unchallenging and uninspiring for elementary school children. The word searches, coloring pages, and craft ideas are ill-suited to reinforcing important scientific knowledge or skills. In fact, they were so trite that it's hard to imagine them having a place in any decent science curriculum. Contact information was not readily available, but it was clear the website is updated frequently with new worksheets and lesson plans. Design The layout of this website is confusing, and the design is monotonous, bland, and unprofessional. Many of the links that ostensibly contain information about different science topics or lesson planning resources are really links to for-profit companies offering online degrees, tutoring, or shopping. A significant proportion of these links did not work, and the pop ups are very distracting. Information is difficult to locate, and the format of the site is somewhat inconsistent. The one positive characteristic of the site is that it loaded quickly!

Kaci Philpot Overview: The intended purpose of this website is to provide elementary level students with fun and engaging games that build different skills and knowledge. Teachers can use some of the games for supplementing lessons such as; "volcano explorer", "chill the spill", and many more. Even games that don't seem like they would be educational are full of facts about various subjects and environmental awareness. Content Summary: For "First Look" I could not highlight the information because it was not in a text format, but the audience and basic content of the site are very clear. There were no specific authors listed for the games or information. The credibility of the authors is evident though because at the bottom near the copyright statement, it states that the company/sponsor is #1 in non-fiction media. It also has a very clear link for any questions about the site that works properly. I found it hard to find the latest revision date, most likely because the website mostly has games, but the content must be updated frequently because it has games that are up-to-date with the environmental issues today. All links to other sites work properly. In the "Information Quality" section of the evaluation, the website received all yeses. There are biases. However, they are clear when glancing through the content of the games. There was not any further information related to my purposes, but I did not really need any because I was only looking for games and activities to supplement lessons. Total yeses: 18 Total no's: 2 Total N/A: 1 Design Summary: The homepage uploaded very quickly and received all yeses. It has very strong eye appeal, it's clear what website you are visiting, and the copyright date is clearly stated at the bottom of the homepage along with the sponsor/provider. The navigation is easy and instructions for games and such are very clear and easy to follow. All internal and external links work properly. And internal links a

Jennifer Olmstead 01/31/2011 Overview: This site is full of very useful information. My over all impression of this site is very good. I think that the site has good reliable information. The only thing that is wrong is that the author information is not provided. To me, however, this is strongly over shadowed by the information that is provided. I will most definitely be using and referring this site to other people. Content: This site is very well organized and very easy for people to navigate that want to learn spanish but are not fluent enough to read the table of contents in spanish.All of the content that i reviewed was correct, current  and very accurate. However, the author is not clearly identified nor is there contact information given. The site links are all working effectively. The purpose of this site is informational and that is very clear. All of the information serves a purpose. The information is definitely unbiased and all factual.   Design: The design is very efficient and concise. It has good graphics and eye appeal that all serve a purpose. The table of contents is and other sites are all very  user friendly. Navigating through the site is totally easy. This site provides enough information  to teach someone a basic knowledge of spanish. This site is compatible with many different servers. The format is uniform through out the whole site.  There is not a last updated date but the information, because it is a language is not something that really changes. The entire site is easy and purposeful.

Chelsea Eisenbarth 9/11/2011 Overview: This website is a great website full of information in an easy to use format. The website is intended for teachers and students to be able to explore and inform themselves of the expedition of Lewis and Clark as they discovered the new world. There are different activities to help sustain students' interest on their learning journey as well as lesson plan ideas for teachers to use in the classroom. Content: The content of this website is easy to understand and find. The information seems up to date though I couldn't find an official date for the last update. However, all the links seem to work with ease and the information seems current and valid from my background knowledge of the Lewis and Clark expedition. The information was well organized and delivered with grammar that a student would be able to follow and understand without trouble. Design: The webpage for this site downloaded to my computer with ease and was easy to navigate. The graphics coincide with the information well and aid in understanding. Information is well organized and the different links work with ease without dead ends. The design was simple and effective ensuring that an elementary student would be able to navigate the site with ease.

Korinne Thoren 14 September 2011 NGA Kids Overview: NGA Kids is a site created by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. This website provides an interactive page where kids can make their own art and zoom in on the works of famous artists, providing an overall collaborative exposure to art. NGA is geared toward younger students, as denoted by the 'Kids" but I think there are tools and games on the site that could be utilized with students up to middle school age. NGA also has resources dealing with the National Gallery of Art available on its page. Overall, I think this is a very fun website and although it is geared toward younger students I really did enjoy playing the games, arguably making it a good way to pass time for older audiences as well. Content: The overall content of this website is good, although the immediate site is not super informative, it provides many educational and interactive games for kids. NGA does contain links to other portions of the National Gallery of Art, which are helpful and more informative, making them a good resource for older students looking for information. Contact information for the website creators is readily accessible and there are explanatory directions for the games and activities on the site. Design: NGA's design is well put together and almost reminds me of looking at a National Geographic magazine with its black and yellow layout. Information and games are easily accessible and labeled and the same basic format is used throughout the site. The links provided by NGA work well and are informative and the use of graphics and animations really bring the website to life for it's users. Overall, it is a well-designed site and easy to use.

Overview This site deals with public education and its emergence as a Home-school alternative and is aimed at those parents who want a "quality" education for their child. I found it while searching for information related to teaching Spanish to Second graders. It is a well layed out site that answers the basic questions of who, what, when, where, how and why. Content The site contains all the information necessary to understand what the Wyoming Connections Academy is all about and how one may become involved in its academic service. Design The site design begins with an eye appealing tannish tab folder background. Upon this is layered the Academy logo, and a page containing information about the School and its services. Photographs of happy, smiling kids are placed in the top right corner of the page on a gray background. A little boy, happily doing his homework is the largest photo. The tabs at the top of the folder open to other pages. The design format is really easy to follow and keeps the user's interest.

Jonathan Krajnak 9/14/11 Overview: Scholastic's site covers a seemingly incredible amount of useful information for educators. It's pretty clear and straightforward, none of the information buried or misrepresented. There are a few sections that require a subscription, but most of the information is readily available. Content: The site includes several things that can be valuable to teachers. Among them you can find lesson plans, tools, tips. There's even a section for new teachers. There's an area dedicated to parents which helps educators because it gives parents a general knowledge of what kids need socially, cognitively, and physically. It also promotes and helps parents understand how to get involved in this aspect of their child's life. For the kids, there's a large interactive section. However, it's mainly geared towards ages 8-12. Design: The site easy very easy to navigate and professionally presented and designed. The presentation itself is appropriately tailored to whatever section you're viewing. (Namely between adults and children.) Couldn't find anything wrong with it.

OVERVIEW: The purpose of the Scholastic website is to help children to learn to read and also to provide teachers with lesson and book ideas. Librarians and administrators can also take advantage of this website to learn to teach certain students and learning of the newest authors. Some of the resources this website provides are tips on how parents can teach their children to read, as well as games that kids can play. The Scholastic website gave me a wonderful first impression. I would definitely use it in my classroom or library and recommend it for others to explore. CONTENT: The content of scholastic.com was amazing. The general audiences are easily seen in the table of contents on the top of the home page. Grammar and spelling all seem to be correct and the information on the site is simple to understand. Like the last website I reviewed, it was difficult to find a sponsor. This was the only flaw that I was able to see. DESIGN: Scholastic has provided the public with a beautifully designed website. The home page is neatly organized with easy to read font and not too much going on. It is nice and simple. It is easy to navigate between pages and there are no incorrect links. There is plenty of information that makes the site worth visiting. The same format is used consistently throughout the website which makes it even more professional and organized.

Ross Lindstrom - September 21, 2009 Website Evaluation #1: The American Political Science Association (APSA) The American Political Science Association's website is an aesthetically attractive website that also contains a wealth of information and additional resources. The Association brings together 15,000 members to form a community of political science study, fostering a healthy discourse and exchange of information. APSA organizes conferences, seminars, and produces publications for both students and teachers for the purpose of promoting the scholarly research of political science. My first impression of the website is a complete trust in the legitimacy of the information presented. Any student would find this website invaluable when looking for resources to do anything from simply understanding what political science is to writing a graduate dissertation or finding an internship in Washington. The website displayed efficient organization of the various areas of the site, a challenge when so much information is contained within. It had enough visual appeal to not become redundant while browsing and yet still retain the professionalism that should be inherent in such a field of study. However, a high school age student may find the website a bit dry and the content a little too advanced. Most of the publications of the website aren't available in a direct .html format, but download speeds are quick. There is significant information overlap among the publications, but in a field of study where slight opinion difference is a cornerstone of the conversation, this can only be a credit to its legitimacy. The first glance at the APSA website yields both an understanding of its purpose and a desire to explore the website's resource. The content is clearly organized based on subject matter as well as practical application. Proper credits to authors are prevalent, new content is regularly added, and old content is constantly maintained. One of the

Ross Lindstrom - September 21, 2009 Website Evaluation #3 - Politico.com This website is a flashy, attractive website that provides news stories on the American political arena in an easily digestible and easy to navigate format. The audience is pretty vast, including anyone interested in current events in politics. The purpose is to provide newsworthy political articles as well as a forum of discussion to debate content areas such as public policy, congress, lobbying, community, etc. My impression of Politico.com is that it is a well-designed, well-written conglomerate of differing opinion covering a wide array of political topics. However, at times it tends to emphasize the gossip aspect of Washington, running articles such as "Palin emerges as Facebook Phenom". Politico.com is incredibly well designed, with coherent organization of topics and content areas, relevant information regularly at the top, and an easy platform with which to navigate the many intricacies of American politics. There is a healthy balance of information and multimedia without the multimedia being too distracting and without the information being too monotonous. Loading and downloading times are quick. Gossipy stories about Washington tend to get more emphasis on the main pages, but browsing around the site and reading a few articles will tell you Politico is a heavyweight when it comes to intelligent political analysis and debate. The information is current, and links to other useful websites are prevalent. The first look at politico effectively tells you the purpose of the website, as well as the wealth of information it contains. The authors (and their legitimacy) of the various articles are all easily identifiable. The content of the website is all interesting, well-written and fresh. The website tends to lean on the liberal side of the spectrum, but still endeavors to include all dissenting viewpoints. The multimedia section contains a vast amount of information av

The purpose of this article was to encourage teachers in their work and the impact that they have on students, as well as provide a few resources that have held true for the author, sixth grade teacher, Elena Aguilar. Mrs. Aguilar said that she received an email from a student who had taken her middle school English class and was now going into the same profession. On a personal side, I would like to note that my story is very much the same, so this caught my attention. The teacher recounts what she told her student, that middle school was and still is her favorite level to teach. She then shares a book, websites, and blogs that she has referred to many times throughout her many years of teaching. Visually, the website is appealing. The content is simple and organized. There were no graphics, but there really was no need for any here. The content is formatted in such a way that there are no distractions along the sidebar or even at the bottom of the page. I personally really enjoyed the simplicity of this article. The piece is only a few paragraphs long, but the message being relayed really only needs that much content. There are no spelling or grammar errors here and Mrs. Aguilar maintains a professional speaking voice while she relays a very personal story. The resources that she provides at the bottom of her article are also worth a look. Overall, the article is short and sweet, yet helpful.

Basic content of this site is easily accessible. The intended audience of this site is for students reading the material. The author for this site is clearly listed on the bottom of the page, he is a professor at the university of San Jose state. The website has contact information in order to reach the author. The last update on this website was late September of 2014. This site seems really consistent with all other sites as well as the book. This site is aesthetically pleasing and easy to work around. There isn't any other links on this page, but everything else seems frequent. The content achieves intended purpose of giving an overview of the main characters of the book. The content on this page is accurate consistent and free of bias remarks. Previous knowledge of the subject is apparent. There is no spelling or grammar mistakes and everything on site is working. This site offers sufficient information related to my topic. This page is easily accessible, when the url is clicked on the website pops up. The pages are aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Images, title, and description make it easy to tell exactly where you are. There is a table of contents in order to know exactly what you are going to look at. This site is easy to navigate around, and fun to use. There is limited external links on this page and there is no where you can get lost in the site. One basic format is used throughout the site, the information is labeled and organized. This site is up to date and any other information that is not to date has been removed. There is much useful information on this site, which makes it worth while for me to visit in class.

This site is probably not a site that I would use, by looking at the title this looks like a fantastic website to use to teach about the culture of the Grapes of Wrath. By looking a little closer the title may say read me, but the articles following say "I am off topic". There is no clearly identified audience, the website jumps around a lot. One link the class would be looking at Oklahoma culture and the next link you are the University of Oklahoma's home page. There is not an identified purpose for this url. I think this was a very mediocre site. I was not easily able to find identify the audience nor the purpose of this site. This was a reliable site, the author and copyright date were easily accessible, this was also a university site. This URL might have been made by a student. This website was last updated in 2007, therefore this would put up a red flag because the author hasn't made any changes to it for 7 years. It seems a little outdated. All of the links to other sites are working properly, although the only other link is to the university home page. This site is not accurate, it has no related topics to other sites that I went to. Nor does it have information related to my topic. The information in this site is not organized nor is it easy to understand. There are no spelling or grammar issues, although a bias opinion is easily detectable. The links are what kills this site. There is no need to have a link to your University search page on one of the main links on your webpage. The design in this website is one positive thing about this site, the home page downloads successfully and with no problems. The home page is aesthetically pleasing and draws the audience in. The title is very catchy and serves as a learning experience. The copyright date is easily accessible, although outdated. There is a table of contents although they all run together, all of the links seem to be the same. Navigation throughout this site does not go smoot