Group items tagged

Overview The purpose of the Birmingham Grid for Learning site about Life Cycles is intended to provide an interactive introduction to the topic of life cycles. Life cycles are a key component in Biology and it is very important that each student understands them. The intended audience for the site is roughly middle school aged science students. My overall impression of the site is that it is very basic, and has a limited amount of information on it. It can be an ok resource at introducing the topic of life cycles, but should not be used in going into great detail of the topic itself. Content The content of this site would be good for younger students in the field of science. It is good for students to use to augment prior learning of life cycles as well as not going into great detail of life cycles. The website is good for younger secondary students due to the fact that it uses interactive lessons on the life cycles of frogs and butterflies. I would personally only use this site on a minimum basis, not more than half of a class period due to the limited information contained within. Design I thought that the design of the website was very useful, as well as easy to navigate. It had clear instructions as well as easy links to follow. It could be used very easily with little to no trouble learning how to navigate it.

The life of Robert Frost/Historical Context

Hailey Dungan April 15, 2015 The audience of this articles, similar to the last, is one who is skeptical of Shakespeare and his writing. Skeptics of his literature and even his life itself, the article actively researches the man's life. The articles was written in 2006 by a Mr. Doug Stewart, a writer for the Smithsonian magazine. The author is presented with no credentials, and the site does not offer links to his bio. The articles presents some interesting information, yet once again, I am unsure if I would use this in a school setting. I may use this article as a spring board for discussion. The content of this article is presented early. From the opening paragraph the reader is informed of the purpose of the piece. The article touches on the missing records that are seemingly nonexistent from his life. The amount of fame he holds in comparison to the lack of information about his life makes readers uncomfortable and often turns them into skeptics. The information about the author of this article is absent, however given the length and in depth research presented to us we can infer he is credible. You cannot contact him, though he should be congratulated on his correct use of grammar and spelling. Links to other sources are present, and the links do work. The site design is clean and professional. The sites homepage could use some livening. The black and white backdrop is organized, however not eye catching. A search option is available, though directions for the site are clearly presented. The information for this article is vast. There is a strong amount of information which may be used by students in a class room. They introduce a tree branch method of topics that in individual may use to deeply understand Shakespeare. The links to the other sites are useful. This article is good for both English and History.

Links to educational resources within (or about) Second Life and virtual worlds

Cole Baumann January 24, 2000 The F.A.S.T. reading website is to help teachers and parents see how to best educate their children or students that have dyslexia. The F.A.S.T. reading program was designed by Mr. Tattum from Colorado, who is very well educated in the field of learning disabilities. The program seems to be a phenomenal success and is being looked at more and more throughout America as a way of teaching how to read. This website explains a little bit more on how it works and how effective it is by showing graphs and charts of improved reading and students. I think that the F.A.S.T. learning program should be available in all schools due to its show of massive improvement for any student who was unable to read or had a struggle reading. These students completed the F.A.S.T. program and came out at a much higher reading level and were able to function in everyday life. The design of the website is very easy to navigate and there are no hidden links. Everything is very large and noticeable and the website interacts with the person using it very easily. If you are looking to learn more about F.A.S.T. there is a big button for that or if you want to see how to help kids as an educator with F.A.S.T. there is a large button for that. There are no hidden areas. Also, the website is very pleasing to the eye. It also looks like a very legitimate website and does not look like you should be getting any viruses from this or any other negative vibe from it. There are wonderful pictures and videos in the site that help describe how F.A.S.T. works. Overall, I see this as a great website which features a great program that any dyslexic, ADD, ADHD or anyone with a learning disability should look at and use to enhance their learning in such a way that they can perform functionally in college, everyday life, and in a job. I highly recommend this site to anyone who has a child with dyslexia or a student with dyslexia. This site will really help.

Amanda Larsen 1/23/11 Overview: This is a site that provides current articles and tools for people (at least high school age) to be educated in nutrition. There are diet ideas as well as calculators for things like BMI (Body Mass Index). There are shopping and meal planning tools as well as information on the nutritional needs in the different stages of life. Content: The information is current and relevant to the many different ages. This site is sponsored by the government and the authors of the different articles are appropriately referenced. At first glance the site can seem to be a bit intimidating in terms of the vast amount of information, partly due to clutter. But, the different tools are labeled clearly. Design: There are appropriate tabs and navigational tools make use and access easy. There is a vast amount of information all focused on the subject of nutrition that makes the site worth while and interesting to learn from. Links are appropriately organized in to categories and are accessible. The site is also motivational to live a more healthy life style. 

Posted by Lyndsey Neelands on 9/18/2009 CELLS alive is an educational website that is designed for teachers and students. The purpose of the website is to use interactive technology to teach students about cell biology subjects. Content: This website has a lot of good content on it. The author of the website is clearly identified and his credentials are enough to author this site. The information seems actuate but a clear updated date is not displayed. The information on this sight would be very helpful for a struggling student and also as a resource for a science teacher looking for a visual way to represent this material. The Cell Cams are especially interesting, providing a real life representation for students to see. Design: This site is very well designed. It is colorful and very easy to understand. This would be able to be used by young students as well as older teachers. The content is well displayed and very easy to see. Navigation of this sight is self explanatory and does not seem confusing. The author's information is also very easy to get to. Contact information for questions and more information is also easy to get to.

Posted by Lyndsey Neelands on 9/19/2009 CELLS alive is an educational website that is designed for teachers and students. The purpose of the website is to use interactive technology to teach students about cell biology subjects. Content: This website has a lot of good content on it. The author of the website is clearly identified and his credentials are enough to author this site. The information seems actuate but a clear updated date is not displayed. The information on this sight would be very helpful for a struggling student and also as a resource for a science teacher looking for a visual way to represent this material. The Cell Cams are especially interesting, providing a real life representation for students to see. Design: This site is very well designed. It is colorful and very easy to understand. This would be able to be used by young students as well as older teachers. The content is well displayed and very easy to see. Navigation of this sight is self explanatory and does not seem confusing. The author's information is also very easy to get to. Contact information for questions and more information is also easy to get to.

Lorena Garcia Web resource Evaluation 10/13/14 The second site that I evaluate was Inside Brue Crew Life, it is about Healthy Food wwwinsidebruecrewlife.com . The purpose of this site is to offer advise and making healthy food for the entire family. Although intended audience is housewives, anybody who wants to eat healthy could enjoy this website. Something that this page got my attention was the bright colors and the used of family pictures. I enjoyed the website. However, I felt it had too many advertisements. It is supper easy to determine the content of this page. The first thing you see is a food dish. it was also easy to determine audience of this site because of the introduction end the pictures of the author and the author's family with a big smile. The author has all her information available for the audience to contact her and share recipes. The content of this page meets its intended purpose. It provides great recipes, which I feel kids would love to eat even though they are healthy foods. The pages color scheme and pictures are very attractive. They gain a web browsers attention. The recipe index is great to quickly choose breakfast,, dinner, and, my favorite, dessert. I was able to navigate easily through different links in the page, as well as other recipe pages. The advertisements, however, distracted a little from the main reason for visiting the page, finding healthy recipes. I would also recommend this page to anyone who likes to eat tasty food.

This website is a good overview of Alexander The Great (King Alexander III of Macedonia.) It includes everything from his early life, to him claiming the throne, his conquests all the way up to his death. This is a great website because Alexander the Great is one of the most important figures in history and essentially merged Western and Eastern civilization. The website is very well organized and all information is under a specific heading. The vocabulary on this website isn't overly advanced so I believe anyone from middle school and up would gain information from this site. There are a lot of useful images, which really add to the website. Although the website is fairly plain, it's main purpose it to pass along information, and this website does just that.

Derek Peil 10/7/2012 Overview The Purpose of the website Six Minutes Speaking and Presentation Skills is to provide definitions and historical background to Aristotle's three main argument types: Logos, Pathos, and Ethos. Targeting students and public speaking enthusiasts, this website gives first-hand knowledge from award winning public speaker Andrew Dlugan, as well as a wide range of informational book resources. Overall, my content and design guides convince me that this source is authentic, appealing, and applicable for an educational setting. Content This site contains accurate and well organized information. All of the links work properly and load just as efficiently as the home page itself. Upon arriving at the site, the purpose of the site is clearly noted by the titles, headings, and sub-headings. The author visibly identifies himself immediately at the top of the page. The author's credentials and contact information are also given. External sources granted by this site appear sound. One of the only weaknesses to this site is that is last update was January 24th, 2010. Given the didactic mission of this website however, such a disparity in revision is acceptable as the knowledge of Aristotle's argument types is common and highly referenced. Design Appealing to the eye, this website strongly reflects the positive aspects of the design evaluation form. The site loads quickly with no glitches in displaying graphics or text. All of the sites webpages are outlined along the top of the homepage, allowing for easy navigation throughout. Appropriate pictures are used to convey meaning and bring the site to life. For example, on the Delivery Techniques page, the website shows a picture of a speaker covering his face with a mask to convey that section's topic of conquering the emotional fear of public speaking. Throughout the site, links are helpfully placed within the text to further benefit the user in navigating to other useful sites and

This American Life is a weekly public radio show broadcast on more than 500 stations to about 1.7 million listeners. It is produced by Chicago Public Media, distributed by Public Radio International, and has won all of the major broadcasting awards.

The main purpose of this site is to inform people on the life, works, and style of Chaucer. As the visuals, or lack there of, suggest, this sight is intended for secondary education level students. The overall content is good but a bit overwhelming, ultimately making this a decent source for high school level students. The content of the sight appears to be accurate and there are references provided. However, the author of the site is unknown and there is no easily accessible way of contacting him or her. The text is well organized and informative. The content, while lacking a specific author and contact information, is accurate and relevant. The design of the text is very simplistic, but clean. Graphics are limited to a single picture. There is no indication of when the article was last updated, but when talking about a dead poet from centuries ago, there isn't much to keep up to date with on his biography. The design could have used some work, but it was by all means functional.

Learning Phonics and Sound Blending is an important part of life. Our Educational Songs for Kids make learning fun! Learn while you sing along with your favorite phonics songs on Learning Games for Kids.

Haylee Bolinger Website evaluation 1 9-2-10 Overview The website stickworks.net is a promotional tool for Patrick Dougherty. As an artist that is in demand worldwide he must keep a portfolio as accessible as possible. Fans and potential clients are welcome to look through Dougherty's work and his biography. On this website clients can make requests for his large scale installations, while fans are directed to admiring his work though books, videos, calendars, and even full length feature film. Content From the introductory page one has the option of continuing into the main site or purchasing a book about Dougherty. Once navigated into the main site you can view every location and date of Dougherty's work and you have the many options to choose from in the main menu. Stick Works contains a thorough biography and video resources that help the viewer better understand how and why Dougherty makes his artwork. This website is being updated on a monthly bases due to the demand for Dougherty's artwork. Present exhibitions are continually photographed and uploaded upon completion or linked to the collector's website while future exhibitions are scheduled and published. A few of the links in this website are incomplete which makes viewing some works difficult. The viewer is also welcome to preview clips from a full-length feature about Dougherty's life and artwork. Design The web site Stick Works is visually appealing with a slate background and white font. This sleek background draws attention to the striking pictures of Dougherty's artwork. Navigating is made easy with a menu bar at the top of every page. On this menu one can find out all there is to know about Dougherty: news, biography, installations (past and present), Curriculum vitally, resources, shop, and contact info.

This link goes to Vassar Island (home of Vassar College) where they have made a recreation of the Sisteen Chapel for people to examine.

Overview This website was created to inform the reader about Betsy Ross and all the aspects of her life. The site has great information and can be easily accessed by anyone who has a computer. Its very attention getting and has a lot of great information. Content When accessing this site it is very clear its purpose is to inform the reader about Betsy Ross. Anyone can find the information on this site useful but it is probably geared more toward younger students. The copyright, latest revision date, and publisher are clearly listed at the bottom of the website. The site also ends in a .org making the information much more reliable. The purpose of this site is to inform, there is no bias present. All the information is well organized in bulleted list form, making the information easy to find. If you click on any of the bulleted points it will take you to another link with more information. The website is very easy to access and navigate and I would recommend it to both students and teachers. Design This website has a great eye appeal. The color scheme was red, white, and blue which I thought was very appropriate, and gave the website a little something extra. The site is easy to navigate because of the bulleted information. There are pictures of Betsy Ross which also help draw the reader in. This website can be accessed by anyone and is very user friendly. Overall this is a great website.

Amanda Lamey January 23, 2010 Overview This website is designed for any individual who can drive a car. It's not meant for children. They don't need to know how to change a tire if they can't drive yet. They should focus on something they enjoy or want to learn more about. I choose this site because it was an ".edu". I figured it had been reviewed by more important individuals and was used for educational purposes. I knew I could trust the information located on this site more than a ".com" site where websites have not been reviewed or edited by someone else. It listed multiple sites that were related to this site and had personal information to contact the author of the website. It had the class involved and the copyright date listed. Overall this had all the required information needed to evaluate a website. Evaluation of Design The design of the website was simple. It was one page, but it had other sites listed that were available if this wasn't what you were looking for. All the information regarding the author contacting us, copyright information and location were all located towards the bottom. There were eight simple steps to changing a tire. There were photos involved, but most of all before it even began there was an insert of tools required for the job. That's something different that stuck out to me and I think it would make it easier for everyone if life was like an outline, this is what you need, here's how to do it. Towards the end if you had and questions or comments you could leave them. The only other available resources were the related sites you could visit, but they worked well. You clicked them and you were able to navigate away from you current page to your new one in no time. There wasn't a "error" can't load page or refresh here. The purpose was clear, it was informative. Content The content off the page was designed by children and could be read and understood by anyone. I think that the photos and beg

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.