Group items tagged

Kate McDonnell October 13, 2014 The purpose of this website is to inform people about cyberbullying. Not only does it inform its reader about what it is, but what people can do about it as well as how to prevent it. This website makes many resources available, as well as valuable knowledge that can be put to use almost immediately for anyone who reads this. The intended audience is the general public, not just someone who is researching this topic. This website relates all of its information to society, so it is relevant for anyone who has taken notice to cyber bullying. Overall, this website seems reliable, though it isn't perfect. It is the better of the two resources I reviewed. The issues are minor, and the overall combination of design as well as content is strong. Content: When first viewing this website, the user can determine the basic content of the site, as well as its intended audience. The specific author wasn't clearly identified, therefore the information about whomever wrote the information on this site isn't available or known by the users of this website. The sponsor was clearly identified, though, as this is a government site so it clearly states that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sponsors this website. There is a link to the website for that specific department, where one can find more about the sponsor as well as how to contact them. The latest revision date wasn't listed, so it is unknown if the content is updated. The content is complete, well organized, and easy to understand. It is free of bias, as well as interactive. There are videos, pictures, blogs, and many other components that contribute to this website. Design: The download was affective as well as speedy. The homepage has strong eye appeal; it isn't too busy but there are pictures and colors that make it appealing. No directions are required to navigate this website, it is easy and clear for the user how to make their way around this websi

Cole Baumann January 24, 2010 This website holds many hints and suggestions on how to help children with dyslexia. The site holds many suggestions on how to help students with dyslexia such as little ways to help them remember things and suggestions on ways to help them feel more comfortable in the classroom. This is helpful as children with dyslexia do feel a lot of stress that no other student does due to knowing there is something wrong but not knowing exactly what. They do not know why they struggle with work in the classroom while other students seem to perform just fine. This website will help teachers and parents make the students feel more comfortable in the classroom and may even be able to help the students work with their problem to become more literate and, consequently, be able to help them grow as a student and a child. The design of this website is very entertaining. There is a picture for almost every paragraph which is just pleasing to look at. This prevents boredom as you search through the website and explore. Also, this website allows you to change the background color which is not a real important thing but it is always fun when websites add little things like that to keep it more entertaining and more appealing to use. Additionally, the site looks presentable and very nice. It is not a very 'sketchy' website to go to which is very important if you are trying to help your student and you do not want your computer to fail due to finding a terrible virus. Though the website is for parents who have children with dyslexia, this website could also help teachers improve the learning abilities of any student that seems to be having trouble reading. This website does not consist of large programs or big dramatic ways to help dyslexic students learn, but there are small items and suggestions that in the end if you put them all together the teacher may be able to help the child function as a better student.

Brienna Gregor 10/11/12 Overview: This site would work best for students from late elementary to high school levels (5-12). This website is intended to help students and other educators understand the underlying factors of predicting volcanic eruptions. Available resources provided include: Melting Rock, Dynamic Earth, Judging Hazards, Forecasting, Coping with Risk, and more. Initially I predicted that this website wasn't going to do well in the content standards because the design standards were a little bit lacking compared to other sites however, I have come to find that this website is a very handy tool and does well in both content and design standards. Content: This website is very good in that its information is always up to date, the information quality is great, and it provides more information. Some sites lack in giving the viewer options to leave the site and look at links that are provided. This website does lead viewers to learn out of their site in a constructive way while instilling learning on their site as well. Design: This website isn't the most appealing to the eye after following the introductory page. Despite this fact, it is fast, easy to navigate, and uses videos as a media source. It gets the job done in fulfilling its purpose by instilling the idea that natural disasters, such as volcanoes, can be predicted (not stopped) and then can lead to less of a disaster through preparation. Information is what is most important in educational websites and I believe this website is great due to that aspect.

Caleb Huber 10/12/14 The article provides a summary of research done on the occurrence of cyber bullying. I chose this site as a reference for known data about cyber bullying and the frequency of its occurrence. The webpage contains data on the last seven years of cyber bullying research. The website itself is intended for educators, students, and teachers. Its purpose is to spread cyber bullying awareness and teach prevention. I would rate the content of the webpage as somewhat helpful and the content of the website as extremely helpful. I would rate the design of this webpage as good and the design of the overall website as exceptional. The web page was last updated on April 9, 2014. A link to contact the site can easily be found on the top of the page. At first look, the content of the individual summary page is a bit bare, but it compensates by having links of detailed, related posts in the center of the page. Several of the posts are helpful to my purpose. One example is the link titled "Cyber bullying: Neither an Epidemic nor a Rarity". No official author of the articles is posted. This link also shows the website's lack of bias. Cyber bullying is either portrayed as not a big deal or an epidemic depending on who is making the case. Because this site is ran by a research center, it focuses on finding and presenting real data. Often a weakness of research is that it only uses one method to perform research. The website makes sure to use multiple methods including convenient and stratified samples. A large label at the top of the page shows that the website is funded and ran by the Cyber Bullying Research Center. The webpage is clearly labeled and easy to navigate. The pages follow a consistent format and all the links load quickly. The homepage can easily be found. The purpose of the website can be easily seen through a welcome index. The site index is clearly designed as well. Every page is loaded with helpful links.

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

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

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

This is a game that will allow students to learn more about what pollution really is and things that can help prevent it.

Tonya Searles The purpose of citationmachine.net is to aid anybody who is writing a referenced work to properly cite the material they are using. The website is dedicated to preventing plagiarism. The intended audience is high schools, universities, teachers and independent researchers. The website provides easy to see choices for referencing in the major formats used in writing such as APA, MLA, and Chicago. The user would select the format choice they wish to use and fill in the boxes with the appropriate information, and the machine generates a complete reference in the proper format. The site appears easy to use and read. For a student (or author of a paper) who wishes to cite their material this website is definitely relevant, accurate, and purposeful. However, although I can clearly see the website has been updated since my last visit there is no indication of its currency. The citations generated are in line with current standards when putting in an APA reference. There is also a link to an older version of the site which also indicates currency, albeit without a date. The creator of the website is David Warlick, and while there was little information about him on the site, a google search revealed him to be an author and educator, indicating he may be an authority in referencing materials. Strengths of the website include clear step by step instructions on how to use the citation machine. There are also links that will take you to places to evaluate the originality of an essay to further avoid plagiarism. A weakness of the website is the amount of ads on the site, but it is free, and a network, so ads are expected. The design of the website is not overly ostentatious. There are simply colored blocks with text to click on, and the orange and reds are not overly bright and distracting. I prefer websites that do not have a lot going on, and that have only links that serve a related purpose. With the exception of the unavoidable ads, this website fits th