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kids.discovery.com Reviewed by Kristie Neises on 8/30/2010 Overview This site is a branch off of the discovery channel main site. It features the television series that are on the discovery channel for their younger viewers. It also has games and activities and some television episodes meant to teach that are themed with the popular shows. This site is overall good for its content and design but it can be a little overwhelming for the audience it is intended for. The site has great graphics and would capture the attention of any child visiting the site, it is worth the bookmark to come back to because of how well it integrates teaching with its activities. The useful information that adults might need is a little hard to find. The main down side I can find is that younger kids might need an adult to find games and activities that they can do on their own since the site takes in such a wide spectrum of age categories. Content The content of this site would not be rated very high by adults. Sponsors are not credited, there are no specific things like author information or reviews. Even finding the contact information is a little tricky. Copyright is not posted since each part of the site has a different one based on the show the game or activity is themed after. There are no links to other sites since it is made to go with a very specific set of content to match the television channel. It is very clear on what the purpose of the site is, it is to entertain and even have a little bit of marketing to advertise for shows and the television channel itself. The website has its obvious upsides in that it is something that has accurate information as an educational program and it is made easy to understand for the age group it is intended for. Design The design of this site is well done. It stays true to its roots and copies the same theme colors and graphics that the television channel itself uses such as the chomping teeth and themed background of the month

Brienna Gregor 10/11/12 Overview: This website is very useful for students, teachers, and other educators in that it fulfills a plethora of scientific inquiries. This website is targeted for children from all grades and ages. Its purpose is to instill scientific exploration in children so as they grow older, they continue to be curious in the science world. This website provides many opportunities for both teachers and students to learn through interaction of available resources that include: Games, Puzzles, Activities, Quizzes, Tell Me More (further analysis for many different scientific interests), and more. I believe the design and content of this website is very, very well done. Content: The information currency and quality is superb due to the fact that it is sponsored and created by Discovery Channel. Contact information can be located at the bottom of the page through the link "viewer relations". This website is professionally done and very credible. Design: It is very easy to navigate and provides a huge amount of information. It is very fast, functional, and uses many different modes of media to stimulate children in their learning. Teachers can definitely bring their students to this website and build a lesson plan on one of its many subjects with ease and gratitude from the children. It is very appealing to the eye while stimulating little minds with information.

New Horizons is an educational site that contains strategies for teachers to enhance and expand their educational curriculum. I chose the Arts in Education page for this review. Content: This website has been around since 1980 and although it is currently retired, it has been the launching platform of many new educational sites. In specific the Arts in Education page offers resources pertaining to art's beneficial attributes in brain stimulation and possible scientific processes that can be applied to art. Design: The design of the site is very easily understood and followed. There are no advertisements on any of the pages and links navigate within the newhorizons.org site only. Although it lacks the appearance of similar websites, this is a very simplistic and easily run learning tool. Attribution: This site's purpose is purposeful and educational. Its aims are primarily at benefiting the teacher and helping to incorporate pertinent tools to their educational programs. As a teacher I would very likely use this in constructing different approaches to learning, however I would be weary of how current and valid the information actually is due to the fact that it is retired.

Casey DeGabain January 24, 2010 Overview This site seems to have a lot of information but does not seem that appealing to very many age groups and would probably not be the best teaching tool. Content There is a lot of information's dealing with Ag in the classroom, Ag career pathways, educator resources, e dag programs. This sight has a lot of good information but does not seem like something that would be very good to use in the classroom because there is only specific things it deals with and does not have a wide variety of things to interest a lot of kids. I would not use this in my classroom. Design This sight does not have very much graphics or things that really stick out. It is pretty plan with just facts and information. I do not think it would appeal to students very well because of this. It isn't really hard to find your way around but it seems poorly designed for an educational tool.

Katie Hurrell January 21, 2010 Overview: The website transforming teaching through technology is a website that provides students with free plug- ins that allow them to play interactive games for learning on the internet. The intended audience is both teachers and students. The available resources are the programs that are needed in order for the students to use different websites. There is different websites and sections that students can visit to find a game that sounds interesting to them. This website seems like it could be hard to use but the design of the website makes it look not as intimidating as it could be. Content: This website makes it hard for the user to understand what the basic content of the site is. There is no information on the author but the website does talk about plug-ins which might be helpful to a student who does not know what a plug-in is. There is a contact person which is helpful if a user has questions about installing plug-ins. The content on this website appears to be complete and the content of the site is well organized and the site does offer a lot of information on the plug ins and the games that the website has on it. The content of linked sites is worthwhile and appropriate to the audiences needs/purposes. The site is very useful and worth bookmarking. Design: The homepage downloaded efficiently and the copyright date was easy to find. When installing a plug-in there is directions for the user to follow in order to insure that they have downloaded the plug in correctly. The links that are provided to other pages within the site are helpful and appropriate. The site is equally effective with a variety of browsers. There is sufficient information to make the site worth visiting and the information is clearly labeled and organized. The links are well organized and easy to use. A working link is provided to contact the website with any questions or comments. This website is complicated but the design

Olivia Mabie-January 24, 2010 Content: This website has multiple links used in the classroom for teaching with technology. There are many interactive activities for all the subjects aimed at elementary aged students. There were a few things I could not be found on the website such as when it was published and when it was last updated. Before using the links to the other websites you have to make sure the correct media players are installed on the computers, most of these are free. The website is organized in a way that would be easy for elementary students to find what they are looking for. With the topic titles at the top of the page it is easy to get to the place where they need to be in order to complete the assignment. Design: This website was very easy to navigate and it was made easy for the elementary students to navigate it too. There was not any distracting pictures or pop-ups that made it hard to find the links. There are topics/titles at the top of the page which will help find the different links for the subjects. Once the link is clicked on it takes you right to the homepage of the next site, it does not take multiple clicks to get to the website you want your students to go to. There was information I could not find on the website such as when it was published and if it had been updated recently. Once the other links are clicked on there are many multimedia uses in the new websites. Overview: This is a wonderful website for teachers to use because it gets students out of their seats and they get to do something on the computers instead of just listening to the teacher at the front of the classroom. Some students learn differently and teachers need to do more interactive things in the classrooms to get students to understand the subjects better. The site was very easy to navigate and to find the other links/websites found within the original one. This would be a site teachers need to keep in mind to let students learn in a different way.

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.

David May 1/23/11 This site is very educational. Great information with a reliable source. Too much advertising the museums. Overview: The website of the Smithsonian museum with a fun educational spin. The site has a few games with animations that are well put together. The games have good images and great animations that put complex things in simpler terms like comparing a planet size with a beach ball compared to a golf ball. The site overly advertised visiting the actual place too much. Everything that was clicked on encouraged visiting and it got very tiresome very quickly. Content: The site is very easy to navigate and find what one is looking for. There is a constant sidebar with information about where you are and what things are easiest to link to.. They list the curator of the museum who is in charge of the content on the website. The copyright of the website is 2010 which shows recent content on the website. There is an informational theme to the site, but the clear objective of this site is to get visitors to the museum. Design: The website is very well put together. It is impressive with the amount of graphics and page design that they put in effect on the site. The problem is that if users don't have the latest flash player they will have to download it and go through the download process. If this is for students the schools might restrict the ability to download the software. The website other than over advertisement is good for information and reliable for what one is looking for.

Laura Rice 2/5/12 Overview: The purpose of this website is to expand educational knowledge and resources for education. The intended audience ranges from educators, families, and students. This website provides many resources for public use. The educators are provided with resources for field trips, professional development organizations, lesson plans, resource library, and online events. For families the website provides information about what is available at the Smithsonian, time you can spend together as a family, and events families can do together. The students are also provided with information about the Smithsonian, topic they can explore, secrets of the Smithsonian, and events available for kids. This website is a great source to a variety of people. The links to each page provide a lot of information useful to educators, families, and students. Content: The website is extremely useful to all types of people from educator, families, and students. Teachers have access to lesson plans for all subject areas ranging from K-12th grade. Teachers are also provided information about taking a field trip to the Smithsonian and the programs it has to offer students. The tab for educators also has a link to online events that are taking place. For families the website contains different activities the Smithsonian has to offer as well as activity sheets for children. Students are provided with events at the Smithsonian that may interest them, as well as topic they may enjoy to see there. Overall the content is very educational and centered around what the Smithsonian can offer to others, and also provides lesson plans that could help educators in their future career. Design: The overall design is easy to understand and information is extremely easy to access. Tabs clearly identify the intended audience from educators, families, and students. Under each tab there are others that provide information useful to each age group. At the bottom of the page ther

Overview This site is designed to give the latest news on Hazardous chemicals and recycling. Content The content is detailed, offering teachers some of the latest information on classroom chemicals for lab work and general chemical safety information regarding care and disposal of chemicals. It also, offers educational material for professionals as well as some classroom lab options and suggestions. The site is worth bookmarking for future reference. Design The design looks professional. It is comfortable and clear to use and it's easy to read. The information is up-to-date. There are multiple resources for a visitor such as video clips. It works the same in multiple browsers. The information content is worthy of visit. Overall: It is very well designed and easy to use.

Brian Peterson9/6/11Overview K5learning.com is a website targeted at parents who want their children to do really well in math or reading at a young age. Many resources are available to learn about the website before becoming a member. In my opinion this is a very good website for parents who want to actively be involved with their children's learning.Content As a nonmember of the site only a few things are accessible. These things help tell you what the site has to offer and even allow you sample the lessons available on the website. This makes it very nice to see if it is in fact something you would like your child to learn from. Design The design of the website is very simple but has enough flashiness to bring you into it. With a simple way to navigate the pages most anyone can figure out how to get around it quite easily. This makes it very nice for parents and their kids to be able to utilize this website more effectively.

Trevor Santy Sept 14 2011 Overview: This site covers a multitude of subjects for varying grade levels. It is extremely user friendly and very easy to navigate. The main page has links going to individual subjects matters such as history. This site is very presentable with almost no ads, except for a few educational ones, on it and nothing to really distract students while on the site. My overall opinion is that it would be great for teaching as it also has a few recreational activities as well giving the site a multipurpose function; to teach and to be used as an extra activity if the time arises. 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 games for all ages ranging from the easy to some that are very challenging. Design: This websites design is extremely user friendly. With tabs to each subject and then banners to different activities. On top of that it has reference pages to other sites as well as a parents area and a preschool area. It also has contact info in its own tab. However, this site may be too flashy and distracting for some of the younger students so supervision while using this site is advised.

Oct. 7th 2012 Overview: This site is designed for educational entertainment and gaming. The content and design of this site make it evident that it was designed for children. This site offers many different resources for kids to access and use. The site includes games, pictures, polls, and even a parent teacher section. Content: While the site is obviously designed for children it contains many different categories and levels of learning. I would say the content ranges from a Pre-K to a fifth grade level. Although there is no clear indication of what game or program was designed for what level of student it is clear that some games are meant for the older elementary student. The site is also packed with seasonal games and activities, for example all of the Halloween games are broadcasted on the homepage right now. Design: This website is very eye appealing. The background is not just plain white and there are tons of interactive pictures posted on the homepage leading you to games and activities. All the designs are age appropriate for students in elementary although the load time could be faster.

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.

Michelle Jacobsen 9/16 Overview: This website is used to help teachers with their states standardized testing K-12. You have to be a member to be able to access the site; my mom who is a 5th grade teacher in Nebraska showed me this website and said that most elementary teachers in her school use it. Content: The content of this site its web-based instruction, practice and reporting depending on your states standards. You can use it in the classroom, at home or in the lab. It is geared to help improve standardized testing scores in the classroom. Students can also access the program. Design: The design is extremely simple, but very easy to navigate though. Once you create an account all you have to do is log on and select your state from the map and it gives you many options of what to do on the site.