Group items tagged

Website: http://adprima.com/tipson.htm Content The adprima website is for teachers looking for educational advice. However the content is not broken up and gets hard to read. There are links but they take you to other pages that have the same design. It was fairly easy to pick the basic content because it tells you what the site is about and the audience is for teachers. There is good material here it is a bit bias at times. It is a website that is made as a guideline. There are spelling errors. It is current as of June 24, 2010. Design I did not find any multimedia. The material is try and blocky making it hard to read. Site is easily navigatable. The website is not appealing to the eye. There is no color or contrast to keep you involved. The speed is quick because there is just text to load. It is browser friendly. Material is ok but very hard to keep interested. Overview I did not enjoy this website. It was very bland and difficult to read. They do keep it updated however. The material is decent but is dry and formatted badly. The content was good but the design of the website took too much away from its content. Joey Skalsky Itech 2360 Sec 4

Content: This site is a monster. I was looking for a site to explain landmark cases in the Supreme Court. What I found is a site that not only explains but also gives political reactions and the aftermath of the decision. For instance, I clicked on Marbury v. Madison. This is the case that allowed Judicial Review. The site divides the case in two sections Resources and Activities. In the Resources section you can read about the case etc. The Activities students can read logistical information about the case for further understanding. Design: The design is geared to educate. The visual make you think of the Constitution a crinkly brown. I like how the homepage lists the cases on the left side and concepts that came from some of those cases on the right. When you click on a case there is a wealth of information that can further understanding of a case. Many of these cases are a little complicated and I feel that this site can tie up loose ends. It is even geared toward high schools, the sub title reads "one-stop shopping for activities related to key Supreme Court cases and concepts as mandated by State standards. Overview: This site is put on by the Supreme Court Historical Society, meaning it is rather legitimate. I would love to use this site in an activity for class. The site is rather bland but I believe that students would love to be directed to find info and be able to present that info to the class. I could even make them use technology in their presentation. This site is not a baby sitter in the least it is a way for students to use technology and not listen to a boring lecture.

Michelle Jacobsen 9/16/11 Overview: This website is useful to both teachers and students. It focuses on grade levels K-6 and helps improve students reading skills. Teachers can get onto this site and create an account and put on the different book that their students are reading. After they do that the students can then log in and find their teachers name and practice their reading skills. Content: This website is used to help students improve their reading skills by reading for practice, recording their reading, checking with comprehension quizzes and listening for modeled fluency. For teachers there is a "teacher's corner" that helps them learn how to run through the website and even gives printable directions for students and their parents. Design: The overall design of this website is eye catching but not so over the top that it's hard to manage. It is extremely easy to navigate around and has a video on the homepage explaining the reasoning for the website and how to use it.

This site provides resources for getting a digital story started. It includes writing guides, tips, voice, pacing, etc.

Monique Koller Jan. 24 2010 These Stories in These Pictures is an interesting site that gives people a way to break through a writing block they may be encountering. Content: The content of this website is interesting however once you've read through the information on the pages there seems little reason to return to the site. I enjoyed reading the ideas given to break through a writing block and create a creative and interesting story. The ideas were useful and could be used in your classroom when directing your students in a new direction. Design: This website was very easy to navigate. You are given an apple and a couple of tabs. The site is mostly text so everything loaded pretty quickly. It had a few resources that linked you to the stories the author referenced or used examples from. Overview: This site is mostly for professional writers however it can be used by teachers as ideas on getting their students to make creative pieces. This site is worth a visit but I doubt a person would return after reading the content.

The purpose of this link/resource is to inform teachers (specifically) of things that they can do in order to become more appealing to those who are hiring in the education field. The piece first looks at how teachers should dress. They highlight how teachers should dress as if they plan on getting a lot done that day, or to dress for the occasion. The piece goes on to discuss how attitude and body language impact how others view our professionalism. Finally, the article talks about how we, as teachers, need to constantly be thinking on ways to improve our teaching, learning from other teachers and testing out strategies. At first glance, I think that the page is a little too cluttered with extra links and ads. The article contained minimal graphics, just a small picture next to the title. This was beneficial because there are very few images that would actually serve to enhance this specific page. The page does provide links to other pages on the site, but it may have been better if the links were at the bottom of the page, as opposed to the sides, as they were distracting while reading. Overall, the page was reasonably easy to navigate and effectively read. The author was obviously well-read and presented ideas that are not too cliché, allowing almost any reader to take something away from the content and use it as a tool for learning. There were no spelling or grammar errors in the article, demonstrating a professional approach. This was especially beneficial since the author, Emma McDonald, was speaking about professionalism herself. She aligned what she was writing about with how she wrote about the subject.

Overview: National Geographic always has great information dealing with many different history or social studies events. I really like their website because the 5th grade students can navigate to this website and research a topic. The topics are straight forward and even have pictures to help the students understand what their reading about. I'm sure that if the students wanted to learn more about the topics they could research farther from this website. National Geographic has always been a key leader in what is new and coming up in social studies and other areas. Content: There are so many different topics and articles that the students can read I would highly recommend it to other teachers. You know exactly where the information comes from and if it wasn't true you know National Geographic wouldn't publish it. It is a very trusted source of information. A lot of the information on the website will change with new events. Design: As I was learning about the website I found myself wanting to read some of the articles that they offered. I stopped to read about the tattooed mummy and found it really interesting that it was a female but in the place where the mummy is from there was only male kings. Obviously if they can draw in a 19 year old college student with just a picture and a title the students shouldn't have a hard time finding something their interested in. The website has of course the yellow color scheme but also has other little pictures that offer some intriguing items. I'm probably going to read some more after I'm done with this!

ixl reading clocks

Lauren John 1/30/2011 Jumpstart.com Overview: This site was created to help children learn to read through online games set in a fantasy land. It is focusing on making reading enjoyable and imaginative for those students who may have shorter attention spans or read at lower levels than other students. It offers incentives for completing lessons and practice of more school skills than just reading. The audience not only includes those with attention deficits, but also very young children who would be drawn in by the cartoon images and colorful designs. Although cute, the web design was not the easiest to get around. They offered directions verbally on what each place had in store for the child and how to maneuver in each game, but I had to figure out for myself how to move the person and what the buttons meant. Overall it was well designed though and the content was related. The biggest difficulty I ran into was that the player must be a member to take part in almost every one of the games. Content: The content of this website was fairly desirable. It was clearly stated in an upfront manner who and what they site were intended for. Although there is no author information or way to reach them, the sponsors are clearly identified and they are jointed with several other reputable sites. There is no revision date, but the materials are copyrighted through 2010, and I have actually seen the children I babysit play this game, so I know it is trusted by teachers in my school system. This site has many ways to get around it, but I could see how students would have a difficult time at the beginning because there are not clear labels. The site claims to have many ways to learn math, science, and reading, but in the time I spent there, it seemed like only the members were able to access the games that involved those. That made it so I was stonewalled enough times that I got bored with the site and gave up. I would consider using it in my classroom if there weren't

Lacey Boyles April 15, 2015 This website is for parents and children, there is a section for each. There is also a section for teachers. The website is easy to navigate. It focuses on children from ages birth to elementary grades. It seems that you can access this website on computers and also smart phones, iOS and androids for example. From what I looked through this would be a good site to not only visit again but also show to my children. Again this was a very well set up web site. It was easy to get around and they have the parent, children, and teacher sections separate. There are a few things I do not like about this site. There is a lot of adds for games that could draw attention to students if they were to get on here. When clicking on games you have to sign up and possibly pay to play. There is an index which gives you an idea of where you are going. The purpose of this site I would say is not 100% clear as there is information for parents, teachers, and children. The content on this page is really good. It has lots of ideas on activities, which it separates in to categories such as topic subject, age, and grade. There is a contact us page that you could go to if you needed help. I didn't need help so I am not sure how well or quick it works. Over all I did like this site and would go back again for ideas.

Jaymie Sheehan ITEC 2360-04 9/2/2010 OVERVIEW For my this review I visited Vocabulary Games, http://www.vocabulary.co.il . The site's intended audience is students from Kindergarten to 12th grade who want to improve their vocabulary. The intended purpose of the site is to provide these students with a fun and exciting way to improve vocabulary. The site has various resources depending on grade level. High school students can practice SAT words while Kindergarten kids can begin to understand reading and phonics. I felt that this site is valuable to students, teachers and parents. Often the hardest part of getting a child to be proficient in reading and writing is generating interest and this site does just that! The simple layout makes navigation quick and easy. This is a site I would use in the classroom and at home with children of all levels.

Rebekah Asay January 23, 2011 Overview: This website offers a lot of free information on English vocabulary. There are games for each age level, vocabulary reading resources, and links to vocabulary around the world. Content: There is a lot of information on vocabulary, analogies, compound words, parts of speech, spelling, contractions, foreign languages, synonyms, and prefixes to name a few. There are a lot of additional resources for viewers who want to expand their search. Design: The design is a little weak. It is hard to navigate the website and it a little disorganized. There are a lot of adds surrounding the content that distract the eye.

Overview: This site can be used by junior high and high school English students to help understand many texts that they will be required to read at some point in their academic career. It contains many games for various novels; the games are appropriate for older students, which is hard to come by. The appearance of the site is a little confusing because it appears to be geared for younger students but the content is that of older students. The games are helpful and applicable to class. Content: This website is mostly useful for junior high and early high school students. It offers interactive help for texts that are commonly read at those ages. Each book that is represented on the site has several games the user can try relating to different topics, such as vocabulary, content, and setting. The website also has information that is beneficial for upper high school students. It offers a variety of different interactive games to help with studying vocabulary for the SAT, or any other standardized test they will need to take. The information on the site is accurate and helpful for the audience. Design: The design of this website does not match well with its' intended audience. The content of this website is for junior high and high school students, but the design seems oriented for a much younger audience. The graphics are not beneficial to the site and may make the site lose some users because they think it is too young for them. However, the site is very easy to maneuver. Each different topic has a headline with a brief description of what the user can expect if they choose that link.

Ryan Magrum Sept 15th, 2011 Overview: The purpose of this site is to provide information and updates in science in the form of news articles to the general educated public. There are links to scientific news magazines as well as links to other scientific web sites. My overall impression of this site is that it is easy to read and navigate and there is a plethora of knowledge available within the contents. It's great for students studying specific topics in science to read. Content: PhysOrg, at first glance, is not flashy and aimed at consumers. The main goal of the site is general knowledge and entertainment in the form of scientific reading. The articles, with topics ranging from nano-science to medicine, are written with very few technical terms making the content easy to comprehend by the average educated individual including high school students with background instruction in the topic of interest. The articles are news updates on the emergence of new things in science sometimes with a brief explanation of the mechanism behind the new discovery complete with figures. Such articles would be a great starting point for a research paper. The articles also include hyperlinked citations to the primary sources. There are many links to other scientific news sites. Design: This site is not aimed at attracting a passerby web surfer. The target audience is attracted to the content within and already has a general idea of what they want to get out of PhysOrg. Therefore, the site is made easy to navigate and less flashy with few advertisements and the ads on the site are related to the scientific topics and links on the site. For example: an ad for paper that is really white for printing off the articles to read as a hard copy while making the articles easier to read. The links to the articles are strait forward not to bias clicking on any specific article if in the "spotlight stories" area. All the articles are arranged for the navigator to find specific arti

This website is very simple, it's an English translation of the history of the Peloponnesian War written by Thucydides. It's organized well and the translations seem to be accurate. The vocabulary in this website is pretty advanced, so I feel that an account like this would work a lot better for high school or college students. Since this is an archive there isn't really any original work from the website's author, however there is a comment link where you can post and read comments from other people who have read this account, and get some new thoughts and opinions from there.

This website is essentially an overview of the important events of the Trojan War. The website is clear and organized in chronological order. If you simply read the page top to bottom you get a clear and basic overview of the most important events of the Trojan War. This was written for basically anyone who wants to learn about the basics of the Trojan War. I read through and I feel that it could be useful for anyone in middle school or older due to the level of vocabulary. I feel that all the necessary content is there, however the design could use some work. Pertaining to content, this website is great. Everything someone would want to learn about the basics of the war is there. This website also brings a unique perspective about the war because of the link "The Women". It's not very often (especially in Greek or Macedonian) society that women's opinions or chronicles were valued at all, let alone saved like these were. Information on this site is very easy to find because the links and headings are clear, making it easy to find what you are looking for. The author's and bibliography section are done well, a background of the authors is present, and all websites are presented in order and correctly formatted. The pages about the important women may be the best of all. They included the original Latin text, and an English translation. They also include descriptions of how that particular woman impacted the war or society. Pertaining to the design, this website could use some design help. While it's nice and simple, there aren't many colors, for instance every page has black font with a white background. The images are useful and pertain to the website, but there aren't many of them on the main pages. The sidebar looks very nice, the top bar does as well, if this theme would have been utilized more throughout the whole website it would certainly add to the attention grabbing aspect of the website.

Stephanie Mecca 2/5/12 Overview: The purpose of this site it to provide art students from the ages of 4 to 12 years of age with a fun, interactive game site to both play and learn through art. There are a variety of games ranging from drawing different types of pictures to game shows to help students determine different types of sculptures and what they are made of. As students play games they are able to learn some art history and are quizzed and art basics which are helpful resources to the viewer. Overall this is a very interactive site where students can learn as they play. Content: After clicking on the little figure to enter the site the viewer is able to read about the site, what its purpose is and who created the site. If the viewer has all ready read this information they have the option to "skip the intro". Although there aren't any links that allow the viewer to read about the sites authors there is a basic link on the main page so that the viewer can redirect the main Abright-Know Gallery website which provides information about the Gallery, copyright information, and contact information. The quality of the Artgames site is great; the site is well organized and understandable for young viewers to follow. Design: On the main page of the Artgames site the viewer can see that the developer of the site is the Normal Force which used Macromedia flash technology to create the website. Once the viewer enters the interactive site they are greeted by a page that has numerous pictures that are links to different games. These links are easy to follow and are usually pictures of the different games. There are helpful directions to read through before playing the games and the same format is used throughout the site. Although there isn't any place in the site that the viewer can find out when the site was last updated and there are no outside links.

Paige Hanewald 10/21/13 Overall: The purpose of this specific branch of the HippoCampus website is a resource that can be utilized by both teachers in explaining lessons and high school students in interactively researching reading and writing strategies that concern evaluating text, forming a thesis, writing fundamentals, characteristics of specific types of essays, and more. Overall, I believe that this is a simple resource that could provide a lot of insight to students having trouble in reading and writing content areas. Content: The content provides lessons as well as some interactive activities. It explains certain aspects in writing that teachers seem to assume students already know such as passive and active voice, punctuation, grammar, forming a well-thought out thesis statement and other fundamentals of writing. Unfortunately, because of the features presented on this website, you must have good Internet and either Adobe Flash Player or Quicktime. Design: This site looks boring. While it is very informative, so much information with such a lack of "oomph!" can bore a middle or high school student and put him or her to sleep. While it is very easy to navigate, compared to other websites, the interactive components such as videos and activities don't seem as engaging to kids above the 6th grade.

Posted by Craig Shepherd on 9/16/09 Overview: Wikipedia is an open-authoring encyclopedia. The purpose of the website is to provide information about any topic to the general public. Content is generated and reviewed for accuracy by the public. Although public documents can include inaccurate information--particularly on hot topics, much of the content is stable. Links to other pages generally function properly, and content is easy to understand. Content: Although maligned by many individuals as a site that promotes inaccurate information, Wikipedia has much educational merit. However, based on the Wiki style of web design, anyone can make changes to articles and can do so anonymously. This means the learned as well as the ignorant have equal access to contribute. Although references at the end of articles may support the credibility of a work, they do not guarantee it and require additional time to peruse. Because authors can post anonymously, it is difficult to tell whether the article is accurate, timely, relevant, authoritative, and so forth. Yet, recent news events highlight the work of this organization to increase credibility of their content. Additionally, one of the purposes of a wiki is to foster collaboration and group authorship. Although individual contributors may not be listed, inaccurate information can be quickly corrected--though it takes some understanding of wiki syntax which may be difficult for beginners to learn. Despite potential inaccuracies, Wikipedia is a good place to begin your research if you realize that contents may contain biases, inaccuracies, and unsupported claims. Design: The site is well designed. A common look and feel permeate web pages, ads and other distractions are not posted, graphics and other visual elements often highlight important points, and links to related articles are prevalent. Several languages are also supported. Modification and revision dates are clearly displayed and the wiki allows you to

Trevor Lenell The first website I am going to evaluate is Wikipedia.org. The educational site that we have been told to never use for a paper because it is editable by anyone. The intended audience for Wikipedia is someone who just wants a quick overview of the subject they are looking for. It does not cover in-depth content or have large amounts of research in the articles. Everything is available on Wikipedia. All you have to do is search anything in google and Wikipedia article will almost always be in the top three links to show up. The design of Wikipedia is actually fairly good. It loads quickly there's a table of contents for each page and it is easy to find the information you are looking for. The content of Wikipedia is where things get a little shaky when it comes to looking for quality information. Since anyone can edit any page aside from a few that have been locked the information of Wikipedia is not necessarily the best way to find information. We do not know who has edited the site or what their credentials are and we have no way of knowing whether it is a great set of information or a joke put on by someone with an internet connection. There is however a bright side. At the bottom of each Wikipedia article there is the references. These are a great tool to find what was used and what is available to use outside of Wikipedia with the same information. These references are a great way to find academic information from good quality sites and can be used when searching through Wikipedia to find actual research. The design of Wikipedia is pretty good. It works equally well on my internet explorer, Firefox, and google chrome. It loads easily, is easy to navigate, and easy to read. Each graphic and audio file on the site serves a purpose to support the material being read. Overall Wikipedia is a great site to navigate and its shortcomings stem from it being able to be edited by anyone. The next website I will evaluate is NationalGeographic.com. An ed

Brianna O'Shea October 13, 2014 Overview: The purpose of this article is to tell the two sides of bilingual classes and what both side, whether to keep in schools or get rid of, think about bilingual classes in relation to their children. Some believe that teaching a second language simply hinders teaching and lowers test scores while the other side believes that students should have the right to learn two languages, including their home language. The audience is meant for those debating whether to keep bilingual classes in their children's' schools or not, especially Latino parents. Overall, this article is a good read and presents good reasons on both sides of the argument. Content: The title states both the purpose of the article and the intended audience, yet while the author is provided, information about the author is not available. The sponsor is identified, yet there is not obvious way to contact them. The article is up to date and the content is complete while also achieving its purpose. It is organized and doesn't seem to be biased as it presents both sides. Design: The title is clear and it is visually attractive with small, easy to read paragraphs. The sponsor is clearly identified and the copyright date is easy to find. It is easy to search the site and provides good information to make the site worth visiting. The format is consistent throughout the site and is easy to follow. The date is clearly visible yet no link is provided to contact the author.

Sarah Skinner on January 22, 2010 Overview The purpose of this website is to give educators some new material for their classroom. There are suggestions on ways to use new tools to get your students more involved and more excited for learning. There are math activity instructions, blogs for people to read about different age groups as well. There are instructions to help a student learn to read music. My overall impression on this site was that it's very informative. Content This site is very easy to determine the basic content of the site. The intended audience is stated in the introduction paragraph that gives a little information on what the website is about. The author is clearly stated at the top of the page. There isn't a lot of information on the author. The sponsor is identified and contact information is available. The latest revision date is stated clearly on this page. The date is a little old but it has been updated in the past year. All links are working properly. The purpose of this site is mostly informational. There are no under construction signs on this page. The content of the site is well organized and is easy to understand. There is a sufficient amount of information related to my purposes. The content may be bias. Articles are written by different people saying what their opinions are. There is some interactivity and the information appears to be accurate based on my own knowledge. The information is consistent with similar informational sites and grammar and spelling are correct. Design The homepage downloaded efficiently but it kind of has a bland look to it. You can tell where you are immediately when you come to this page. There is an index to lead you to different links. The site sponsor is provided and there is a contact link available. A copyright date is at the bottom of the website. I am able t move around within the site with ease. There are no distinct directions for using the site, but it is pretty straight forward. The

Sarah Skinner on January 22, 2010 Overview The purpose of this website is to start getting toddlers interested in books. There are many storybooks available to read to toddler aged children. There are also themed sections for special holidays where coloring page and educational games can be found. My overall impression of this site is that it would be great for toddlers to be able to start getting ready for school activities. Content It is easy to determine the basic content of this site. The site tells exactly who the webpage is for. The author is not clearly identified and I am not able to find a link to find information about the author. The sponsor is clearly identified in the top right hand corner. There is a contact link available to receive more information if needed. The latest revision date is not available and it is unclear if the content is updated frequently. However, this site really does not need information updated since it is reading material for toddlers. All links are working properly. The purpose of the site is clear that it is informational and entertainment. The website looks complete and professional and everything is organized very well. All material is easily understood and has a lot of useful information. The content is free of bias opinions. There are interactivities available for toddlers that make this site more valuable. All information appears to be accurate and correct grammar and spelling are used. There are sites available for teachers and parents as well on the page which would be helpful. Design The homepage downloaded efficiently and is very well put together. There are clear titles and descriptions to let you know where you are. There is an index with a variety of different links to click on. The sponsor is identified clearly and there is a contact link to get a hold of the sponsor. There is no copyright date that I can find. The site is easy to get around in and the directions for using the site are provided and are wri

Posted by Kelsey Potter on January 24, 2010 The web page was intended for students looking to pursue their education in the education field. Content: The web page loaded quickly and the audience is obvious to the reader. I could not find an author or any contact information to contact a source. Although the source of the website was very clear on each page. No information was given that the webpage had been updated frequently but each of the links was working appropriately. The purpose of the webpage was clear upon entering the site and each of the links was purposeful for the content of the site. The webpage was a little overwhelming with all of the links everywhere throughout the page and the information is also somewhat confusing. Although with all of the links there is a sufficient amount of information given on the webpage. The webpage is designed to fill in information to directed someone to a more specific topic which is a beneficial. None of the information on the webpage is bias, it is all given facts. The information is consistent and grammar is accurate. Design: Loading onto the webpage without very much color and a lot of words is not only overwhelming but is not as appealing to the eye. Although the information on the page is clear and there is several index to guide someone in the right direction. The sponsor is clearly identified but information on the sponsor and contact information were not identified. Copy right date was included on the webpage. Moving around the site was overpowering in that there were so many different links to click on and without directions was a confusing process. There were no graphic on the webpage which would have made the page more appealing. There is enough information on the site that makes visiting the site worthwhile but maybe almost too much on the first page. The same format was not used throughout the webpage making the page harder to read. Summary: Overall the webpage was overwhelming and confusing. T

Olivia Mabie-January 24, 2010 Content: There are many links at the top of the page that have lesson plans, online degrees, teacher tools, worksheets, and much more. There are many other links for teachers to click on to get to more websites for other information to use in the classroom. However once I clicked on the links at the top of the page the information was limited and I had to click on the links more than once to get to the next page. This website many other links but they are limited to the information on the next page. There are links that can give teachers freebie things to use in the classroom, lesson plans, and lesson plan templates. This website has many good links but it takes a long time to get to the next page and there is not much information on the other pages. Design: There are many distracting things about this website, there are things that keep changing and catching my attention and they are not even related to what the website is about. The font is very small and someone would need glasses to read the information. This is a site that was not organized when it was made. This would be a very time consuming website trying to find information to use in the classroom. All of the information about when the website was last updated is not on the site which makes teachers unsure of how good the information is because they do not know when it was put onto the website. There are many colors used throughout the website which can make it hard to read because it is very distracting. Overview: One thing I disliked about this website was when I first went into it there was a pop-up asking me to join the newsletter. I would not use this website in the future because it takes too much time to find information and get ideas to use in the classroom. One link I found that would be helpful in the classroom was the craft link; this is a link that I would use in the future. The website as a whole though I would not use, it is hard to get ideas to put