Group items tagged

Overview This site provides a basic study guide for the periodic table. Content Site offers all the basics regarding the periodic table, including PDF printable pages. The authors however are not immediately clear, nor are the sponsors. It is not the most up-to-date material, being dated to 1997. However, the content appears to be informative and useful. The site is worth bookmarking for future reference. Design The design is outdated. Not all the pertinent site information is easy to locate. The interactive table is easy to use though and provides a competent study resource. There are links to other resources and suggestions to trouble shoot any browser errors. Overall: The design needs to be improved but site is usable.

Overview This site offers a number of games for students to learn the human anatomy. Content The author appears qualified and the presenters of the site are easy to contact. The copyright is for 2008; however the material appears to be up-to-date and usable. There are links to add it to Facebook and other cloud sites. The information is educational and entertaining. The content and intention is clear. The only complaint I have, is that to use the boasted free games, one is subjected to ads. The ads are discussed in the content introduction and with purchase, games can be downloaded. The site is worth bookmarking for future reference. Design The website is attractive and though a bit cluttered, it is easy to navigate to the games. The games loaded easily and are simple to utilize. The use of multimedia is effective. I was able to find the site and use it, from multiple browsers. There are multiple game options that are broken down by physical system for easy adaption to a lesson plans. Overall: It is very well designed and easy to use.

Overview: The website is great and has many different websites that teachers can use for free to assist them in their everyday teaching. Diigo.com is number three on the list. This website is not only just for bookmarking but gives websites for research, different apps on Google, and even lesson plans. Content: The content of this website is very helpful. It gives teachers so many good tools. There are websites for templates and lesson plans, research and reference, bookmarking, games, reading and writing and the list goes on and on. I think it is a great tool, maybe for more than just elementary school teachers. Things such as Diigo and Google Maps can be used at any level. I would use this website in my classroom and for my own benefit. Design: The design of the website is lacking in flare which could cause people to easily overlook it. It is very easy to navigate though. It gives you the link to the website and a short explanation of what the website is used for. All of the links are up and running and work how they are supposed to. The one thing I really didn't like about the website is the amount of advertisements that were on it. It could cause someone to question the credibility of the site. Overall, I think the site was designed well.

Nathan Wonnacott 9/9/11 Overview: The Smithsonian Institution web page is a way to allow people to access the galleries without visiting the museum and provides insightful ways to teach students as well. The target audience is parents, teachers, and even students. Some of its topics are history, science, art, and technology. I believe this site to be a very useful tool in educating. Content: The first impression of the Smithsonian webpage is a sense of variety. There are pictures of exhibits and links to others not depicted. It doesn't appear childish, but more for anyone interested in American history. Once I explored, I found that the links work successfully and are full of up to date information. The website does leave out links to other sites, which limits resources to the site alone. It also doesn't specify an author, leaving only the sponsor to be contacted. Design: The setup is both fast and easy with organized pull-down menus. The pictures and references to their exhibit are detailed, useful, and attention grabbing. Activities are also available, and help to locate new information. The pages are current, last revised on July 6, 2011. The site is effective and worth visiting.

Overview: This site is so cool; I wish i knew about it earlier. I was refered to it by my current math professor because we are discussing manipulatives in his class now. Manipulatives are usually the little blocks and shapes kids can use for learning math. On this site, they have a huge variety that extends beyond that. It can be used by students of all ages and of any skill level. Content: This site has a huge library of different manipulatives broken up by the age group that would most likely use them. They also have some information about the site and how it came about. I had no problem accessing any aspect of the website. Design: The site is really easy to use. The first thing visible when you open the site is a big grid breaking up the manipulatives by grade level and the sub-subject of math it deals with. All you need to do to access the manipulative you want is click on the square in the grid that it corresponds to and find exactly what you want on the big list. I think something that could improve the site would be to include a better discription of each different manipulative. While it is easy to navigate and well designed, I think the site could have been made more aesthetically pleasing.

This website contains virtual manipulatives for all grade levels in Numbers & Operations, Algebra, Geometry, Measurement, and Data Analysis & Probability. These virtual manipulatives help the student understand the formulas, principles, and concepts in mathematics and science.

Overview: TeacherVision is a website that allows you to pick themes and units that you would like to teach to a class and offers printable's such as games and other activities easy accessed to give to the student's. It also provides links to lesson plans related to social studies and language arts. This website is for links related to the Olympics, which includes history and ideas to provide for students. The overall design is a bit lacking, but it is easily navigated and offers references and slideshows to help understand the Olympics. Definitely something that would be useful when looking for activities and ideas on a unit concerning the Olympics. Content: You are easily able to determine what is on this website due to its easy navigations and layup where everything is labeled and links are provided for each label. The audience is intended for teacher's who are needing ideas, lesson plans, quizzes, and activities when it comes to a unit; in this case the Olympics. The authors for the links are located once you click on the link, and most are teachers or other educators who have used these ideas in their own classrooms. The copyright is located at the bottom of the page which is an accumulation of all links located in the site from 2000-2011. All links currently work and provide a good source of ideas and interactivity that a teacher may use in their classroom. It is very easy to understand, and if Olympics are not a topic that is needed, then there are themes provided for other units if there is something else needed. I would use this site if I was doing a unit on the Olympics. Design: The homepage is easily downloadable, but does not have a strong eye appeal. It is a site for teacher's use only, not one that I going to interest student's. The site is easily navigated with descriptive links for activities and lesson plans needed for an Olympics unit. Everything is details within the links, and there are resources available for extra information and

The Dynamic Earth Overview: This website is set up in a very operative way. The purpose is to inform its viewers about the earth and its components, the solar system, and how the earth came to be here today. The intended audience seems to be teachers for grades 4th through 12th; the teacher could design a lesson plan and incorporate this site into a class activity. Outside of the classroom this site could be targeting anyone interested in earth sciences. My impression of this site was positive; it has tons of information about the earth, solar system, gems/minerals and plate tectonics. Overall this is a well put together site for teachers to incorporate it into a lesson. Content: The overall layout of this website is adequate for any teacher to obtain information or use the site as a teaching tool. Right off the bat it gives you an option of multimedia or printable version, which could please a variety of people. When going through multimedia it provides four opportunities to discover what you want to know about the earth. The quality and abundance of information is set up in an organized fashion. From my knowledge the information is all up to date, but it can't really be outdated when it's about how the earth developed, the solar system etc. The only flaw about this site would be that nowhere to be found directly on the site is an author; it only refers to a National Museum that put the site together. There is also no revision dates. Design: Right from the start, the site loads up and provides the viewer with two options, one being multimedia. At every new screen there is a ton of information regarding earth sciences. The content is designed with a lot of pictures that look very real, allowing it to be interesting and engaging. The way the site is laid out makes it easy to navigate and find what you want, everything is just a click away. At the bottom it has the sponsor and creator, the creator being a National Museum, the link goes to the museum website

Kathryn Slothower September 11, 2011 Overview: The purpose of this website is to help students with math problems that they do not know how to solve. There are different sections available to look through for the correct math subject. The website is easy to navigate through and can be very helpful for students or I could also see it being very helpful for teachers and parents. There are many resources for the students to use and help with math. Overall this website is a good website that could be very helpful.  Content: There is a lot of content found within this website. The main content found is all of the information to help find the answer to the math problems that they need help with. The only purpose of this website would be only to find the answers. There is no lesson on how to master the math skill. However the website does show you how they solved the problem with is very nice because then the viewer can really see how the problem is solved to use on other problems. I could see myself using this website for personal uses when I cannot figure out how to solve a math problem.  Design: The design of this website can be very confusing. Web Math is sponsored by Discovery Education so at first you see Discovery Education and the viewer does not know what to click on to receive help. There is an index at the top of the page that breaks the different levels of math up. This is a huge help for the viewer. Nothing on this website drawers viewers to the website to use it. 

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: Knight Cite is a bibliography maker. You just plug in the information into the specified box and it creates a proper citation in MLA, APA or Chicago style for you. This site is intended for those needing guidance on how to cite their sources for any research project that requires one of the provided formats. I have been using this website since 5th grade and it has always been useful and correct. The sponsor updates the page on a regular basis, when the new handbooks come out. A very useful site for those needing help with their bibliography or teachers trying to instruct their classes on how to properly cite sources. Content: Overall Knight Cite is pretty skin and bones. It does not have many fancy features, but it serves its purpose well. The page is clear and easy to navigate. It allows you to cite practically any reference you can think of in the three major writing styles. Since the sponsor is a University, it is assumed that they are qualified to provide this information. The intended purpose for this cite is clear upon opening the page. They have links where you can contact the authors, and the information aligns with other bibliography websites. Design: Knight cite downloads nicely and is designed for streamline efficiency. Although there is no "welcome page" it is immediately obvious what the intended purpose of the site is. When you open it, it immediately gives you the blanks to fill out to create your bibliography. There are instructions incase you are still unsure how to use it, but it is not difficult. To move between styles, it is as easy as clicking a tab at the top of the page. Same for changing the type of resource you are using. The site is extremely helpful if you have many citations as it will save them as you go and then when you are don you merely have to copy and paste your completed bibliography.  

Overview: Spanish Dict is a great reference for any Spanish student. It serves as a translator, dictionary, and learning tool for aspiring Spanish students. It has tabs that help you learn Spanish, create your own flash cards, make direct translations, and use a dictionary. It also has a conjugation tool that allows you to conjugate verbs in any tense. This site is also available in Spanish using a button in the upper right hand corner. Content: When you arrive at SpanishDict.com, it is pretty obvious what the site is for. It loads ready to be used. The author information is readily available at the bottom of the page and can be easily accessed. They are credible sources and seem to be qualified to create this site. Since this site mostly deals with word translation, it is not, nor should it ever be out of date. The purpose for the site is clear, it offers relevant information, it is easy to understand, and there is more than a sufficient amount of information for my purposes. Design: Although Spanish Dict does not have the most appealing website, it is extremely well laid out. It is easy to move around the site and directions are provided where applicable. One of my favorite design features for this site is the ability to have it translated into Spanish. This could be used as an ESL tool for that reason. It works on almost any browser, and provides enough information to make it worth visiting on a daily basis

Overview: This site holds a plethora of quizzes from a wide range of topics. It allows you to keep track of your lifetime score using a free username and password. This site could be used by teachers as extra credit. They could get 10 points EC for every 100,000 fun trivia points. The idea is that students learn on accident. Design: The website design seems lacking, with boring colors and somewhat haphazard organization of the different quizzes. It does label quizzes as easy, medium, hard and very difficult which would supply classes of different grade levels. Content: The content is great for its wide base that spans multiple disciplines. The major downfall of the site is its Wikipedia-like setup. The users of the site are also the authors of the thousands of quizzes. This makes quality control difficult, although using my own knowledge while taking numerous quizzes I saw no mistakes. The reliability issue makes this site inappropriate as an addition to a core curriculum but it does have a place as extra credit to pique a student's interest.

Audrey Stevens 9/20/2011 Overview: Kidsites.com is a site that is directed towards elementary teachers, parents of elementary kids and elementary kids themselves. It is basically used as a guide to find educational websites, as well as some websites with fun activities and games. Resources for this site were nearly limitless. It provides so many useful sites and activities, along with the separate tabs for parents and teachers. Overall, in my opinion, I found this site to be very useful for my information needs and very well designed and easy to use. Content: There were few things that I found that were candidates for the "no" column. One would be that there was no contact information or way of contacting a person if the user has questions. The other would be there was no revision date provided. Other than that I found nothing wrong. All of the links were working properly and led to educational websites or educational activities/games. It was easy to understand how the site was set up and how to navigate through the site, as well as there were no grammatical errors. The provider of this site seems to have known what they were doing and all of the information on kidsites.com seemed legitimate. According to the rating for content evaluation sheet, kidsites.com is very useful for one's informational needs and worth bookmarking for future reference. Design: For the design portion of this site, it only had a few problems such as there was no information for contacting the sponsor of this website. Even after going through and looking through all the tabs and links, I never was able to find any information on, or way of contacting them. No date was provided for when the website had been last updated either. I also went through and looked for this and never had any success. A copyright date was provided but no date of revision. When accessing this site, it is very easy to read, it has a simple, easy to follow design for children and it is incredibly easy to

Overview: This site had many games involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. It could be used for all grade levels because you can adjust the level of difficulty on each game. There were daily puzzles, word games, math games, and printable activities. The site is meant to make math fun and it uses creative games to do that. The ability to adjust the difficulty level makes it great for a classroom because you can make the activities grow as the student's understanding grows. Content: This website loads quickly and has an eye appealing front page. There are suggestions of popular math games but there is also a website index at the top of the page. The index was organized into understandable categories. The games uploaded and played without pause to load. The brain teasers and games were correct to the best of my knowledge. There were also links to math trick videos and other game ideas. This website could be used in the classroom as a fun reward for students who finish their in class homework early. Design: The homepage downloads efficiently. The site sponsor, contact information, and date of last revision are not easily accessible. The website also does not run as well in other browsers. I was using Google Chrome. The list of links are very well organized and easy to use. Each link had a description of the game before you click on it to see what it is. The instructions for the games were easy to follow and very logical and concise.

This website provides educational games, daily puzzles, word games, and math games.

Aylin Márquez 13 September 2011 Overview: The Problem Site.com provides educational games, daily puzzles, word, and math games designed for teachers and Pre-K-12th grade students. Reference and printables tabs provide a free educational source for teachers. The site provides mathematical problems from previous years with their solutions included that influence students' analytical thinking. Interactive games are also designed to improve students' memorization. Content: Although the basic content of the site is easily determined, the user needs to check internal links to determine the intended audience of the site. If the audience is young children, they may need adult assistance to navigate within the site since the site has advertisements that can be considered inappropriate (games, dating sites, and etc.). The site has an overview that explains how the site was started and what it is about. A contact person and address are also available for users to ask questions. Both the site overview and contact information are located at the bottom of the site. Overall, the purpose of the site is clear, and the information appears to be accurate. Design: The homepage is designed well and downloads efficiently. It is appealing for mainly high school students and teachers. The user is able to navigate easily. The internal links work properly and are helpful and appropriate. However, there are advertisements that may not be appropriate for young children. The graphics and animations serve a clear purpose. A list of links is well organized, clearly labeled, and easy to use. The site also includes a search area where users can look for other educational sources.

Eileen Andrews: September 9/11/11 Overview: As the title suggests, this site helps students and teachers access history digitally. This site includes links to primary sources, lesson plans and other help tools for teachers, and interactive learning such as timelines. This site would be useful for both teachers and students. Content: This site covers a wide variety of topics in American History from the American Revolution to present day. The site seems to be well kept since the last revised date is 9/11/11. Although some links don't work, many others due, and the ones that don't work can be search in for in other resources. Design: The site is easily navigated and includes a site map and search option to make finding specific content easier. This site provides pictures, videos, and timelines. The site can seem boring at times, but the pictures do help liven it up. The site is organized very well in the sidebar and site map.

Overview: S.O.S Mathematics is a free resource for math help for high school, college and adult math students. The website reviews all different math subjects ranging from Algebra to Differential Equations. You can also get help regarding specific topics rather than the subject as a whole. The website has more than 2,500 math pages that are easy- to- understand and helpful. This website also helps with test preparation and offers 'Cyberboard', which is a help forum used to ask specific math questions. Content: The homepage loads quickly but there is an advertisement pop-up along with an advertisement on the top of the homepage. Above the advertisement is a toolbar with links to each subject of math. There is a wide variety of subjects that are available to the student for help. There is a current copyright date on the website and the content appears up-to-date. At the bottom of the homepage is the company's contact information. When clicking on a subject, lists of sub-topics are included under that subject, which makes navigation on the webpage easier for the student. Design: The content of this webpage may be very helpful to students, but the design of the website is a bit bland and boring. The design does not look very up to date. The design of this website could potentially turn away a student looking for help at first glance because it's not appealing to the student. 

An amusement park of math and more! Math lessons, math games, math practice, math fun! Coolmath4kids.com This website is targeted toward parents, teachers, and young kids interested in math and math games. The purpose of the website is to give lessons and games that will allow kids to easier understand math. The website seems easy to understand and gives simple explanations on math concepts. Content: The website is easily understood, and very clearly promotes math games and lessons to younger elementary age kids. The president, Karen, and writers of the website are clearly presented. The starting date is given, and the material seems to be up to date. The content is user-friendly and appropriate. Design: The website is very colorful, and appealing to the eye, especially for kids, who are most likely to use this site. The information is very useful and relevant to the younger kids, and easy to comprehend. There is enough info given to make it a useful website, and there are links to further info and to the creators.

CoolMAth.com- Review on 10/4/12 Diigo i.d= Jessle33 CoolMAth.com purpose is a site designed to make math more fun; referring to itself as an "amusement park" of games used to help make math more enjoyable. This site is designed for students of age 13 and up. The lowest level of math that it provides is pre-algebra so students younger than 8th grade may struggle a bit if using this site. There are various resources available for students who use this site: math lessons, math practice, math dictionaries, math games, all levels of math pre-algebra and up, puzzles, books, etc. There is also a tab that parents and teachers may visit that provides ways to help your kids with math homework, web education, and certain resources (books) that are available to them. My overall impression of this site is that it is easy for students to navigate no matter their age and bright colors are used. There are games that keep the students engaged and help to make the lessons educational, but beneficial. There are a lot of various activities for the students to use and that helps in many ways.

Kayla Hyde 10/20/2013 Overview: This website is made to make math cool and fun to students. It would be great for those students that don't think math can be fun or that rather play computer games then do math. It is a great way to promote learning in a new way. Content: This site is full of information and different links to different games based on different skills. There are puzzles and games that can be targeted for children ages three to five to eighth grades. Any student at any math level can find a game to help increase their learning of the subject. Design: The website can be a little overwhelming with so many links and so many colors. Because the site is set on a black background and multicolored text, it can be a little too much at times. Also there are many ads that can be a little much, but the content is still worth it.

government library, primary sources

Jaymes Talkington January 23, 2010 http://www.loc.gov/index.html Content This site is full of collections of books, newspapers, videos, and other documents on thousands of historical events and people that are kept in the Library of Congress. There are resources for kids, librarians, publishers, researchers, teachers, and visitors. All of the informational documents found on the site come with citations, and since the information is in the Library of Congress it is most likely creditable. There is also a link that allows you to ask some of the librarians specific question. Design The front page of the web site is pretty easy to use considering there are many specific areas to click on depending what your use of the site will be. Everything is clearly identified on the front page. It didn't take unusually long to load either, and all the other links I tried came up pretty fast as well. The "search" bar at the top of the front page makes it easy to find exactly what you are looking for. It may take some time to download copies of texts, but the videos don't take long at all. There is no advertising on any of the videos I observed so it gets right to the chosen subject. Overview This site's purpose is to make the Library of Congress's information available to anyone without leaving their home. Their audience can include kids, librarians, publishers, researchers, teachers, and visitors. The resources on this site include digital copies of books and journals, and also educational videos. Overall the cite seems like an accurate and easily accessible source of historical information.

This webstie allows students to research primary sources.

Katharine Johnson September 19, 2009 Georgia Agriculture Education Introduction: This website is from the Georgia Department of Education and is there to help teachers in effectively teaching their classes. It has different power points and lesson plans. Content Evaluation: First Look: When I first looked at this site it was inviting. It is well organized and easy to navigate. Information Providers: The authors of the site are listed at the bottom of the homepage. It just talks about who they are and gives their job titles. There is contact information if you have any questions. Information Currency: It just says that it was last updated in 2009. From looking at the information it looks as though the site is maintained regularly. The other site links are updated and in working order. Information Quality: I think the information that this site provides could be extremely helpful to a new teacher. It gives power points with information that could be used and also has lesson plans that could help. Not only this but there is information for other organizations and other aspects of agriculture in the class room. However I did run into some problems opening a couple of the folders, but other than that everything is functional. Design Evaluation: Speed: Most of the pages opened quickly and effectively. Home Page: The homepage is attractive and eye appealing. All the information is clear and organized and easy to find what you are looking for. Ease of Navigation: The site is easy to navigate. All the information is clear and organized and helps you find what you are looking for easily. Use of multimedia: All the graphics and other medias used are effective. Browser compatibility: Only tested Internet Explorer. Content Presentation: All this information could be really helpful in the classroom.