Group items tagged

Charles VanPatten 10/13/14 The purpose of this source is to show the history of education throughout the world and how it changed. This is mainly just a summary and could be a good source for a paper. This audience is more limited to those who are pursuing history or maybe doing a speech on the history of education. The content in this information seems decent but there are no real sources other than the fact that a link at the bottom takes you back to the world history center website. This makes the source a little more credible but there is no dates on the source saying when it was last updated. Although it has the name of the person who last updated the site just no date. The design of the page is very lengthy and just a bunch of reading, this could be good if you were trying to get a lot of information in one place. But it has no further on links to direct you towards other places to get more information. Also they only have one button to go back to another page in the world history center that is not related to the information.

Lionel Escobedo 10/13/14 The power point was created in 2011 by Marisa Conte. Although it is a three year old peace of work, and soon to be four, it still holds rich value. The power point is a great source for understanding or referencing techniques on better evaluating web research and resources alike. The slides highlight on many areas that should be taken into account when evaluating web research and resources alike. However what makes this source most rich and insightful is the order in which it is organized by design. The power point is clear and easy to follow and includes visual aids to strengthen the readers understanding. For example the beginning slides talk about making better use of key wards when searching online to more detailed and specific techniques in later slides.

Lionel Escobedo 10/13/14 The power point was created in 2011 by Marisa Conte. Although it is a three year old peace of work, and soon to be four, it still holds rich value. The power point is a great source for understanding or referencing techniques on better evaluating web research and resources alike. The slides highlight on many areas that should be taken into account when evaluating web research and resources alike. However what makes this source most rich and insightful is the order in which it is organized by design. The power point is clear and easy to follow and includes visual aids to strengthen the readers understanding. For example the beginning slides talk about making better use of key wards when searching online to more detailed and specific techniques in later slides.

Elise Verley September 9, 2011 http://technologysource.org/ Overview: This is a basic site to review the articles from the peer-reviewed bimonthly periodical "The Technology Source". The purpose of this site is to allow educators to view the articles published, from 1997 - 2003. The periodical published articles to assist educators in integrating information technology tools into the classroom. Since the periodical stopped publishing in 2003 the sources may become out of date. Content: This site had many articles, but may be difficult for someone without a particular article they were searching for to use. Since this was a peer-reviewed periodical the articles can be reliable as sources. There are articles on a variety of topics. Design: There were two ways to search the sites articles. Users could either browse articles or search with a library like search tool. This is a very basic site with a white background, black text and blue accents, there are no pictures.

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

Samantha Cook 10/11/12 The Renaissance website on philosophy of that time is very useful for someone either looking for some background information on this topic or also for research for a paper. The Renaissance was a time period where there was a great movement into many of the ideas that we have today, like philosophy and the idea of not a large empire but smaller countries. This site gives a good overview of the philosophy side of that change, and how these thoughts started coming around. The information provided is good and accurate and gives a broad range that allows someone to either get a brief or go deeper. The purpose of the sight is to provide information. The intended audience for this sight is either high school students learning about the Renaissance or College students doing the same thing. They use this sight and the quality information provided as more of a summary then a full out research area, to give them brief ideas of the subject but there is so much deeper. The information provided is from all current sources nothing more than 1970s but that is not necessarily a bad thing. This is where academics at universities have gone through and interpreted the older writings into what is needed to know. There is also a large amount of sources which helps weed out the biased sources and ideas you can have by having different opinions added together. My overall opinion of this sight is it is a good sight for basic information, if you want to go deeper then you need to go elsewhere but it is a good sight to give a brief introduction into the idea of philosophy. It is pleasing to the eyes even without pictures and looks academic in that sense, I personally think pictures could make it better but it is fine without them. Overall it is a good trust worthy site.

Tyler Rogers February 4, 2012 Overview: The purpose of this site is to assist educators in finding the best possible space science resources available anywhere on the web. The intended audience is educators, or anybody teaching any level of space science K-12. From this site, viewers can find hundreds of links and files for useful information on space science topics. I feel like this site provides high quality information, but it is not presented well. I would only recommend this site for its content, and not its design. Content: Users will be able to identify the content of the site quickly, but may not realize that it is purely for educators. Information about each of the authors and site creators can be found easily. This site has no visible revision dates, so it cannot be determined if the information is current or updated regularly. The actual content that the directory takes users to (external web sites and PDF files) is high quality work. Most of the sources reviewed by a committee and deemed valid and appropriate. They are generally very factual and unbiased. Some of the many links on this site are broken.  Design: The homepage is not visually appealing. It is bland and boring. The lack of a table of contents, clear title, and copyright date may lead viewers to believe that the site lacks quality.  Pictures only contribute to the background, and no other multimedia is used. Once users find the directory search options, some may be frustrated that their search must be quite narrow. However, the results list is easily readable and gives a thorough description of the resource. It is impossible to tell the currency of some of these sources, and a small handful of the source links are broken. 

Content The content in this article is very useful, and would be meant for someone with background knowledge in Bighorn National Forest; Wyoming; Livestock Grazing and Vegetation Management EIS. This site is more complex than the others, but if you have the knowledge to understand, it is a very helpful site. This site is from the Federal Register of Environmental Documents, so it is not updated regularly since it is a one time written article. The sources for the site are very easily found at the top of the page, and would make citing the source very easy. Design The design of this page is very simple. The page is very easily navigated, and the links on the left hand side of the site are helpful. The page is in good working condition, and has no problems. The only issue with the site is that it is all writing, with no breaks or graphics to add to the sites content. Attribution The sources are located at the beginning of the article. They are very easily found, and the site would be easily cited if needed.

Allison Lindgren September 21, 2009 Website Review http://www.aboutdarwin.com/credits_01.html "About Darwin dotcom" is a site dedicated to the life and work of Charles Darwin. Its layout is classy and goes well with the information being presented. The author of the site states his credentials and citations clearly. I think it would be a good source of information for anyone researching Darwin. The bibliography is very complete which provides alternative source of information for someone looking for additional information. Since the information is organized and presented in easy to understand terms with little scientific jargon I think it is geared towards high school students. Content Summary: The content of the site is obvious even in the URL of the site making it easy to know what information the site provides. The author is clearly stated with a whole page dedicated to his credentials and the citations of all the information in the site. The links all work well, but it has been over a year since the site has been updated. I think that is okay, though, as Charles Darwin is not a developing topic and not a lot of new information needs to be posted. Maps and pictures enhance the content of the site, and information is well organized into links on the homepage. T Design Summary: There were no problems downloading the page. The colors and graphics of the site are appealing and interesting. The layout is very simple which makes navigation easy. Each link clearly states what information it will take you to. It is a good source of information about Charles Darwin by someone whose credentials make the site credible and worth visiting.

Derek Peil 10/7/2012 Overview The informational website tculibrary is designed to set forth a substantial amount of resources for an audience of communication students. Many of these resources are internal and are intended to instruct students on the arts of creating an effective public speech. The external resources guide students to rich websites full of vast databases on rhetoric. With high marks on the evaluation guide, I recommend this site to educators as a source of information on topics related to communication. Content Credible information is strongly used throughout the website, and is indicated via highly organized titles. All of the links load quickly, and are up-to-date. The last revision of the site was on August 27th, 2012, indicating its accuracy and relevance for modern educational settings. Contained within the site are many links to library databases. The website provides lucid instructions on navigating through these databases, making the process of acquiring research extremely hassle free. A single weakness, or rather an inconvenience, is seemingly all the error to be found within this website. When following the link to Opposing Viewpoints, the audience is required to login using Texas Christian University credentials. This limits the usage of this site to TCU audiences only. In light of the overpowering strengths of this site, a small confinement of audience such as this is more than acceptable. Design This website appeals to a modern audience with its clean colors and organized display of information. Copyright and authorship claims are easy to spot at the top and bottom of the sites. Along the top of the homepage, a list of tabs provides simple traversing to and from links. Also, the website is full of external sources that carry the same standard of credibility as the home site. Although the website contains some graphics, it may lack the number to create a completely attractive website. Nonetheless, the pictures the site do

Posted by Allie Parrott 09/17/09\nThe Shakespearean Resource Center is a site dedicated to Shakespearean language, theatre, and history. Everything on the site is fully functional and thorough. Teachers and students alike could learn a lot from it. Content: The Shakespearean Resource Center is a perfect place for Secondary English teacher's to go for not only basic Shakespeare facts, but in-depth explanations of his language. This site is perfect for high school students and teachers that are struggling with Shakespeare's particular style. In one section "Dictionary of Shakespeare" there shows all of the words he contributed to our everyday vocabulary. I believe that this site is valid because at the bottom of the page it shows when it was last updated. June 2009 was the last time, and that is pretty recent in comparison to a lot of sources one will get concerning William. At the bottom the author and sponsor are also easily spotted, making it all the more credible. All links and information are related to Shakespeare or the Elizabethan time in England. It will help the student that everything on this site is well organized, and they can gather tons of information with out straying far from its links. Design: The site is designed exceptionally well. There are no bothersome pop-ups and there are a limited amount of ads. All the links are functional, and under each link there is a short description, telling the visitor exactly what they are about to learn. It does lack a certain visual effect. There aren't many pictures or graphics, but consider the fact that it is a site for Shakespeare information. Shakespeare had a way with words not pictures. Students who are researching him should be highly literate because there is a lot of reading. The design is perfect for what needs to be accomplished. Attributions: It would be extremely easy to cite this source. Information is not only found at the bottom of each individual page, but also in a link that says cite SRC

Brienna Gregor 10/11/12 Overview: This website is very useful for students, teachers, and other educators that want to learn more about volcanoes. This website is meant to stimulate the mind through comic book graphics that simplifies the learning objectives as indicated in earth sciences. Available resources include: plate tectonics, volcanoes, volcanic database, games, comics, teach, top sites, and more. This website is great for students and teachers in that it is exciting and easy to go through while serving as a helpful tool concerning lesson plans. This site would work best for students from late elementary to high school levels (5-12). In my opinion, the content and design of this website is well done. Content: At first look, this website looks to be professionally done. The content of this website appears to be current and correct however, the designers are apart of a ThinkQuest team called, "Team 17457". These teenagers did a very good job however; it may not be the most reliable source due to their age, inexperience, and living situations (all three are from different continents). Despite this, this website's information quality is very well done. Design: The design of this website is very well done in that it is very fast, it is easy to navigate, has many different sources of media, and the presentation of the content contributes to the website's purpose. Its design draws you in and makes you want to explore and learn the information provided.

Derek Peil 10/7/2012 Overview Purdue University Press is a substantial source of poetry and literature for educated audiences. The website's purpose is to offer intellectual texts for educators and students to incorporate into their curriculum. Carrying a simple, pleasant tone this website lists suggested poems and literature. Although the website lacks clearly stated dates of revision, it still scores high on the evaluation guides; and I recommend this site to those who are looking for some rich pieces of literary work. Content The University of Purdue's sound reputation of information precision is exemplified throughout the course of the website. This site contains sound organization and easy navigation. With genre listings and a friendly search engine, users can find what they need quickly. This allows for Educators and Students to spend less time searching for the material and more time studying it. In contrast to these strengths, the website is weak in terms of its currency. The site fails to display a revision date. But since the site is always uploaded with new inventories and sales, one can assume the site is fairly current. Design This site's display style is definitely suitable for an educational setting. The modest, yet contrasting colors make the site enjoyable to navigate. Also, the pictures of the book covers are very useful in helping to identify one from the others. Waiting for links to load is nonexistent, and this site is multi-browser friendly. Yet, this website lacks external sources from which users can broaden their findings. All of the links are internal. Do to the fact that this site is both education and profit oriented, this weakness is easily overlooked by the benefits of a deep library of texts that this site easily lays out for the user.

Samantha Cook 10/11/12 The Crusade website is a very plain website. It contains essential information that is very useful to people doing research on the crusades. This information ranges from older texts from that era or new information from historians. The Crusades were many holy wars to obtain lands in the east that were religious areas. This information is represented well by many different scholars through this website in one easy place. The Crusade website is very useful to people in college mainly, some high level high school students could use the sight. The audience is high school students in college level courses, looking for information deeper than the basics provided by their teachers; also it is aimed at for college academics to be used for papers and background information that is found in one easy place. The available resources are from current historians interpreting things from archaeologists and from the writings of that time, and then also the writing from that time to be interpreted yourself. This is very useful information provided because it includes current sources and older sources that has less opinion in it. My overall impression of this sight is very high I used to for my webquest, and I did that to give the kids who would have done it a basic look at crusades which they could have easily done without much looking. This sight is also pleasing to the eye, it is not fancy in any way but it is organized well and looks very academic which helps its purpose. Overall I would use and trust the sight because it is not necessarily their opinion but actual writings for that subject through links of this website and I believe these are the best websites for historians.

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

Rebecca Gardner Jan. 24, 2010 The content of this website offers a lot of different sources and links. It is a little hard to determine what this website is offering, because there is so much going on. It also is intended for a wide audience. There are links at the top of the page that will take you to the different sources, but then navigating though them can be a little tricky. Information about the author of the website is available and so is there contact information. The latest revision date was not provided, but the sites copy right dates were current, and the links were up to date. The purpose of this site is informational. They did however have some entertainment under the kids area tab. The links to other sites were related and appropriate to my needs The design of the website is to give you information on education, study abroad programs, and international jobs. It also offers information on career training and learning different languages. The tabs at the top of the page are easy to navigate though. The links to other pages were useful and appropriate. I didn't run into in dead ends when using the links. There was little to no multimedia except for ads. The website was very effective with a variety of browsers. There is a lot of sufficient information if you are researching topics that they have high lighted. The same basic format is used though out the website and it is fairly easy to find other links. My overview of this website is that I would highly recommend it to students that are learning another language or teachers who teach different languages, and also if you are interested in teaching or studying abroad. There is a lot of information and that to me was over whelming. But the over all content and design was helpful and appropriate.

Jennifer Durn January 24, 2010 Purdue Online Writing Lab - http://owl.english.purdue.edu/ OVERVIEW The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) is a site designed to provide online writing resources for writers of all ages; from middle school through college and into adulthood. This site provides a variety of writing resources ranging from assistance with APA and MLA formatting, to tips for avoiding plagiarism and resume assistance. Overall, I found the site to be particularly user friendly and have utilized it when completing assignments in past courses. CONTENT The purpose and function of the Purdue OWL site is readily identifiable when the home page is accessed. Sources and authors are listed clearly and the content of the website is current and up-to-date. Resources are also available which highlight recent updates to the site and provide navigational tips for accessing information quickly and easily. Information presented in each section is relevant and easy to select what is important for the particular writing project. DESIGN Using Mozilla Firefox, I did not have any issues with navigating the Purdue OWL site. Recent updates and upgrades to the website have improved the visual appeal. Multimedia resources are not available on the site but given the subject matter, this is not surprising. One area where this site could use additional work is the lack of links to other websites outside of Purdue University's English Department.

Stetson Fancher Reviewed Aug. 31, 2010 Purpose The purpose of the Purdue Online Writing Lab is to help give information and references towards writing documents for school related projects. It is there to educate Purdue students and others about all kinds of references and sources to help make the writing process easier. They have everything from avoiding plagiarism and APA formatting style guide to exercises that might help you with your writing. This site is a great site to use for students as young as junior high, up on through graduate school. It does a great job of making difficult information accessible. Content This site has a full arsenal of information that it has to offer writers with many different kinds of goals. It also does a great job of organizing the information so that it is easily accessible to those who need it. It also keeps the references us up to date as possible. It keeps the most current style guides and even frequently produces podcasts to those who subscribe. It does not always show all of its references on the home page, but as you dig into information, then it becomes more available. The content that this site provides is one that can be applicable for many different writers.

Adam Matson 9-14-2011 Website Evaluations: 1) http://owl.english.purdue.edu/ - Purdue Online Writing Lab Overview- This site is intended for the use by students (grades 7-12+) and teachers alike in regards to English writing styles, citations, etc. The site is developed by Purdue University and even allows students to turn written works in to be reviewed by university students and teachers to help correct and guide the writing process. It has a very complete overview of how to write well-rounded essays, letters, etc. and is easy to read and navigate. It covers areas such as MLA and APA formats along with how to cite sources both in-text and bibliographical forms. I would recommend it for anyone who has a question about a writing assignment. Content- The content of this site is extraordinarily helpful and easy to navigate. From the homepage you can easily discern that the main focus is education in English writing. All areas are labeled clearly and cover many sides of whatever subject you are on. It explains clearly every aspect, such as citing sources, and shows many examples, reviewing almost all instances the writer might run in to. Design- The design is fairly basic, as many educational sites are. It is not very interactive (meaning videos, sounds, games, etc.), but it very easy to navigate. Tabs and links are obvious and lead to such places as Contact Information. Links to other parts of the site are always colored differently and easy to discern. All links are easy to read and very specific, letting the user narrow down their intended search quickly and efficiently.

This page was reviewed by Joseph Scherden on 1/23/2011 Content Review- I picked this page specifically because the other two pages I have reviewed were valuable and credible web pages. This one, however, is not so much. It does not list the author, publisher, or date published even. It was turned up as a result when I searched "teaching methods," on Google. This web pages information does not seem farfetched, but it would need to be verified through more credible sources. Design Review- The design of this page was another reason I picked it. The page is not as "retro" in appearance as Jewwatch.com, but it is still obviously not intended for research purposes solely. The home page loaded poorly on my computer when I linked through several of the page links. The tab set up separates different topics clearly and links are imbedded inside the information to provide definitions. Although some pieces of this pages designs are novel it should still be noted how many ads are on the page. Overall Review- This page has information that may be used as a jumping off point. It would be useful for learning key terms that are used when discussing teaching methods, but it is not a credible source on its own. I would say this site may be useful to education majors, but I emphasize its lack of credibility.

This page reviewed by Joseph Scherden 1/21/2011 Content Review: The content of this particular article is useful for English educators, and especially one who intends to teach in a foreign region. The content of was factually based and supported with citations from credible sources as well. The author's credentials are listed and it appears that she is a credible source for this subject. Design Review- The homepage loaded quickly. Tabs at the top of the page direct the user to broad categories of topics, and a side bar link the user to relevant cites. There are no ads and links are provided for information on the authors. Cite is well designed, neat, and easy to navigate. Overall Review- This site was factual and useful. The information was concise and supported. The author was credible and the cite was easily navigable. This cite should be used by any aspiring teachers because it contains articles about academic leadership and is not limited to ESL educators.

Mark Hyde www.shmoop.com Overview: This is a good site for students to go on to find information on many things. It is full of information that has been written by credible sources. Good source to go to study or to find information. Has lots of links to different subjects. Content: Has anything from mythology to any historic event. Click on a subject and you get a introduction followed by many other things such as summary, themes, the myth and other information about it. It has links to study for big tests such as ACT and SAT. Design: Very colorful and appealing to high school kids. It is easy to use and to find subjects to study. Click on a big subject and it lists little things inside that subject to learn more about. Set up really well, but can seem pretty packed in the main page of it.