Group items tagged

Billie Slyman, 9/11/11 Purpose The Kidstorm site is actually a section of a larger site dedicated to storm chasing. The rest of the site is fine, but the kids section has, in my opinion, the best resources and information. However, the information, while good, is pretty basic and could easily be found on other sites. So my overall impression is that while this site is okay for information about severe weather, its real value is in the photographs and resources that can be found there. There are tons of links to other sites, some on the main kids' page for general weather, and then more on each page about a specific weather. These links lead to good sites and would be a valuable resource for a teacher or student looking for information. Content The content on this site is appropriate for students in 4-6 grades and for adults as well. It is set out clearly, but the vocabulary would be difficult for younger students. Again, the information is basic, although the extensive safety tips are nice, but the pictures are great. There are high quality photos of every type of weather covered and more. These can be viewed online, and it is stated on the website that students can use them for paper reports in class as long as credit is given. The external links given are useful and would also be a good resource for student research. Design The site is easy to navigate and nice to look at, interesting while not being overwhelming. There is a lot of text on each page, but there are also a lot of relevant photos, so it is interesting to read. It is easy to go from one section to the other without having to go back to the homepage, and the external links are always at the bottom of the page. It's a well put together site.

John Ripley 9/13 Overview: This is a site produced by the Federal Reserve to promote financial literacy. It is aimed at providing information and activities to all age groups from kindergarten to adult. There are only two games/activities for the K-4 level and I didn't think that either one was especially good. There are several more games for kids at older age levels that are a little better. I still can't imagine kids getting excited about playing any of the games that I looked at though. The games/activities are only a small part of the site and I think that the real strength of the site lies in the information that it provides for a high school age audience that might be exposed to the information through a teacher in a classroom that could help interpret it. The educational value is more as an aid to a teacher in planning a lesson or relaying a concept rather than assigning the

Overview: GOOD originated as a magazine company and with advances in internet, GOOD has designed one of the most unique interfaces to gain information, current issues, and learn more about community ideas. Concept: The concept of GOOD is that of news organizations, but in a sense that breeds community. Some ideas shared can seem a little more one sided than others, but it brings good ideas, people, and news to the front page. This positive interface brings education aspects to social constructs and the newest in each subject. I especially like the Challenges they give the readers each month for August "The effects of going Vegan" or for September "Send someone a Post Card." We value getting mail, but never seem to be able to write to our dearest friends. I love the facts that back up this simple good idea to become more outgoing. This can be a resource for teachers to challenge students. Seek through news and actually find "good" stories to share to the class. The content in comprehendible and an awesome resource to get students away from main-stream media to understand community polls on political standings or engaged in dive into design, food, or education. Design: GOOD is a website that values its high design, easy access, and reader friendly qualities. I am also thoroughly impressed with Good's Infograph posted to tell stories of simple if "If Facebook users are more Trusting?" The design is so user friendly you can quickly glance over headlines while browsing each most viewed story. Students of post-primary education can access with without being drowned in adds or bias news articles.

Sam Burns, 9/20/2009 "German Online Interactive Learning" is very similar to the last site I reviewed. It provides links to other sites for specific problems in the German language, both for learning and teaching German. Content: This site once again has hundreds of likes to hundreds of different German help sites. I clicked on many of the links and not one was the same as the links on the other site. This site has links for games and grammar once again but it also provides many useful PowerPoint's. The PowerPoint's are available to download to your computer and they actually provide accurate and helpful information. Once again I must say that I believe this site is aimed toward beginning German. There are not a lot of helpful links for advanced German studies. Design: This site is free and not hard at all to navigate. It provides a search engine as well as links for other sites. It is pretty well laid out and easy to find the information you are searching for, even if it is not of value. It is very colorful and is updated weekly. The current and new information is easy to interpret and to find. Overall this site is well organized and useful.

Posted by Lyndsey Neelands on 9/19/2009 Cool Science is an education website branched from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The purpose of this website is to inform the community about science. Content: This site clearly identifies its material and the authors. This website is authored and updated by a medical institute so its information is up to date and accurate. The information is also for many different ages and skill levels. Also, there are resources for teachers available at this site. The links to other sites are relevant and working properly. This website would be helpful to any elementary or secondary science teacher looking for up to date research. Design: This website is very easy to navigate and very appealing. The website is organized and all of the graphics add to the purpose of the site. The links are appropriate and contribute to the value of the website. The sponsor is clearly identified and is easy to get information on. This Cool Science website is an extension of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute so a lot of the links go to other resources from Howard Hughes Medical Institute. This is significant because the design of the pages is consistent, even when using a link to navigate from the homepage of Cool Science.

Sam Burns, 9/20/2009 The "German Teaching" page is a website full of links for all things related to German. From teaching help, to verb flashcards, and to advanced readings, the site has a lot of helpful information. I think it is more useful for beginning German learners but the site still has a lot of value. Content: This site is completely free and is actually just a site containing links to other sites. It contains hundreds of links to German sites for almost every problem a student, or teacher, might have. Links to German games, flashcards, and even some lesson plans are available through this site. The range of skill level activities provided on this site are also very broad, beginning to "advanced". I feel that the site is a lot more directed at lower level education but is still helpful. Design: The website is fairly easy to navigate but it is not professional looking at all. The layout looks cheap and unreliable. By looking at many of the links, I noticed that some of the information provided was unclear and may be more confusing that helpful to beginning students. However, some of the links are very helpful for specific problems someone might be having.

Ericka Chorniak October 9, 2012 Overview: This site is a guide for writing a lab report for students in a science setting. It provides the students with definitions and expectations of each section of the lab report. It could also be a very good resource for other science teachers looking for a guide for their students to follow while writing a report for their class. The provider of the site appears to be qualified, but it would be wise to check other sources' materials and other guides before settling with this one specifically. This site doesn't have a lot of interactivity for the students to remain engaged in the content, but for the purposes of a guideline for lab report writing, it is worth bookmarking for future references. Content: At first glance, the content of the site is easily determined, as well as the intended audience. The author of the site is clearly identified; in fact his name is in the link itself. The author did not provide any additional information, or give any contact information, but he does appear qualified because it appears to be a teacher. The latest revision date is present, which was October 29, 2010. This date is appropriate for the content of the site because it does not need to be updated frequently, and the links provided are current and work properly. The purpose of this site is very clear, it is a lab report guide (informational), and the content achieves this purpose effectively. The content of this site is complete, easy to understand, is appropriate to my needs/purposes, is free of bias, appears to be accurate, was proofread so that all grammar and spelling is correct, and is consistent with other sources materials. The site does not provide interactivity to increase its value. The links provided are also worthwhile, appropriate, and relevant to my needs and purposes as a student and pre-service teacher. Design: This website has a semi-attractive homepage that downloads efficiently. It is easy to tell where the user is

Instructional site on making t-charts using x and y values to find plot points to graph on a coordinate plane.

An interactive tutorial for learning trigonometric identities, their uses, and trigonometric functions.

Overview: The purpose of this site is to educate kids about the U.S. Government. On the home page it asks for a specific audience in which you belong to: K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12. My impression of this site is that it is kid oriented, fun and educational to use, and also easy to navigate. It is a Government website and was updated last in May 2010, and then February of 2009. I focused on the 3-5 grader part of the website Content: The content is fun and informational about our Government. The information is cut up into different sections and aspects of the Government, from "Our Nation" to "Symbols of our Country" The content is fact driven but has a high value in my opinion because it also has games and activities. Design: The design of the site is very easy to follow and clearly states everything a student would need to know. The homepage is attractive and cartoon-like so it easily grabs the attention of the younger grades. The site is organized into different sections that are very focused on the different aspects of U.S. Government

The value of studying genetics is in understanding how we can predict the likelihood of inheriting particular traits. This can help plant and animal breeders in developing varieties that have more desirable qualities. It can also help people explain and predict patterns of inheritance in family lines.

Interactive game to help kids learn how to count coins.

History teacher recouces

Allyson Boyer Review date 2/2/12 This website is intended for mostly teachers, but parents could also benefit from this site. It is designed for teachers and parents to find fun arts and craft ideas, as well as educational worksheets. The purpose of this site is for teachers to find free, and fun activates for their students to enjoy. There are plenty of subject areas for educators to explore and find ideas to use in their classrooms. I enjoyed this website because it reminded me of when I was in elementary school and teachers would have fun worksheets for different holidays. We still were learning, but it made more interesting having a light hearted worksheet. There is no specific author for this site, there is a section where people can write reviews and all of them were positive, so it seems to be a good resource for educators and parents. When I was looking over the content of this website I found that most of my evaluations were positive. I did find however, that I did not like the fact that there was no information about the author. I would have liked to be able to read a bit about the author and their views or opinions on the information that they had provided. I also found that there was not a lot of interactivity to increase the value of this website. It would have been nice to be able to experiment a little with the worksheets and pictures, instead of just printing them out. Overall, the rest of the site looked sophisticated and contained good information. The links all worked, the grammar and spelling seemed to be correct, and there was a link to contact the provider of the website. I enjoyed the variety of the worksheets for different subject areas and feel that will be very helpful in the future for my career. When I first navigated to this site I found that it was not very eye catching. I looked over it carefully to realize that the information would be useful. As I browsed through the website I found that there were not many graphics through

Stephanie Mecca 2/5/12 Overview: The purpose of this site is to help students learn about the Renaissance in a fun and interactive way. The graphics and navigation tools are fun and interesting. The intro to the site is very fun and intriguing. The site includes a lot of information about the people, places, and art of the time. The interactive questionnaires are fun and keep the viewers interested. There are two working links to different websites that serve as other resources, one of which is the Allentown Art Museum which created the website. The intended audience is both students and teachers. Though the site is mostly for students to interact with, there is a tab for teachers which helps with lesson plans. Content: Although the content is easily determined and the quality is good, there is a problem with some links. Mostly the links about the authors of the site and the contact information are not working and one pop-up says "under construction". There isn't any place that lets the viewer know when the site was last updated either. The site is very interactive though and keeps the viewers interest and the interactive traits keeps increases the value of the site. The one good thing about the information about the authors is that the link to the Allentown Art Museum is working, so you can look about background information about the website there is needed. Design: The biggest problem with the websites design is the broken pop-ups that contain all of the information about the website authors and the contact information. There aren't any direction to using the site but those are not need very much, since the site is pretty user -friendly. The graphics and animations are what make the site interesting. The reanimated artwork that talks and makes sounds helps make the site more interactive and entertaining. The currency information is not working but the external link to the Allentown Art Museum is working. The overall presentation of the site is

Katherine Kerpchar ITEC2360 I found this site to be very easy to navigate and easy to understand. This site also had a lot of good information about the elements and principles of art. This site was not very visually appealing though and did not have very easily found contact information. I couldn't find any information on the last update or the author of the information. It was also impossible to find any contact information to the site with no "about us" page  or anything else of that sort. 

Posted by Riley Kallhoff on 1/25/2010 Overview: The purpose of this website is to be a place for both teachers and students. It is a place where educators can prepare, plan, and teach. It is a place where students can read up on some current events or play some educational games. The audience of this site is both teachers and students. The nice thing about this site is that it is very well organized with very little advertisements and unnecessary things. It is very easy to navigate and it has a purpose behind every heading. Content: As soon as you come to the homepage you are able to determine that it is an educational site. You can't tell right away that it has games and reading, but you know it is for education right off the bat. You can also tell that it is for both educators as well as students. The authors of the site are not given right off the bat, but you can tell right away that it is part of the Smithsonian. The content is fairly well up kept you can tell from the copyright date. The purpose of the site is for entertainment in the form of games and it is also educational information. The site is very easy to navigate and has titles to links that work very fast. The site is laid out in a very easy to navigate setting. I would say that this site has educational value and is one that I would recommend. Design: I really like the design of the homepage and the whole website. The site moves at a fast pace and doesn't lead you to things that you don't want. The homepage is set up in a very clear cut manor and sets up the website in a very good way. You can tell right away what the website has to offer and all of the titles lay this out. There is a copyright date at the bottom of the page. There is no table of contents, but you know what the site has to offer from the links and titles on the homepage. Another great thing about this site is that it is very easy to navigate, and it takes you exactly where you want to go right away. The gr

Amy Andreen ITEC 2360 (TR) Overview: While searching for websites that would aid in teaching History to High School students, I found many great sources. It is no surprise that the Smithsonian has amazing resources to use. The site I found was entitled smithsonianeducation.org. Not only does it have great information for history teachers but for Art, Science, and Language Arts as well. Once narrowed down to the link entitled "History and Culture", I found that I could also choose between "Educators", "Families", and "Students". It has lesson plan ideas and information that can be used for many different areas throughout history. Content: The content included in this site is all up to date as far as I can tell. The last revisions were made in 2010. There are resources for different age groups that include different activities to utilize within the classroom. Also, the content ranges from Japanese interment in the United States to African History. The areas I found were very complete and useful, however, I found that the list of content is not as large as it probably could be or that I hoped it to be. Design: The Smithsonian site is really easy to navigate and very well laid out. I had no problems with searching for different eras, materials, or even different content areas. Everything downloads quickly and the attachments were very easy to find and download as well.

This website provides many different ideas for a teacher to use. There are lesson plans, gives you a place to search other topics and gives you a standards search as well. I feel the content is good. There are many resources to choose from. The design drew me in to keep looking at the website for interesting lessons-not even related to to my subject area.

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.

Monique Koller Jan. 24 2010 Cool math games is a website that has games, lessons and interactive ways to learn to enjoy Math. Content: The site has some fun games that I can see the educational value in, but not all of them, nor do I see where Math is a part of all of them. For the most part it seems like a worthwhile site I would allow my kids and maybe students to play on. Design: It looks like a fun site from the get go and I enjoyed exploring it. It is pretty easy to navigate around. There are some good lessons and the games are pretty amusing. I could easily find most of the stuff I needed. Overview: The purpose of this site is to be an aid while a student is learning math. This site is definitely directed towards kids. The authors are also hoping that there is adult supervision so that the kids can interact and get help. The games are good most of the time and have good content I think this could be a valuable site to visit.

Purpose The purpose of Cool Math Games is to help integrate math into a more fun environment. This site is geared for young grade school kids. There are different games that are aimed at tackling different types of skills that are needed in math. There are also different lessons that specialize on other skills. These are targeted at a much higher audience, with lessons like algebra and pre-calculus. This site has a lot of good information that could be used, I am just not sure if it is very helpful to students. Content This site contains a ton of materials. It has games and activities for such a wide range of math skills. The entire site seems to be working, however, it doesn't seem like it all is up to date as it could or should be. The games have good skills to be learned, but they are not up to date with as good of programming as possible. It is also not always apparent who the game or activity is accredited to. It is also not too accessible to contact them with as much ease as I would like. Design The design of the page seems to be a little crammed. They have a lot of link and titles, however, it is not done so in a way that is too pleasing. The color scheme is also very scattered and does not seem to blend well together. The pictures also do not seem to add as much to the page as needed. There also seems to be little order to how the games and activities are put up. This site has a great plan, I do not however feel like they completely got it all correct.

This site is used for elementary students to learn and expand their understanding of math in a more fun way than just the textbook. The intended audience is upper elementary students because a teacher can pick a game that will enforce what they have learned, but it will challenge them to think a little bit harder than they might have doing a word problem. The children also don't see this as boring learning; they see it as a fun game. There are various math games that are specifically targeted for a certain math levels throughout the website. For example, there are games for the upper elementary to work on multiplication, fractions, percentages, and negative numbers. Based on the first two questions that the evaluation for content asks, the answers are: yes, I can identify the purpose of the site, and no, the age group is not explicitly stated, but the intention and vernacular leads us to believe that age of the intended audience. At the bottom of the page it is easy to identify who the creators of this website are and how you can be in contact with them. If the sponsors are the advertisers, then they have clear demonstration of their sponsorship in four distinct locations. We can know that his site was last updated in 2015. We don't know how often it is updated, but we know that everything works according to plan. We know that the intentions of this site is to be a fun learning experience that is organized in a way that children can easily locate anything that they may possibly need. Everything on this site looks professional, but it still appeals to a younger audience. This website provides great opportunities for children to grow in their learning of math as well as play fun games. Everything in terms of logistics measures up to what it should be. The design of the overall lay out is kid friendly, and functions properly as long as the updated version of the flash drive is installed. They have specific animations and sounds that correspond with certain games