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Taylor Pilch 09/09/2011 Overview: The purpose of this site is to provide parents a great resource for fun ideas for their kids. Some of the available resources are online games, ideas for recipes and activities at home relating to characters on nickjr., and videos. My overall impression of this site is really good; it looks fun and it is full of fun things to do! Content: Some of the strengths of the content of this website are that it is easy to find out what this website is about, and it is easy to navigate. The information is current and the information quality is good- the links work and it seems to be a reliable website. The content is organized and it is clear that this website is for parents (although they can set up games for their children to play online). The only weakness regarding content is I could not find an author of the site. Design: The design of this website is excellent; everything is working properly and it is attractive. It is easy to find where to go based on what you want to do. The use of multimedia is good and kids would really like all the videos and pictures it contains. It seems to work with both internet explorer and firefox browsers. The website is current and I found no weaknesses with the design.

Overview: This is a free website that is based on a television channel for preschool aged kids. It has games and activities for kids and recipes, videos, and tips for parents. Content: The homepage of the site has a toolbar and a sub-toolbar. The main toolbar gives users the option of looking at the family/parent content, the kid content, or a list of all of the network's TV shows. for parents, the site offers parenting tips, printable activities parents can do with their kids, recipes, and articles about family life. Kids can play games, watch videos, and do activities (like drawing). Design: This website is bright and very stimulating. It is easy to navigate. I like how when you click on the kids tab, it opens a whole new window that only includes the things kids would be interested in. It doesn't take anymore than 3 clicks to get to anything you want on the site. I think it is well designed.

Lyle Wiley September 10, 2011 Overview: The About.com Shakespeare site is a resource site for educators and students dedicated to the Bard. The site is intended for educators and students and would mostly benefit the novice in all things Shakespeare education. The site contains many linked brief articles with Shakespeare information, historical background, lesson plans, teaching tips/ideas, and a frequently updated blog. While the site is housed in a template web page with few interactive media features and little eye appeal, it is well organized and certainly provides some useful information and ideas for educators needing a jump start in Shakespeare studies. Content: The basic content and intended audience for the website is easily discernable. Furthermore, the author of the content along with his credentials and contact information is readily available. The content of the site appears to be frequently updated and the author looks to at least post a blog entry monthly with new or updated site information. The information is well organized and easy to access and understand. While the site is relatively free of bias, there are a number of advertisements which often distort the flow of information but not severely. There are few external links (outside of About.com) on the website and no real media interactivity tied to the information. However, the information on the site looks to be accurate and certainly provides some good information and ideas for educational approaches to the works of Shakespeare. Design: While the homepage downloads quickly and the site navigation (complete with clear indexes of site content on the front page) is easily managed upon entry to the site, the immediate feel of the site is a naked template. This may not be eye catching, but the ease of information dissemination is handy. There is essentially no multimedia in play with this informational site, but the information communicated is worthwhile, succinct, and well organized.

Mitchell Sept. 5, 2011 Overview: Elementary Math Games is a website that has various games for math subjects. It has different activities for all grade levels and you can select the grade level you wish to play games for. It also contains worksheets that can be printed off for each grade. There are flashcards and puzzles as well. Content: There are games and worksheets for grades first through eighth. It contains 3-4 games per grade level and 3-4 worksheets for each grade as well. These worksheets are organized by grade and cover different topics. They are basic worksheets that can easily be printed off. Design: The design of this site is much simpler than the other site I found. It is less colorful but easy to navigate. The pages are organized by the grade levels. The problem is that before seeing the worksheet at all, you have to open it up. You cannot preview them at all. This site has problems with ads being in the middle of the screen again and this distracts from the stuff that is actually found on the website.

Ryan Magrum Sept 15th, 2011 Overview: This site is a tour through the exhibits of a natural history museum. The purpose is to experience the museum without actually going there in person. There are many menu options on the home page for kids and for educational purposes. I like this site personally because for students it's like a field trip without ever having to leave the class room (computer room). The site seems fairly main-stream and appropriate for all ages. Content: This is the basic museum home page on the internet. The site has all the information for the museum (contact info, research and curation, business…). There are many links to other similar sites as well as games for kids and to resources for teachers and to merchandising. There are many pictures to lure the user into the site. In terms of the galleries page, The site is a basic tour with captions for each of the interactive picture of real things in the museum that explain what you are seeing in the picture - what a tour guide will tell you. The pictures are mostly for highlights of the museum geared to getting you to visit in person. There is a plethora of information within that is very easy for students and the public to learn from. Design: The site is easy to navigate. All the pictures and colors make the user feel welcome. At first, getting into the specifics of the site and finding what exactly you are looking for is a little difficult but the ease of navigation allows the user to orient their self in the contents after a little exploring. There is a search box so the user can search the site for specifics contributing even more to the ease of navigation. All the advertisements in the site are relevant to education and/or the museum and appropriate for kids.

Vocabulary games for all grades. There is a special section for high school students.

Overview When first opened this site is colorful and bright. It has a lot of links and information. All grade levels from kindergarten to 12th grade are represented on this site. It's a huge website with many different things for enhancing learning. It's a great way to build vocabulary skills with appropriate leveled games for each grade. I focused on the high school games which were very challenging and very useful. This could easily be utilized in a classroom setting for teachers who want to expand their student's vocabulary in a fun and effective way. Content Every grade level is represented which is great because finding effect high school interactive games online is challenging. Each grade level has a variety of different types of games like synonym games, spelling games, and context and definition games for example. They also have games that focus on the SAT's but there is nothing for the ACT's. There is also a section on vocabulary learning resources. There are many useful links within this section that both teachers and students could utilize. for those learning a second language they could use this site to see the vocabulary of the world. The down fall of that part is it is entirely in the language you chose. Design The design is very bright and lively. It is extremely easy to use. You just have to pick the subject you desire and the games that are available show up and they are categorized for easy use. You can find exactly what you are looking for and if you can't find it then it is probably not available on this site. The design may seem a little childish for high school students but the games are effective. The games also provide detailed instructions on how the game is to be played.

Interactive tools are used for literacy learning. Many grade levels available and many different types of reading and writing skills.

Overview This site has so many useful tools for both students and teachers. Current teachers are the authors of this site which is very unique and useful. Teachers that are currently in the classroom know from experience what works and what doesn't and this site helps them share useful resources for other teachers. Not only is this site great for teachers and students but also for parents who want to get my involved in their student's education. Content This site is phenomenal in the amount of useful tools it provides. It has a tab for classroom resources which has lesson plans, student interactive, calendar activities, and printouts. The student interactivities section has a lot of resources for students who need assistance in writing. All grades are available on this site which is useful for all teachers. There is also a search bar along the left side that helps to narrow done the content and grade level for fast and easy findings. The parent section also has many great things that parent's can use to help their students. It's great to have a site that allows the parents to get involved even with their high school students. Design The design of this site is very organized and neat. It's really easy to find what you are looking for especially with the help of the search bar. The grade levels are categorized for easy use also. The interactive section is really easy to use. The directions are very clear and use to understand which is great for younger children. It's just a very user-friendly site and it's very professional looking.

Billie Slyman, 9/11/11 Purpose The purpose of this site is to give students a resource to learn about weather and how it affects people. There is enough information to be useful, but it's not overwhelming. There aren't any links to outside sites, which is a drawback. However, I still think this is a valuable site because it has good information, interactive content, and is well designed for students to navigate. Content This site does a good job of achieving its purpose of providing information for students. While there is a good amount of information, it is put in simple language and organized in a way to make it easy for students to understand. Many of the sections have interactive multiple choice questions, where students can click on a button and a text box will pop up and tell them if they are correct. The content seems accurate to me, and the developers (the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, for example) seem qualified to present this information. Design This website has a very nice design. Everything looks interesting for students but is still well organized and not cluttered. It is easy to find the information you want and navigate around the site. Also, the information on each page is split up into sections and has lots of pictures interspersed, so it isn't a huge block of text that could be intimidating to students. The pictures and charts are all relevant and aid in understanding the information given.

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

Posted by Allie Parrott 09/17/09: Homework spot is a site that simplifies the search for popular homework topics assigned to students K-12. It can also be used by parents and teachers. Content: This site covers a variety of topics. There are even virtual field trips. Other benefits this site provides are SAT tips, current events, and how to write a great book report. Students can find almost anything they need here. The site was last updated today. The incoming information is always fresh and relevant to what students are learning today. There are not only articles from their own authors, but also links to articles that may provide better information for the student. Information is presented in a clear manner. The sight is sponsored by a bigger company StartSpot Media Works Incorporated. HomeworkSpot would help any child navigate their way around the internet. It is also beneficial because the sites that are recommended are credible well researched sites. Design: The most helpful part of the design is that is separates the topics in to age groups. There are a number of links under the heading "Elementary" and the same goes for the headings "Middle" and "High School". This way there is no time wasted, looking but information that is above a child's head, or below their level. The only flaw in the design is that the user has to click at least links to find what they are looking for. However, once they find it the information is most likely exactly what they are looking for. There are Google ads, however advertising is only on the homepage and is kept to a minimum. Attributions: The most helpful link for this is the "About this Site" link. It gives the user all the necessary information about what the site is about and who is running it. It makes the purpose very clear. This would be another site I would recommend due to its fairly obvious credibility. \n

Kacy BaileyDate reviewed: October 8th, 2012All Weather, all the time web questContent: The content of this website was very helpful, and useful for teachers. It was clear that the content was meant for 2nd grade students trying to learn more about precipitation. It is clear who the author is. Even though it is not clear who the sponsor is, I do not believe that there actually is a sponsor. The website is providing second graders with information that is required to learn. It also has a teachers page making it easy for teachers to have their students complete a web quest like this one.  Design: The design of this web quest makes it stand out from a regular website, but it is not super interesting to look at. I do think that it will get most kids' attention though It could use some more designing. This website is also very easy to navigate. Each link is up to date and useful. The homepage clearly states everything that is needed (title, author, what the website is about, etc.) The only downside to the design of this website is that it may be kind of difficult for second graders to navigate. This is kind of hard to assume though due to the fact that children become more technological every day.  Overall: Overall this website is another great web quest to use for students. Instead of learning on the usual white board and projector, this gives students a more hands on way of learning. And of course students love using technology so a web quest is always a good idea to get them working with it. The website had great information for students to learn, and many links to look up the things that the website may have missed. Overall the website seemed to be a great teaching tool. 

Chelsea Brunski 10-08-12 Overview The purpose of this website is to help students with math, science, computer science, economics, and humanities. This website breaks down these subjects into more specific subjects so you can pick what topic you are struggling with most. Once you find the topic you are looking for you can watch videos on how to work these different problems out. The intended audience is for high school and college students because the subjects are at a higher level. All of the resources are different YouTube videos showing step by step instruction. I was really impressed by this website. It is very well organized and has a lot of great information. It provides plenty of help in the subject you are looking for. Content This website is full of different videos and a few games providing help. It is broken down into five different subjects that you would find in a college or high school setting. Every subject is broken down into different topics. This helps you narrow down the subject to exactly what you need help with. After you have picked your topic there is an abundance of videos that you can choose from. These videos break down different types of problems and teach you how to do them. Design This website is definitely more of a plain website but for the intended audience it is okay that it is plain. It is more of a straightforward approach instead of trying to catch your attention. It is a very well organized site which makes it enjoyable to work on. It is also really easy to navigate so you can find what you are looking for very quickly. Overall I think the design of this website is very nice for the intended audience.

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.

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.

Overview: This website is intended for teachers or parents to find activities and worksheets for Pre K to 8th grade students. The webpage offers free materials on the core subjects in school along with seasonal activities and themes. I believe that teachers would find this website very useful in finding activities for their classroom or papers that children can take home for extra practice. My overall impression of this site is that it includes useful, updated material that is easy to find and use. Content: Looking at the content of information in this website, I have found that users would be able to quickly determine what information can be found on this site. At the very top of the page it specifically states that the website is an "educator's online resource". I also found that the website was created in 2001 but was recently updated in 2012, so it contains up to date information. The quality of this website is very well organized and is simple to understand. Almost all of the worksheets were easy to download as a PDF document, which would be great for printing. The only setback I found with this site is that information on the authors and sponsors were not readily available. Other than that small detail, I would strongly recommend this website to any elementary school teacher or home school parent; I know I will definitely use this site in the future. Design: I have found that the design of this website is very organized and appealing to the eye. Users should not have any problems moving around the site as the information is easy to find from the home page. From the home page you are able to click on the tab of any subject or grade of information you would like to find. One of the draw backs of this site is that there are no instructions on how to maneuver around the site if someone is lost. The best thing about this website is that there is a sufficient amount of information that is available to the public and organized in an easy to underst

Overview Report: This website is called the "Institute of Education Sciences" and it functions on educational research, assessment, development and statistics. They strive on helping raise the bar for all educational research and evaluation. They work on developing a better understanding of education and schools, as well as studying how development and research can help create more successful schools. Content Summary: I was quickly able to determine the basic content of this site. Right when you open up the web page, it talks about the "Institute of Education Sciences" and I knew right away that it was an educational website. The intended audience was for educators and researchers. There are further websites for more information, and the links are placed in an organized manner according to content area. The purpose for this website is informational. It is informing and educating people on the importance of educational research. The content of this website shows that it is made specifically for the importance of educational research and the further knowledge of educational resources. Design Summary: The homepage downloads quickly and efficiently.There were different tabs that were displayed for different areas of knowledge, and there were tabs that told me about who the director was, and what her credentials were. There were a lot of links that provided further contact information, and there were many links that lead to other websites as well. I felt like this website was reliable and relevant to my research.

Overview Report: This website is the official website for the Cross-Fit community here in Laramie, Wyoming. This website talks about where the gym is located, what specific workouts are each day, the trainers, food and nutrition facts, and tips for improving their strength and stability during their Cross Fit experience. Content Summary: I was quickly able to determine that this website was dedicated to the fitness needs of the people in Laramie. Cross Fit is a type of fitness, and I could easily tell that it was dedicated both to the community of Laramie, and to the students of the University of Wyoming. After looking around, I could identify that there was more than one author of this particular website. There was a specific tab that informed people on the trainers, and their experience with Cross Fit. Each coach had a profile that was updated and recent. The sponsors of the site were listed on the right of the website, and they were clearly identified. There were posted links to other websites for further education, and they all worked properly. The purpose of this site is for a business. The content of this website achieves this purpose, and it seems to be complete and well organized. The content of this site is easy to understand and is explained very thoroughly. This website provides clear and knowledgeable content with further resources to help solidify their facts. Design Summary: The homepage did download efficiently and was very attractive to the eye. There were many links, pictures and descriptions available. There were tabs of different information to click on in order to narrow down your search. The sponsor was clearly identified and specific information for contacting the sponsor was provided. This website was easy to navigate, and there were directions for specific parts of the site that would need further instruction.

Rachel Linke\n8/31/10\nITEC 2360\n\nOverview\n The site that I found that was overall good was called: An Education and Child Developmental Site for Parents. As it implies in the title the intended audience of the site is for parents, and I would also include any adult that is interacting with school-aged students would also find this site valuable. Within the site there are many topics to choose from and therefore many resources available for a wide variety of topics ranging from preschool to High-school. Overall I thought that it was a well put together site with a lot of useful information that was easy to access and organized well. \n\nContent Evaluation\n In the end I scored this website as " Worth bookmarking for future reference." I thought that the content was very informative and there was a lot of information that was organized in a way that was user friendly I think that this is a huge part in whether or not the website is ranked highly. Some of the points that it lost marks on however were the aspects of authors, were unclear and hard to find. I also did not happen to find a lot of interactive elements like video, however the site had numerous levels, topics, and directions to look into and I did not explore everything. \n\nDesign Evaluation\n My overall score for the design of this website was "Very well designed and easy to use." My first impression of the site's homepage is pleasant. There is a lot to take in but everything looks to be well organized and in its place. It has a lot of eye appeal, and there is a clear indication of a table of contents area. The design of this website scored highly for me across the boards. One thing that was slightly unclear was about the date of last revision. The copyright was updated in 2010 but there was no specific date or indication of a date other revisions had been made. \n

Education.com looks to be a site that could even help those who wish to homeschool their children. However, as I was doing my assignment the site went down. I tried several times to get it back up, but was unsuccessful. From what I saw the content was good. The design seemed to be a little bit confusing because I was able to navigate a little before it went down. I hope they get this problem fixed. :)

Morganne Harper. Education.com is a website that contains multiple education resources for parents or teachers. It has things such as worksheets, activities, workbooks and games for children grades K-High school. You can also find articles about education on this site. The basic features and account is free, but to get the "plus" access you have to pay a monthly fee. At a first look, this website is very clear in what the purpose is. If you scroll to the bottom, you can see links that would lead you to who has sponsored and created the site. The last copyright is 2006, but there are articles from 2014, so the site is being updated with current information that is relevant to students and teachers now. Information found on the site seems to be accurate, and there are multiple resources from different sources, so it is not a one-sided website. You are able to see other sites and groups that education.com is related to and working with. They make this very clear and easily accessible. The home page loads quickly and immediately gives you a toolbar that is easy to follow. You can hover over the links on the toolbar to get specific grade levels or content area. Everything is laid out so you can navigate through the multiple pages and resources without any trouble. The graphics that are used are helpful in the areas in which they are placed. They relate to the topic that they are next to and provide hints on what that topic might be about. Overall, the site is organized very well and would be very easy to work with, even for a first time user.

Purplemath.com Reviewed by Betina Turner 8/31/10 ITEC 2360-02 This website is a very helpful site for students to get extra help with 7-12 Math. It has lessons the students can go over and there are also forums and helpful links to other sources that can provide extra help with Secondary Math. This web site is simple to use and it is up to date and it clearly states who made the website and give contact information. I have personally used this website to refresh algebra concepts and my mother uses it with her students when they are struggling with math concepts and they really like it and they are able to understand the material better. This site is a great resource for alternate learning.

OVERVIEW Purplemath.com is helpful to sudents who need suplimental help in mathematics.  It goes over basic content, and explains why there is a certain rule in the "math world."  It also has links to helpful sites that could make subject matter easier to understand.  There are also links on this site for test prep.  Overall, this is a good site if you know what you are looking for. CONTENT Links to other sites are helpful, current and working properly.  It's not  very well organized, but you can find your way around.  There doesn't seem to be any bias associated with it.  The content is current, accurate, and consistent with other sites. DESIGN The design isn't done very well.  It's not attractive and there are a lot of links in places where you might not actually look for what you are looking for.  It's easy to navigate within the site once you find what you are looking for, and the links are all working.

Emily Lewis 4/15/15 This website is called the National Security Agency and is a government website that provides lesson plans for teachers.  The website's purpose is to cater to the association and provide lessons to them as well people who are prospectors. The lessons I found are about fractions and are great for anyone to use and can be used by most teachers. The lesson plans are intended for the association but it has very thorough lesson plans as well as activities corresponding to them.   The content of the lesson plans is thorough and helpful. There are different lessons like "fractions on a number line" and within the lessons there is an overview, engagement ideas, worksheets, and much more. It is helpful for a teacher looking for ideas because there are a lot of different lessons about fractions. The links are under the year that they were used which is also great to know what is current and what is not. The website is a government website and the lessons refer to the NCTM standards and principles so it is a credible site. The age range varies between second and fifth grade. The design of the website is slightly hard to navigate because it is not only a website for teachers. It is the national security agency, which is based on military and government actions. The only way I could find the page that consisted of the links to lesson plans was through my Google search. After I navigated around the website, I wasn't able to get back to the lesson plan page. The page that consists of the lesson plans is easy to navigate but the rest of the website is difficult.

Ask Jeeves.com is a website that can give you definitions, images and answer all your questions. This site helps students of all kinds with projects, essays, news, and references. The sites images though have some raciest pictures that make fun of President Obama. These pictures should not be allowed on these sites yet they are. Ask Jeeves is note a good site for pictures showing true photos of a person's real character. The intended audience for this site is anyone needing to find something or asking a question about a certain topic. A lot of college and high school students use this site for problems they may face with a project, paper or definition. The resources for this site contain photos, web findings, news, and videos. The resources are mostly correct, but like Google they have photos that are not accurate. This site is very good overall and the only thing it lacks is its credibility of some of its images. I have used this site for definitions, resources and web findings. My impression of this site is good; I just would just like to see that they ban pictures that show raciest pictures or pictures with no reliability. I would use this site for about anything to help me to complete a paper or project.