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Haylee Bolinger Website evaluation 1 9-2-10 Overview The website stickworks.net is a promotional tool for Patrick Dougherty. As an artist that is in demand worldwide he must keep a portfolio as accessible as possible. Fans and potential clients are welcome to look through Dougherty's work and his biography. On this website clients can make requests for his large scale installations, while fans are directed to admiring his work though books, videos, calendars, and even full length feature film. Content From the introductory page one has the option of continuing into the main site or purchasing a book about Dougherty. Once navigated into the main site you can view every location and date of Dougherty's work and you have the many options to choose from in the main menu. Stick works contains a thorough biography and video resources that help the viewer better understand how and why Dougherty makes his artwork. This website is being updated on a monthly bases due to the demand for Dougherty's artwork. Present exhibitions are continually photographed and uploaded upon completion or linked to the collector's website while future exhibitions are scheduled and published. A few of the links in this website are incomplete which makes viewing some works difficult. The viewer is also welcome to preview clips from a full-length feature about Dougherty's life and artwork. Design The web site Stick works is visually appealing with a slate background and white font. This sleek background draws attention to the striking pictures of Dougherty's artwork. Navigating is made easy with a menu bar at the top of every page. On this menu one can find out all there is to know about Dougherty: news, biography, installations (past and present), Curriculum vitally, resources, shop, and contact info.

Posted by Erika Jeffs on 1/24/2010 Overview: Math Apprentice is designed to show kids that math is used in the real world, and not just the obvious careers like an accountant, but other developing areas such as graphic design. The students get to pick from 8 different careers, and explore the features of the line of work they choose and do some hands on math related activities. These activities make the website very interactive. The site is designed to use in the classroom for middle school students, but could also be useful for high school students as well. Content: The website clearly states the purpose of the website and the audience, in fact, it has a tab specifically for this information. The "About" tab gives and overview of the entire website. Sponsor and contact information is easy to find, however the authors of the website are unclear. The site was copyrighted in 2009 and is fairly new, so it should be up to date. The links are relevant to math and are in working order. This site is very interactive and gives many examples of math in the real world that would come as surprise to many students. There is also a tab that gives teachers a detailed description on how to use the site in the classroom. Math Apprentice's sole purpose seems to be to educate and not to sell anything. The website is easy to navigate and well organized because there is only four tabs. Everything seems to be accurate, up to date, and correct as far as my knowledge. Design: Math Apprentice loads very quickly, especially considering all of the interactive features the site provides. The home page is attractive, easy to navigate, and the format is held constant throughout the entire site. Copyright and contact information are easy to find. Directions for using the site are easy to find and very helpful. All links are working properly and quick to load. The site specifically states that the site works best with Safari or Firefox, and that there may be some bugs th

Korinne Thoren 14 September 2011 Art Project-Powered by Google Overview: The purpose of Art Project is to allow users exposure to some of the world's best works of art without ever having to leave their home or classroom. The website is geared to older students, I think this site would work well for anyone middle school aged or older. My overall impression of the site is a good, I particularly like the quality and quantity of artwork users have availability to and the virtual touring is fun; the only thing I did not like was that it took a while to get used to the virtual tour navigation tools, however there is a instructional video provided on the website for users. Content: This interactive, virtual touring website gives its users access to 17 of the most world renowned art museums, allowing users to view all works of art or tour the museum virtually. This makes for exposure to thousands of famous pieces of art over a very unique and fun experience. The site also allows users to view very high quality, detailed photos of the art that can be zoomed into, which would not be found through just a Google search. Each painting contains the title of the work and the artist, but no mediums or dimensions are provided. There is a "create an artwork collection" feature that allows users to compile their favorite works, which could be useful for studying a specific movement or time period. The website does not provide contact information for the site creators or links to the actual museums. Design: The overall design of Art Project is superb. Upon opening, the site really draws users in because of the changing and vivid, zoomed up view of artworks used as the background. The listing of museums and artworks on the left-hand side is very clean and simple, thus making for a very appealing website design overall.

Overview: This website is fun and informational providing many items on common questions and articles. There is an updated homepage with photos articles polls, quizzes, and videos. This site aims to explain everything from DNA coding to car transmission problems in simple articles and videos. This site's intended audience is for adults due to the article and links provided. Content: This website provides up to date headings and topics on anything and everything you may want to know. It has tabs for adventure, animals, auto, communication, computer, electronics, entertainment, food, geography, health, history, home and garden, money, people, and science. When you access the site is easy to determine the content and intended audience. There is available information and the authors and researches for the different articles. The information is always constantly being updated and revised so nothing is out of date. The links also are easy to use and work properly. The information and content presented is not biased. All the articles also are valid and have an intended purpose to entertain or inform. Design: The design of howstuffworks.com is easy to use, organized and attractive. The homepage provides many interesting headings, photos, and videos. It is easy to read and very understandable and accessible. The website downloads efficiently and the site is appealing and grabs tor attention. The sites also provide copyright informational the provider is clearly identified. The links are clear and helpful and all the information including the photos videos and articles serve a clear purpose to the site.

Overview The first website that I evaluated was howstuffworks.com. This is an educational website aimed at all age groups that can answer questions about how many different things work. The website offers a variety of different resources. An example of the resources would be how the site teaches skills that everyone should have on topics such as money. Overall, I thought this website was great. It's easy to navigate, and offers many different types of educational materials. Content Not only is this website educational, but it is fun as well. You can come to the website to find out something serious, but you can also come to find out something that's entertaining and fun. The content of the website is easy to understand for any age. Things are explained simply so that you can actually learn at your own pace. It's also easy to find out about the website by clicking on the "about us" link at the bottom of the page. There you can find who sponsors the site and where the content comes from. Design The website is very easy to navigate through. As soon as you get to the homepage you are faced with many different tabs and also a search bar so you can find exactly what you are looking for. In addition to the tabs, there are resources such as videos and blogs that you can get access to through the site.

Overview: This websites main focus is to breakdown simple mechanics of almost anything from how a toaster works to economic policies of the year 2011. This is a source to explore the world around us and understand the things that we encounter and use daily, as well as providing a guide for users ion new endeavors into of learning. Concept: The classification of materials found within this writing is more vast than an encyclopedia. It includes multi-media and interaction presentations to gain the attention of the reader and create a better understanding. The material can become more complex and technical, but can be a resource for any researcher. I would recommend for teachers seeking to better explain concepts or to satisfy the curiosity of a learner. Design: Clean, simple, and precise. This website has a rather challenging searching process, but a pursuing researcher can use the search tool to peruses topics that coincides. The clean layout of the material and explanations make the learning process something to be a part of. As well as a social network application installed to share the knowledge of "how stuff works".

Kaci Philpot Overview: The intended purpose of this website is to provide elementary level students with fun and engaging games that build different skills and knowledge. Teachers can use some of the games for supplementing lessons such as; "volcano explorer", "chill the spill", and many more. Even games that don't seem like they would be educational are full of facts about various subjects and environmental awareness. Content Summary: For "First Look" I could not highlight the information because it was not in a text format, but the audience and basic content of the site are very clear. There were no specific authors listed for the games or information. The credibility of the authors is evident though because at the bottom near the copyright statement, it states that the company/sponsor is #1 in non-fiction media. It also has a very clear link for any questions about the site that works properly. I found it hard to find the latest revision date, most likely because the website mostly has games, but the content must be updated frequently because it has games that are up-to-date with the environmental issues today. All links to other sites work properly. In the "Information Quality" section of the evaluation, the website received all yeses. There are biases. However, they are clear when glancing through the content of the games. There was not any further information related to my purposes, but I did not really need any because I was only looking for games and activities to supplement lessons. Total yeses: 18 Total no's: 2 Total N/A: 1 Design Summary: The homepage uploaded very quickly and received all yeses. It has very strong eye appeal, it's clear what website you are visiting, and the copyright date is clearly stated at the bottom of the homepage along with the sponsor/provider. The navigation is easy and instructions for games and such are very clear and easy to follow. All internal and external links work properly. And internal links a

Korinne Thoren 14 September 2011 The Artist's Toolkit Overview: The Artist's Toolkit is a site for students around grades 5-8 that provides an interactive way to study the elements and principals of design. The site is a fun way for students to learn about important art concepts that are at the foundation of all works of art. Overall, this is a fun and educational site. Content: As previously mentioned, The Artist's Toolkit is a site designed to teach students about elements and principals of design such as line, space, balance, and movement. Examples and interactive games are provided for each concept giving the user the ability to see examples but also create their own work. The website contains a link of credits to the creators of the games, etc. but users must link back to the sponsor's page to find any contact information. This site would definitely be beneficial for younger students learning about basic design but would not work well for older students. Design: The design of this site is very appealing and student friendly and the same basic design is used throughout. The website does not, however, contain external links to other educational websites and some of the games did not work on the first loading. Information on the site is well organized and informative and there are lots of good graphics and sounds that enhance the overall site experience.

This website provides more insite into the world of art through the study of art history. Content: This website has an art history timeline on its homepage that can show students the main movements and periods in art history and when they occured. The website also has a side bar complete with all major movements and artists that the veiwer can click on and learn more about. Upon clicking on an artist featured in the sidebar, one can see some of the artists work, a biography of the artists life and what style, medium and country their work was done in. The same goes for clicking on a style of art, the veiwer is given a detailed description of the art style, shown examples of work done in that style and artists that practiced it. This is a great website for older students to find out more about art, so they can better their own work and write papers

The purpose of this website is to inform the reader about how the human eye works.  The intended audience of this website is probably middle school students and up.  It is more for the general public than for scientists.  It provides information on the different parts of the eye and what they do.  It also discusses some of the problems that can occur in the eye.  The information presented in the website seems good, but there are some ads that can be distracting. The user is able to quickly determine the basic content and intended audience of the site.  The author's name is provided, but it does not give the reader any way to contact them or any of their credentials.  The sponsors of the site are clearly identified, as well.  The site was published on 2/10/10, which is appropriate to the topic because the human eye has not changed much since then.  The site is not frequently updated, but there are several links to other resources that work properly.  Comments are open on this site, and they provide other resources, as well as extra information and opinions about the topic.  The site is well organized and easy to understand.  There is not any bias on the site, and it provides most of the information necessary.  It is not at all interactive.  The information seems to be accurate, based on my previous knowledge, as well as other resources on the topic.  Its grammar and spelling are correct.

Lana Macdonald Aug 31, 2010 Overview: This site is set up to teach students how to do basic mathematical problems, such as algebra and beginning calculus. The audience is focused on older students. The content of this website makes up for the design. The site may not look pretty, but information is far more valuable to the student. Content: The content of the page is clear that it is an aid in learning some basic mathematical problems for students. The interaction is better than some sites in that it gives a problem, but the user has to click on "answer" for the problem to be solved. This allows the user to try to work the problem out by themselves before they are given the answer. The site also gives a fair number of examples to help the student. There is a short bio of the author which allows for author qualification, and facilitates finding the contact information. The author of the site has also offered his time to answer mathematical questions to aid in the students learning. The site updated frequently, and all links are working properly. Design: This site is not very esthetically pleasing; conversely the graphics are helpful and clear. However, for the most part the site is easy to work with the exception of the organization linked sites. The placement of the linked sites makes the page a little confusing, and hard to move around. Also the contact page was not easy to reach

Content: The first look at the content of this website really gives the user a lot of information. It is very easy to determine the basic content of the website and the intended audience. There is a paragraph stating exactly what the website is about, providing science related resources, and who it is intended for, K-12 educators. The information providers are easy to find by simply clicking on the "About SNL" link. It states the staff members who work on the website; although there is no information presented about any of them which makes it difficult to determine their qualifications. There is contact information through e-mail to contact the staff if the user has questions or to verify information. The sponsors are displayed at the bottom of the page. They are the AAAS and the Verizon Thinkfinity Program. The information seems to be relatively current. It appears that it was last updated 7/10 and none of the information is older than 1999. Some of the older information might be out of date, but there is plenty of information that has been contributed over the last two or three years. Also the links are all working and lead the user to sites that are up and running. I believe the information provided on the website is very high quality. There is a large amount of information that is very well organized and easy to work with. There appears to be no bias and the information is accurate. It also provides information that meets my exact purpose. There are tons of places for find further information. There are links to other resources as well as the science benchmarks for grades K-12.

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

Overview: The website MathisFun.com is a math website for elementary and middle school aged children. The purpose of this website is to help children understand math in a fun way. In this website there are many different fun learning tools to help the students understand geometry, algebra numbers and measurement better. This website gives links to other helpful websites that have games using base ten blocks adding and subtracting games, and much, much more. Content: The content of the website MathisFun.com is very clear and organized in a very interesting way. This website is fully completed and is used effectively with a well organized and interesting home screen that is easy to understand and helps the child or the teacher find different types math subject areas without any problems. There are other games that have been listed for the higher grades such as 5th grade to help challenge the students in a fun way. The website offers many different types of games and puzzles, along with games to further the education of elementary and middle school aged children. Weather the teacher had the games pulled up on the smart board and then the students could interact with other students and work as a class to figure out the answers. This is a great interactive website for students and for the teachers. Design: The website MathisFun.com is a well designed website that looks like a road with many math stops. This website is full of different colors that grab your attention. The website does not have any ads which is a good thing so the children can focus on just the math subject areas. This website also offers worksheets and a dictionary that the teachers section that offers many different tools like print zone of different activities and work explains different math terms.

Whitney Mills; Website Reviewed: January 24th 2010 Overview: Mathisfun.com immediately draws a person's eye in with a fun, exciting homepage. Anyone can see clearly that the purpose of this website is to help teachers teach their students math. Content: This website has a clear and definite purpose, and that is to help teach children math in a fun and exciting way. The site is very well organized and very well made. I feel like there was much work put into making this site effective for children. The author is very clearly identified, and the links to other websites do work effectively. This website also covers many different areas of math such as; algebra, geometry, data, etc. It is stated on the actual website that the content is updated frequently, which is a huge plus for using this site in a classroom. A person can also check out all the different additions added to the website which could be helpful. Design: The website is very well designed. It is exciting to a child's eye. He/she would be more than happy to learn math using this website. For adults/teachers the website is very organized and clear throughout the entire page. The design is the same throughout the whole site and it seems like a very fun and exciting site to use anytime, anywhere!!

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

Olivia Mabie-January 24, 2010 Content: This website has suggestions for games, activities, and lesson plans used to encourage team building among elementary school students. There is a description of the website located near the top of the page, therefore if it does not match what the teacher is looking for then they do not have to waste their time on the website. There are hands on activities for parents and students and for teachers to use in the classroom to get the students to start working together. Once the links are clicked on there are many other interactive activities on those websites also. These links have many subjects incorporated within them, which is nice that the students get to work together and learn about the subjects at the same time. Design: There are no pop-ups or ads on this website which makes it very easy to navigate. One nice thing about this website is under each of the links there is a description about what will be on the website. If a teacher is in a hurry to find a link they are not wasting their time trying to figure out what is on the website. The layout of the website is very neat and organized. Who published the site, when it was published and last updated are all located at the bottom of the page and helps knowing they go through and get rid of the old information and websites which are located on the home page. Overview: This is a great site for teachers to use in order to get their students working together. I liked how this website stated at the bottom of the page that there have not been standard assigned for this source. This site has all the information that needs to be posted on the website such as, who the publisher is, who you can contact if you have any questions, and when it was revised, which means that they have gotten rid of any old information and sites.

Katie Hertel 1-24-2010 Overview: SFS Kids Fun with Music is a website designed to educate children and adolescents about the fundamentals of music. It also provides a great way for people of all ages to hear, learn and have fun with music. Overall it has the accurate information needed and has valuable resources but it doesn't show where it is directly coming from making the accuracy and authority questionable. These resources help if the website is not working correctly along with system requirements in order for it to work effectively and efficiently. Content: The content of this website is supported as one of the best educational music sites out there but it has faults due to the system requirements that it has. In order for it to work the way it's supposed to the required content includes Flash and audio players and Quicktime VR. Although downloading these takes time away from the learning it's quick and easy to do. It includes the kinds of instruments in an orchestra and a music lab full of fun facts and definitions of things related with music. Most of it was easily accessible and contained a lot of information but it didn't give credible information on where it was coming from. It also includes various symphonies that you can take children to enjoy great music and educate at the same time. All in all, the downsides of this included the required programs and not having credibility present. I also had trouble finding dates of publication which is definitely a disadvantage as well. Design: This site is somewhat visually attracting but it only takes up half of a webpage leaving the other side a solid yellow. It kind of takes away from the sites information that it can provide because of the little space used. While it has these faults, it also has good points to it visually due to no advertisements popping up randomly or on the side and is easy to navigate through. The headlines of the tabs easily show what that section is about and tidbits o

Jaymes Talkington\nJanuary 24, 2010\nhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/about/white-house-101/\n\nContent\nThis site is full of information about the Whitehouse and all its former presidents. Both teachers and students can find a use for this site. Other information given on the site includes facts about how our government works, how the administration processes, and issues that are currently a problem in the Whitehouse. There shouldn't be any question of the authenticity of the information since it is a .gov site, although the authors are not named. The site is well organized to find what you need right away. \nDesign\nI didn't have any problems pulling up the site right away, and all the links seemed to be working. The homepage is easy to use and has a lot of different categories and news on it. All of the videos are used to inform not to advertise anything. There is plenty of information on the site that makes it worth visiting. I wasn't able to find any dates on when the site was last revised. \nOverview\nThis is a good site to use when wanting information on the Whitehouse and how our government works. The website itself is easy to use and contains a lot of information. I would be comfortable using the information on a paper or for teaching history and government. \n

Overview: The purpose of this website is to provide Spanish language teachers with a resource for learning tools and lesson planning. The links are helpful and the content is easy to understand. It's not an elaborate website, but is simple and to the point in design. I feel there could be better information in this website. Content: When arriving at this website, you immediately know it is designed with teachers in mind. The authors have a link at the bottom of the screen and look to have won a number of awards for their information on this website. Some of the links don't work which leads me to believe the site isn't that up to date. The Lesson Planning section really isn't that helpful because the links take you to other sites that either don't work or require you to buy products for your classroom. Design: The homepage isn't that appealing to me. There are a number of advertisements that make the site feel it isn't real. It is easy to navigate using the toolbars even though some don't work. There are links to other languages. There aren't many graphics on this website, but I don't believe they are necessary in this instance.

Posted by Erika Jeffs on 1/24/2010 Overview: Webmath is a website designed to aide in math homework for many levels of math. The site helps solves problems and shows the processes to get there. The student can type in specific problems or practice concepts with provided examples. The site is meant to help when students are having trouble with their homework; however, this site could be utilized too much and may allow students not to do there own work. Content: Webmath directly states what this website is for as well as the levels of math that can be found on it. The site is copyrighted and contact information is readily available, but the authors of the site are unclear. It is also unclear whether or not the site has been updated recently. The information you are looking for is easy to find because the math content is broken up into in an easy to understand fashion. There is also a quick find drop down bar, but it has several options that may be hard to wade through. Students can type in specific math problems and the answer is delivered instantly. There are several advertisements, which imply that math help is not the sole purpose of the site. Internal and external links seem to work well, but the site has limitations and probably cannot answer every question. Design: Webmath loads and operates quickly. The homepage is unattractive but effective. The site is easy to navigate, and there are instructions if there is any question on how to use a feature. The links work properly, and the layout is consistent throughout the site. Webmath is lacking in interactive material and attractive graphics.

The content of this site is has Spanish, grammar, math and science. You are able to choose which section that you would like to work on and learn by playing games. The games are based for elementary students but the Spanish versions could help high school students learn as well as have fun playing games.The design is very user friendly. They have toolbars on the top and left had side of the page so that you can easily navigate to where you want to go. There are also pictures that go with the game and a description of what the game entails underneath. There are also bright colors to make the website very aesthetically pleasing. I think that this is a good site because it could easily be utilized by a variety of teacher of different age groups not just elementary as it is intended. If I wanted high school students to use this site they could work on cleaning up their Spanish grammar by picking that certain picture. If one game wasn't working out for one student they could always pick from the others that are available. 

Chelsea Eisenbarth 9/11/11 Overview: This website was developed by the Missouri Historical Society in devotion to teaching about the museums, history, and educational ideas with Lewis and Clark. The site has a page devoted to and made by educators with lesson plans as well as other pages devoted to information using different media types. There is video as well as written information on the topic. Content: In addition to providing information on the Lewis and Clark expedition this site also provides a section devoted to educators and lesson plan ideas. The lessons were developed by teachers and provide a rubric of content covered in each lesson and the different grade levels that they can be associated with. The content seems up to date and all of the different links are in working order. There was possible bias in that they are trying to get people to visit their museum but overall the information seemed valid regardless. Design: The design didn't appeal to my personal taste, I thought it was ugly but it still served its purpose and the site was in working condition. I liked that there was different media options for obtaining the information and the lesson plan page was convenient. Everything seemed to be in working and current order and overall the website looked to be helpful for a future teacher.