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Posted by Craig Shepherd on 9/16/09 Overview: Wikipedia is an open-authoring encyclopedia. The purpose of the website is to provide information about any topic to the general public. Content is generated and reviewed for accuracy by the public. Although public documents can include inaccurate information--particularly on hot topics, much of the content is stable. Links to other pages generally function properly, and content is easy to understand. Content: Although maligned by many individuals as a site that promotes inaccurate information, Wikipedia has much educational merit. However, based on the Wiki style of web design, anyone can make changes to articles and can do so anonymously. This means the learned as well as the ignorant have equal access to contribute. Although references at the end of articles may support the credibility of a work, they do not guarantee it and require additional time to peruse. Because authors can post anonymously, it is difficult to tell whether the article is accurate, timely, relevant, authoritative, and so forth. Yet, recent news events highlight the work of this organization to increase credibility of their content. Additionally, one of the purposes of a wiki is to foster collaboration and group authorship. Although individual contributors may not be listed, inaccurate information can be quickly corrected--though it takes some understanding of wiki syntax which may be difficult for beginners to learn. Despite potential inaccuracies, Wikipedia is a good place to begin your research if you realize that contents may contain biases, inaccuracies, and unsupported claims. Design: The site is well designed. A common look and feel permeate web pages, ads and other distractions are not posted, graphics and other visual elements often highlight important points, and links to related articles are prevalent. Several languages are also supported. Modification and revision dates are clearly displayed and the wiki allows you to

Trevor Lenell The first website I am going to evaluate is Wikipedia.org. The educational site that we have been told to never use for a paper because it is editable by anyone. The intended audience for Wikipedia is someone who just wants a quick overview of the subject they are looking for. It does not cover in-depth content or have large amounts of research in the articles. Everything is available on Wikipedia. All you have to do is search anything in google and Wikipedia article will almost always be in the top three links to show up. The design of Wikipedia is actually fairly good. It loads quickly there's a table of contents for each page and it is easy to find the information you are looking for. The content of Wikipedia is where things get a little shaky when it comes to looking for quality information. Since anyone can edit any page aside from a few that have been locked the information of Wikipedia is not necessarily the best way to find information. We do not know who has edited the site or what their credentials are and we have no way of knowing whether it is a great set of information or a joke put on by someone with an internet connection. There is however a bright side. At the bottom of each Wikipedia article there is the references. These are a great tool to find what was used and what is available to use outside of Wikipedia with the same information. These references are a great way to find academic information from good quality sites and can be used when searching through Wikipedia to find actual research. The design of Wikipedia is pretty good. It works equally well on my internet explorer, Firefox, and google chrome. It loads easily, is easy to navigate, and easy to read. Each graphic and audio file on the site serves a purpose to support the material being read. Overall Wikipedia is a great site to navigate and its shortcomings stem from it being able to be edited by anyone. The next website I will evaluate is NationalGeographic.com. An ed

The purpose of this website is to inform the reader about primary colors.  The intended audience of this website is probably middle school students and up.  It provides a summary of what the standard primary colors are and why.  It talks about the different standards and when they apply.  It seems like a good website because it is informative and easy to navigate with no advertisements. The user is able to quickly determine the basic content and intended audience of the site.  The names of the authors of this site are not provided.  It is open to editing to basically anyone.  The usernames of the authors can be found, along with the date that they updated the site.  The site does not provide a good way to contact the authors, either.  The last date that this site was edited was 4/10/15.  This is appropriate to the material, and the site is updated frequently.  There are links to many other sites related to the topic, and they work properly.  The quality of the information is very good.  There is no detectable bias, and the information makes sense.  It provides information that is different than what I learned in elementary school, but I believe it is still accurate.  There are many other sources that provide consistent information.  The grammar and spelling are correct.  

An online text book for teachers

This free applications provides presentation, word processing, and spreadsheet software and allows you to collaborate on your documents with others. It also provides a version history to show all the edits that you (or others) have made to the document. You can revert back to prior editions if needed.

This site provides several examples of universally designed ebooks for students ages 10 and up. ebooks provide scaffolding techniques to understand passeges (editable by teachers), read content back to students, provide Spanish translations, and allow markup and note taking

Scott Chanthongthip on January 25, 2010 Overview: Although the website has seven books students can read from, it offers a helpful tool in learning to read while listening to the computerized voice. The computerized voice can be distracting to young readers though that cannot put aside the monotonous tone and lack of colorful personality a real teacher can provide. Manipulation of the tool bar for the story can help students highlight text, translates highlighted words from English to Spanish, and allows students to stop the reading to answer critical comprehension questions. The design of the website looks simple at first but I think if this a website to help students read it should be in simpler terms. Use of the computerized reading voice can read the whole page to students, so this can be helpful to navigate the pages. Content: Most of the content is laid out simply but it takes a while to get used to navigation of the different tools. Students that would use this site would probably have some background in reading already, as stated ages 10 and up by the UDL. It takes previous knowledge of reading ability to understand some of the more complex stories the site offers. Using the "Stop to Think" option asks listeners to pick multiple-choice answers that show the student comprehends the story they just heard. If readers miss the questions, clues to the right answer help the reader find the correct answer. As a teacher, I would use this site sparingly because I believe the computerized voice reading to students can bore them quickly. The website also takes away the ability for students to learn from their peers. The books used in this selection from the UDL provide just small glimpse at the plethora of reading material out there. The project team for the website consists of people with Education Doctorates , Master's of Education, and translators. As far as the content update, I could not find when its updates or when the site came into ex

Brie Scott October 13, 2014 Harvard Chaucer Interlinear Translation The intended purpose of this website is to provide a line by line translation of The Canterbury Tales. The website is geared toward upper level students in late high school or college English classes. The information on this site is excessively adequate. While the design of the website is somewhat lacking, quality of the translation is superb, making this an excellent resource of translation. Overall the content of this website is good. The name of the author and an email address for him are provided but the information on the particular author is otherwise slim. While the website has not been edited in several years, this is appropriate considering The Canterbury Tales is an ancient text. As stated in the previous paragraph, the translation provided on the site is excellent. The design of the site is not particularly eye catching. In fact, overall the homepage of the site is a little bland. However, there is an easy to navigate table of contents. Thus, navigation is simple and to the point. Graphics are subpar, but for a site meant to translate Chaucer, visual aids are not particularly essential.

Brie Scott October 13, 2014 Harvard Chaucer Interlinear Translation The intended purpose of this website is to provide a line by line translation of The Canterbury Tales. The website is geared toward upper level students in late high school or college English classes. The information on this site is excessively adequate. While the design of the website is somewhat lacking, quality of the translation is superb, making this an excellent resource of translation. Overall the content of this website is good. The name of the author and an email address for him are provided but the information on the particular author is otherwise slim. While the website has not been edited in several years, this is appropriate considering The Canterbury Tales is an ancient text. As stated in the previous paragraph, the translation provided on the site is excellent. The design of the site is not particularly eye catching. In fact, overall the homepage of the site is a little bland. However, there is an easy to navigate table of contents. Thus, navigation is simple and to the point. Graphics are subpar, but for a site meant to translate Chaucer, visual aids are not particularly essential.

The intended purpose of this site is to provide information on a variety of materials, like an encyclopedia. This specific page gives information on the Black Death. This website contains tons of information, and the audience once more must be literate to understand the material. Teenagers should have no problem. The website gives a good impression despite being open to editing by anyone.

Katya Larson February 2013 Overview: The purpose of this website is to visually map major events in history chronologically. There are brief descriptions of the events for each map. The audience is for educators and secondary level students. There are many map and picture resources under the "Maps & Modules" section including previous editions of the website. I think this website is well set up because it is easy to navigate to the time period of your choice to see the corresponding map. It is nice that there are brief descriptions so you can easily review what the map is about. I think it is a very easy to use and useful site.  Content: The content is accurate and easily accessible. The maps are interactive and user-friendly. There are many links within the site to access different content. The content is free of bias and informational.  A possible downside is that there are no dates of revision, but there is evidence that the content has been revised in the past because you can view past versions of the website.  Design: The website itself does not attract the eye readily. While the information is easy to find, there are few graphics or colors that are appealing (excepting the interactive maps). The information is clearly labeled and the maps have useful descriptions. It may not be "fun", but this is a very useful site. 

This website is called The Biology Corner. It's a website that is edited by a high school biology teacher who has a bachelor's in Biology and a Masters degree in Educational Technology. The Biology Corner is basically a compilation of useful links for studying, as well as links for worksheets, videos, and resources a teacher would find useful in writing lesson plans. The audience of The Biology Corner includes high school teachers of biology, and high school biology students. I think that this website would be very useful, and it's design is fairly appealing. On the homepage, it's easy to see what the purpose of the website is, with minimal reading. It is mentioned that the website is meant to be a resource for students as well as teachers. The author is clearly identified and there is even a link for more information on her qualifications. All of the content is easy to access and every link works. The website is catered to a single textbook (the one the teacher uses at her school) which causes it to be a bit less useful, but altogether, the website has very good content. The design of this website is okay, but not really appealing. It's very plain and there aren't that many photos or videos that are actually imbedded into the site. None of the important information (table of contents, links, revision dates, author) is missing from the site but it isn't presented to the user in the most attractive way. 

Share My Lesson is a resource for teachers to share their lessons with other teachers, and find new ideas for lesson plans.. The page that I was particularly interested in was the high school biology teaching resources page. The intended audience for this page is biology teachers This page has a lot of different links to many different topics, and I think that it would be a great resource for a biology teacher looking for inspiration for lesson plans. The content of the site is reiterated many times, so it is very easy to determine the basic content. I wasn't really able to see who actually edits the site, but the authors of all of the lesson plans are various teachers who are members of this site. This could be a problem because I don't think there is anything requiring members to show that they are actually teachers. However, I think if a user is careful, this website would be a really excellent resource for writing lesson plans and finding worksheets etc.  The design of Share My Lesson is really well done. I think that the website looks very professional, has strong eye appeal, and it's very easy to navigate. All of the links work, and there are a lot of videos and pictures embedded into the site. The design of the site was a real strength.

Overview: It is very obvious upon entering this webpage who it is designed for, as it states in bold at the top of the page within tabs: "For Clinicians, For Patients, For Institutions, For Educators". I'm not sure it could get clearer than that. Also very obvious is the purpose. The biggest words on the page are: "Tap into the world's largest clinical community". I think this is a very credible website because all of the articles and websites within the main website are edited and written by doctors (MD). The biggest downside to this website is that you must subscribe to the website to see all of the content and a subscription is very expensive. Design Summary: From my first look, this site appears simple, yet very easy to navigate. There aren't a lot of bright colors or images to distract from the information of the page, which is beneficial, because you can find what you are looking for immediately. At the bottom of the page, the site provides a list of sponsors or partners including; Society of General Medicine, The Endocrine Society, American Academy of Family Physicians, Wolters Kluwer, etc. I had no problem using the website in Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer. The information is very up to date (as the name suggests!). Finding contact information is also simple (1-click) and they provide a phone number, fax number, many special purpose email addresses, and an address for an office in the United States, as well information for their international offices.

Content overview: Video tutorial of 3 point perspective from you tube. This video explains vanishing points and ideas used with 3 point perspective. Overview: The site is working properly and the video loads quickly. The purpose is clear for the video and website link. Design overview: The name of the author is given as well as the date of editing. The site is simple and points toward the purpose. Overview: This site fulfills its purpose to explain 3 point perspective in an easy and well explained way. This video was very thorough and the viewer will be able to attempt recreation of 3 point perspective.

Content Summary: This is a you tube video of drawing one point perspective. The viewers of this video will be introduced to perspective in this video. The video explains horizontals, depth, draft lines, and vanishing point. Overview: The video clearly states its purpose to explain one point perspective. This video is geared toward upper level students, but not age specific. Design Summary: The video was quick to load and the website is working properly. The author of the video is not given though there is a you tube id associated with it. The date of editing is given as well. Overview: The video was clear and concise and fullfilled it's purpose. The viewer will take away information about perspective and be able to recreate one point perspective from the video.

Charlene Asay: 1/23/2010 Overview: Kids Video maker is a site where students can learn how to make their own video. This site takes them step by step on how to write their own script, how to make their video, how to edit it, and how to show your video on the web or put it on a CD rom. This site is can be used for a teaching tool. This could be a easy way to get your students interesting in creating something of their own. Content: This site does have just a few different links and advertisements for booking trips, and different film schools to look at. This site looks like a great educational tool for students. A teacher could use this site to easily teach their students how to create their own video and post it wherever they would like to. They could share their work with the world. Design: The site is well designed. There are a few different advertisements that could be clicked on, but this site doesn't over whelm a person with so many advertisements they ant focus on the purpose of the site. This site does have a copyright date and who published this site, so this is a pretty creditable site it you ask me.

Amanda Lamey January 24, 2010 Overview The website is designed for people who are eager to think outside the box and like puzzles. This was a ".com" site allowing me to find a website that had more "no" checkmarks then "yes". This particular page did not list an author or copyright date. It was clearly laid out and easy to read. It had step by step instructions. It had pictures of each move to help individuals who are visual learners complete this task. The point of this website was to help you solve a Rubik's cube, but without the last two steps it makes you think outside the box to solve it. Leaving you stranded like that could make it frustrating or make you mess up your previous steps, leaving your cube unsolved. Evaluation of Design This site was not very appealing to the eye. I think that it could have used a little more color and used more colorful words. It seemed to the point and simple. Although I have tried to solve a Rubik's cube a few times and it's a lot harder than the directions appear. You can move through the website easily and understand the content. There are not directions or any other tabs that allow you to navigate to a related page. The directions are clearly laid out in steps. The last two steps are missing and in order for you to get them you have to purchase them. At the very bottom in small print you can click the contact us tab for further information or questions regarding general information. Content This website was not copyrighted or revised at any time. It is a ".com" meaning that anyone could have added their own spin on things and it was not edited or reviewed by a group of higher individuals. There is no address or frequently asked questions. There is a contact tab that leads you to three different emails. The site is a trademark of Seven Towns Limited. The grammar and spelling was accurate. The site was easy to navigate through and understand. The purpose of the site is to show you how to solve a

Amanda Lamey January 23, 2010 Overview This website is designed for any individual who can drive a car. It's not meant for children. They don't need to know how to change a tire if they can't drive yet. They should focus on something they enjoy or want to learn more about. I choose this site because it was an ".edu". I figured it had been reviewed by more important individuals and was used for educational purposes. I knew I could trust the information located on this site more than a ".com" site where websites have not been reviewed or edited by someone else. It listed multiple sites that were related to this site and had personal information to contact the author of the website. It had the class involved and the copyright date listed. Overall this had all the required information needed to evaluate a website. Evaluation of Design The design of the website was simple. It was one page, but it had other sites listed that were available if this wasn't what you were looking for. All the information regarding the author contacting us, copyright information and location were all located towards the bottom. There were eight simple steps to changing a tire. There were photos involved, but most of all before it even began there was an insert of tools required for the job. That's something different that stuck out to me and I think it would make it easier for everyone if life was like an outline, this is what you need, here's how to do it. Towards the end if you had and questions or comments you could leave them. The only other available resources were the related sites you could visit, but they worked well. You clicked them and you were able to navigate away from you current page to your new one in no time. There wasn't a "error" can't load page or refresh here. The purpose was clear, it was informative. Content The content off the page was designed by children and could be read and understood by anyone. I think that the photos and beg

Nicole Sutton 9/5/11 Overview: The Mathematics Lessons that are fun website is a simple website that provides math lessons and activities. The age range the website is extremely unclear. The website is only for math and no other subject and I find the home page rather confusing. The author of the website is very clear however the website looks very jumbled and not professional. The website is unclear in many areas. Content: The Mathematics Lessons that are fun website contains a jumbled set of boxes that are links to games and lessons for math. The quality of the website is not very helpful. I find it hard to find the information reliable because there is an author but no title or reason she is an expert. There is not a list of people involved and there is no clear purpose of the website given. There does not seem to be a sponsor nor any way to contact the owner of the website. There are no other resources given on the website. My overall impression with the content of the site was that is it very poor and unreliable. Design: The Mathematics Lessons that are fun website has an attractive but simple lay out, however is over powered by the confusion of the confusing links. You are not sure where to go upon the arrival of the home page. The copy write is given at the bottom of the page however it is not current which gives the impression that the site has not been edited in a long time. The use of multimedia is confusing there are random graphics and almost annoying colors everywhere. The information including grade level is not clear and the website does not contain easy to navigate links. The website is not a very reliable one and not one I would use for my classroom.

Lindsey Carter 9-4-2011 Overview: DrGrammar.org is intended for individuals with English questions ranging from grammar and word origins to common errors in English. The site is provided by the University of Northern Iowa and is edited by the UNI Department of Languages and Literature. Overall, I was very impressed by the amount of information the site provided, although it was slightly less organized than I would have hoped. Content: At first look, the basic content of the site and intended audience is very clear. The author of the site is also identified, and a link is available for the user to find out more information about the university. Users may also contact the UNI Department of Languages and Literature via email from the site. A date of the last revision isn't clear, but the copyright date is. All links work perfectly, loading quickly and effectively. The purpose of the site is informational, and it is quite effective and complete. The information on grammar and common mistakes is given along with easy-to-understand examples. The website is free of bias, and additional resources are available via link to Purdue University. Design: The website's homepage is not the most attractive. The title and sponsor of the site are both clear, and an index does exist to guide the user. Directions are in place to help the user navigate the site and find the information they seek, but the titles of the index are not clearly categorized. Again, the date of last revision also isn't clearly identified, but the overall information is helpful to those with English inquiries.

Links to videos published elsewhere on the Internet (e.g., YouTube, Google Video, etc.) and allows you to embed comments in them. The resulting web page is then emailed to you and you can give others either access to make their own comments (or edit yours) or view the comments that you made

Bryana Wilson September 21, 2009 Website Review http://www.shakespeares-sonnets.com/ "Shakespeare's Sonnets" is a site dedicated to 154 of Shakespeare's sonnets. This site gives a lot of input about the sonnets and their essential meaning. It's a great means of obtaining a look at the already acquired material as well as gain insight into each sonnet. It is a nice collection, put together relatively well, and contains a great collection of pictures in the gallery relating to his sonnets. CONTENT Shakespeare's sonnets are the core subjects of this website. It is made up of a collection of 154 sonnets written by Shakespeare and includes a commentary for each one. These sonnets are written in the Elizabethan period- so the site includes a variety of Elizabethan paintings as well. There are links to all of the sections in the site on the homepage. You can view the sonnets in groups of about 50, as well as groups separated by categories- such as Valentine poems. The site is aimed toward people, probably students, wishing to read and gain insight into Shakespeare's sonnets. I found the information very valuable. If there are any questions or comments about the site, there is a link to the Oxquarry Books Ltd website. Oxquarry Books is a trustworthy organization and I trust the information given is authentic. It was last modified in 2009, and given the subject, I believe they are ahead of the game. However, it is true that information can always be refined and edited. DESIGN "Shakespeare's Sonnets" is put together in a rather spasmodic way. The information is fairly easy to find but is set up in a jumbled sort of manner, including a table of contents on the main page. I thought it could have definitely been organized in a more efficient manner. When entering a new section of the site the table of content remains at the top, making it fairly easy to maneuver about. There are also semi-clear titles below the table of content