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Lauren McDaniel, 9/4/11 Overview:  This website would be useful for people with a sturdy knowledge base wanting to know anything having to do with the field of philosophy.  Teachers and future teachers would find the website especially useful because it provides biographies of philosophers that have contributed to educational philosophies, and explores detailed concepts, arguments and analysis of the many different educational philosophies. Content:  Information on the editor, supporters of the site, and copyright date are clearly present and can easily be found when navigating the site.  The content is updated regularly, which can be seen by clicking on the different tables of contents listed by the year they were published.  The formality of the page shows its purpose is very informational.  By clicking on the table of contents and finding the subject interested in, which is listed in alphabetical order, one can easily find whatever they're looking for.  Information is presented in a factual way, lacking bias or prejudice, and certainly seems to be accurate because of the supporters backing it.  Information is easily accessible by locating the table of contents, which presents a page looking similar to a dictionary.  Words, people, places, and other things can be clicked on, and a plethora of information is presented in an organized and clear way. Design:  The design of this website is very formal, and the pictures fit the formality.  When first arriving on the website, it is incredibly appealing because of it's organization and neatness.  The table of contents is only one click away, and is incredibly easy to navigate.  The links associated with the information presented are useful and all working properly.  This site is very well designed and definitely worth visiting.

This website, Incredible Art Lessons, is orangized very well and is very easy to navigate through. The intent and purpose of the website is very clear, it is specifically designed to give support and ideas to art teachers for a wide range of ages. There are many different links that teachers can use to get ideas for new projects from. The website also has lesson plans and ideas for all age groups in school, ranging from elementary lessons to undergraduate lessons. I really liked how the site also provided art project ideas for each holiday. The site also provides online activities for students for each project/idea. The lay out of the website is very easy to use and all of the links are current and helpful. At the bottom on the webpage there is a clear way to contact the creators of the website, and it was last copyrighted in 2009.

Deneé Chintala October 7, 2012 Overview The purpose of judging101.com is for the instructor of a livestock judging team/class to provide their students with online classes of beef, lamb, pig and horses to learn how to judge livestock. The audience includes an agricultural education teacher or a livestock judging coach as well as their students. The site has a free example class for the instructor to see the basis of the site but further purchase is necessary for access to all of the different species with multiple classes under each. The design of it doesn't appeal in terms of color and flare, but I have used the site when I was a student and was really impressed with the consistent content of the site. Content All of the information on the site is incredibly accurate due to the authors of the site. Despite the fact that it is hard to locate the list of authors, once they are found it is clear that they are reliable sources. All of the reasons and placings are given by judging coaches from all across the nation at universities. The content is easily definable in terms of knowing that this is a large livestock judging website. The url itself explains the topic of the site. Once further into the site with the purchase of an account, the site is easily navigated and the content is consistent with a set of reasons, cuts and placings for each class. From the other links on the page, all information is consistent across the board and tie into each other, such as from the judging101 page to the animalscience101 page to the horse judging page; all of these links intertwine with each other on how to judge horses to the end of actually judging a class. Design This site doesn't have a great deal of allurement, but it is easily navigable. If I wanted to judge a class of shorthorn heifers, I would be able to click on the cow silhouette and find a shorthorn heifer class and easily judge the class then find the reasons, cuts and placings. Finding the authors, when the site wa

Deneé Chintala October 7, 2012 Overview The purpose of cellsalive.com is for the instructor of a biology class to provide their students with interactive activities online regarding the parts of the cell, phases of mitosis and meiosis as well as more background information of microbiolgoy. The audience includes biology teacher as well as their students. The site is free with many different activities to do including quizzes and puzzles with content about cells.  Content All of the information on the site is incredibly accurate due to the author, Jim Sullivan. The site provides information in at least two ways for each link (interactive video and a summarization of the video below). Interactivity is huge on this website because the student not only gets to interact during the lesson but a review can be given to gage the student's progress at the end of the lesson. The fact that there are simple cartoon graphics which can allow students to depict different organelles help, but there are also real pictures of microorganisms throughout the site.  Design This site has flare to it with the black background and neon text. It's appealing to a middle school age group but I could see high school students finding it alluring as well. It is also easily maneuverable due to the hyperlinks on the left side as the title of the lesson. If I were to give a class of the links to click on to get to the lesson it would be a very simple task with little to no questions.

General Chemistry Online Overview: General Chemistry Online is a website for general chemistry students intented to help students learn general chemistry basics thought FAQ's, featured articles, tutorials, and other tools. The article included are incredibly interesting, from a chemistry standpoint, and can spark interest in chemistry. There is also a Common Compound Library that has over 800 common compound names, formulas, and structures, which could be useful past general chemistry and into organic chemistry. Overall, the site is a very valuable tool.  Content: The site's purpose is easy to determine with a quick look at the home page. The information is liberally cited when necessary, and the author is qualified to be publishing such information. The sponsor is Frostburg University, and that is clearly identifiable. The information is current, as general chemistry does not change frequently or quickly. The content of the site is well organized, and it is easy to find the information you are searching for, as the homepage is somewhat of a table of contents.  Design: The design isn't fancy or even eye-catching, however it does not need to be. The design is simple, and easy to use to find the information desired. It was designed for an older audience learning general chemistry, and bright colors or fancy graphics would get in the way of information and be distracting. All of the internal and external links are working, and each section of the site and each link serves a clear purpose. 

Samantha Snethen- Feb. 5, 2012 Overview: This site has resources all about science and technology for teachers and students (grades k-12). It provides experiments, videos, quizzes, games, lesson plans and much more for a variety of scientific subjects such as biology, chemistry, physics and weather. The site is generally appealing, provides a sufficient amount of subject appropriate resources and is very well organized. Content: The author of the site was clearly listed, and there was plenty of information about him available as well as an easy way to contact him. The site was incredibly well organized and easy to navigate. There was enough information given for each subject and the information is revised frequently and accurate. The only missing were links to other related sites. Design: The site was generally appealing, although there are not many graphics or extras that might make it more appealing to younger children. The site did provide sufficient information that was very well organized and easy to navigate. However no directions for the use of the site were provided as well as links to other related websites.

Katherine Kerpchar ITEC2360 I found this website to be incredibly helpful, but very cluttered and hard to navigate. The information I found was very helpful and recently updated, and the links to other sites worked properly. The content was not very organized and was not very easy to understand. And the external links had very little to do with the content of the actual webpage. It was hard to navigate between the different links, and there are little to no instructions on how to go from link to link. The content was hard to find and the good information was overshadowed by the poor layout of the site. 

Katherine Kerpchar ITEC2360 I found this website to be incredibly helpful specifically in the means of art education. This website is actually a public forum online textbook on art history, and is aimed at a collegiate art level. The website was in a constant format that was easy to follow and learn from, it was also very appealing to look at and clear of clutter. The sponsors and providers of the site were easy to find and had significant amounts of contact information. All of the links worked quick and easy, and a description of the link's site was underneath each link so the user knew what they were getting into. The website's last revision date was easy to find and was very current (January 4th of this year) and the information on the site was very good and up to date as well as organized in an easy to follow format. 

Overview: Art Education is a website for links to jobs and lessons for high school art teachers. Links are functioning properly and the website is inviting for students as well as teachers.

Nathan Wonnacott9/9/11 Overview: The Incredible Art Department is a source where art teachers can submit and share lesson plans. These lessons apply for all grade levels and are neatly organized, equipped with tools to better one's teaching methods. I find this site extremely helpful, and have not seen anything negative. Content: It's distinguishable as an art site that teachers as well as students can use to learn about art in a non-traditional way. The author Ken Rohrer updates the site frequently, and has a long list of great reviews. The lessons are in-depth, filled with pictures, games, and rubrics to grade students' progress. Links are fully functional, and provide additional sources to their information Design: Speedy, attractive, and available in the public domain; this site offers an efficient way to address teachers' lack of time. Graphics and the title bar at the top of the home page adds to its fluidity. Constantly updated and sponsored by Princeton Online, this website seems to be a worthwhile source inside and outside the classroom.

Data Dragon describes itself as information services. It has friendly graphics and no advertisements. It is not intended for any particular age group, and appears as though both a teacher and a student could use it. Content: It provides online tutorials, a Sudoku game, an offer to remove banners from web pages, and a "This Day in Music History" section. This all sounds very nice, and although there is no outright problem with the information provided, it is a very basic layout, however, the tutorials have a very easy chronological layout. Design: The design is very poor. The animations are very reminiscent of bad clip art. The script is oddly spaced and there is little information provided about the creator or the websites purpose. Attribution: I would not use this in my class other than to possibly allow my students to play Sudoku. Although there is nothing incredibly suspicious about the information provided, it is not a good aid for teaching.

Katie Hertel 1-23-2010 Overview: PBS educational games, videos and activities is an educational website for younger early childhood children. It teaches through many of the popular kids education television shows such as Barney, Author, Sesame Street, Dragon Tales, etc. There are available resources to parents and teachers to make sure this website is teaching their children in an effective way. Overall, my impression of this website was that it is an easy effective way to entertain your children through educational ways that are fun and entertaining. Content: As I explored on the website I found that it was easy to navigate. There are links formed as circles that have a picture of the educational animated television shows that kids today are familiar with. When clicking on these links it pulls up that shows official website which has clippings of the show, fun activities, and games related to that specific show that help younger children grow familiar with what they are learning outside of just the game. The information that is taught can be a reliable way to help teach children. Along with reliable material it has supported detail of the sites publication information. Design: This site is well designed and easy to understand how to access what kind of educational experience you want. It is very appealing, especially to a child's eye. Not very many irrelevant advertisement interruptions appear to be a problem. Although a lot of sources on this website prove to be a safe and reliable way of helping children learn, it is also obvious that it is for money purposes as well.

This website is an educational game site for kids. It is mainly based on PBS kids television series but it provides games in all different subject areas and has links for parents and teachers on "how to raise spectacular children". There are not a lot of outside links on this site to access other information, but the authors or the Public Broadcasting Systems seem like reliable authors and the content is great! I don't think a lack of outside sources takes away from the site at all. The content of this site is very educational and informational for students and would be easy to incorporate into lesson plans for an interactive way for students to test their knowledge. One thing that may be a set back is that the games are mainly based off of PBS kids TV series so it may be distracting to the students to have their favorite episodes one click away. The site is sponsered by PBS though so no extra ads or additional distractions are present! The site also has the terms of use and privacy conditions easily accessible and provide log-ins for students so that they can save their work and progress for later which is great! Each game also provides easy step by step instructions as well that can be read or heard so students can get the most out of their gaming experiences. The design of the website is great as well. The home page not only includes interactive links that move when you hold your mouse over the top of them, but it also has audio as well to bring students in. The games are very interactive and there are so many that every student should be able to find something that they enjoy doing! The colors are bright and the navigation is incredibly easy which makes students want to come back for more. Any questions that they may have are answered within the games which also helps subdue any frustrations that may arise. Overall, a great site for kids that would be easy to incorporate into lessons!

Seth Orndorff February 1, 2011 Good site review Overview The website, ixl.com is a very useful tool when it comes to math education. The site is kid and parent friendly with effective teaching strategies. If a teacher were to use this site as part of their curriculum, their students would each have their own accounts that keep track of their progress in various math subjects. The site has math questions to answer from kindergarten through eighth grade with different topics in each grade. Students may be assigned to answer ten questions from a certain topic. They would be able to easily navigate the site and find the questions to answer. Once completed, the student receives a score and time which is recorded. It would be advantageous for a teacher to give a pretest on this site at the beginning of the week then give them another quiz on this site to see their improvement. I am very impressed with this site and would definitely recommend it to others and bookmark it. Content summary The content of this particular site would be very useful for my needs and is worth bookmarking. I have several reasons for giving the content of this site such a high review. At first look, it is easy to quickly determine the basic content of the site and the intended audience. The authors and creator of the material is clearly shown and easy to access. There is a tab that gives a full summary of the creators with contact information at the bottom of the page. This makes it extremely easy to get in touch with the authors of the site. The content and information has been revised and has a new copyright for 2011. Along with the outstanding first impression, information on the providers, and information currency, the site has incredible quality when it comes to the information and further information. The sites interactive math problems that include rewards for correct answers are highly motivating for any student doing math from kindergarten through eighth grade. I was also very

Murphy Muirhead 9-8-2011 OVERVIEW: National Geographic for Teachers is a website that is very beneficial to educators.  The purpose of this website is to provide teachers with resources, activities, games etc. to be used when teaching the different types of sciences.  Because the intended audience is teachers, the site provides many references to help expand a teacher's knowledge on different categories such as mapping to bring more valuable information to the students. Some other available resources that are available on this site include multimedia, which brings pictures and videos into the classroom. It also provides weekly activities that are great for the classroom. I was very impressed by this site and I see this as being a site I use quite often in the future. CONTENT: The content of this site is incredible. National Geographic is a very credible magazine and they bring this great knowledge to the website which is useful to teachers. The content on this site is very applicable to teaching about the earth sciences and has many helpful links to learn more about subjects and deepen teacher's knowledge.  DESIGN: This website has a great design to it. It is very easy to navigate through to all the links and resources associated with it. It has a professional look to it, very eye catching and movement flows from one thing to another.

Overview: TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Simple devoted to spreading ideas. That mission continues to make the brilliant ideas of today easily accessible. Content: This website is a media based outlet to share riveting "talks" from remarkable people, free to the world. What I love the most about this website that it includes so many different subjects from pure education, design, sciences. The speeches are sometimes complex and take some critical thinking, but this is an accurate source to be sending student of upper school to really challenge them, and create a different perspective not only by using media, but through connecting us to speakers that are normally incredibly riveting to get to hear. This is a breeding place for the newest ideas and inventions that will that expands people's capacity to understand what is possible. Design: This is an incredibly put together website. With simple colors that refocus you to what you are looking for, as well as genres of interest located in plain view including listing of new topics. This website is very accessible and readily available for any edger learner.

Content: Although at first sight this website doesn't immediately catch your attention due to the lack of color on the page, the information that is given seems to be very valuable. Throughout the site it examines a variety of things that creative writing teachers might consider doing for their class. It suggests an array of things that can perform in an effective and an age appropriate way. It deals with problems and concerns that may arise when teaching this class, while also providing suitable solutions that have the amount of dependable resources that are available to children that are on a wide scale of learning skills/ levels. Design: Overall this site is designed pretty well. Although, it seems only usable for adults and teachers the information that is given is very helpful. The layout ( navigation) of this sight is incredibly self explanatory and does not seem to be displayed in a confusing manner. The author's information is also very accessible to get to, and they also provide other forms of contact information in case users have other questions. Attribution: The purpose of this site is to educate teachers on what the best way to approach creative writing in the classroom. Although this website lacks in the creative side of design the content is very intriguing and guides the educator in teaching the most efficiently. I would feel safe using this site, due to the number of resources they used. Just to make sure they were credible I checked a few and everything panned out, so in the future I would most likely use the site to get some ideas.

Ross Lindstrom - September 21, 2009 Website Evaluation #3 - Politico.com This website is a flashy, attractive website that provides news stories on the American political arena in an easily digestible and easy to navigate format. The audience is pretty vast, including anyone interested in current events in politics. The purpose is to provide newsworthy political articles as well as a forum of discussion to debate content areas such as public policy, congress, lobbying, community, etc. My impression of Politico.com is that it is a well-designed, well-written conglomerate of differing opinion covering a wide array of political topics. However, at times it tends to emphasize the gossip aspect of Washington, running articles such as "Palin emerges as Facebook Phenom". Politico.com is incredibly well designed, with coherent organization of topics and content areas, relevant information regularly at the top, and an easy platform with which to navigate the many intricacies of American politics. There is a healthy balance of information and multimedia without the multimedia being too distracting and without the information being too monotonous. Loading and downloading times are quick. Gossipy stories about Washington tend to get more emphasis on the main pages, but browsing around the site and reading a few articles will tell you Politico is a heavyweight when it comes to intelligent political analysis and debate. The information is current, and links to other useful websites are prevalent. The first look at politico effectively tells you the purpose of the website, as well as the wealth of information it contains. The authors (and their legitimacy) of the various articles are all easily identifiable. The content of the website is all interesting, well-written and fresh. The website tends to lean on the liberal side of the spectrum, but still endeavors to include all dissenting viewpoints. The multimedia section contains a vast amount of information av

Morgan Kuchta September 1, 2010 Sparknotes.com Overview This site is a great resource for students who struggle with reading in school. The website provides book and chapter summaries and plot overviews along with character analysis for all main characters in each book reviewed. The books that Spark Notes provides information on are those that have deep and complex plot lines and character development that are often found in classrooms of all grade levels. Perhaps one of the most useful tools on this website is called "No Fear Shakespeare", which translates the old English of Shakespeare into modern English so that students might have an easier time remembering information and comprehending it. Although the site organization is poor and it throws too much information onto one page, I believe this website could be an extremely valuable resource to teachers who assign reading to their classes. Content At first look it is easy to tell where you are and what is provided, in general, on the site. The audience is pretty clearly defined as students but it is difficult to tell exactly who will benefit most from this sitel There were no listed authors for the site although there were authors listed for each of the book summaries done on each separate page with an email address attached. The revision dates are included on every book review and the links to related sites are all functioning. The information quality was incredible. Although it was not well organized, it is by far the most comprehensive literacy site that I have used in the last few years. The other links posted were pretty good, although most of them were just for the interest of the users rather than usefulness for help with English homework. Design The homepage download was no problem, while it was attractive to the eye, it was a little information heavy and a it was kind of hard to tell exactly where I needed to navigate. There were a LOT of advertisements in the margins and even in other areas of th

Randi McInerney September 15, 2011 Overview: The website "Sparknotes" is an educational and entertainment website with various study resources available. The information is most relevant to high school aged students, but late middle school and college students, as well as teachers, could also benefit from this site. College video tours, book summaries, analysis, and quizzes, and ACT/SAT/AP/GRE test preparation material, and news articles are also available. The content and design are effective and organized, but the advertisements can be distracting and seem overwhelming. This site can be abused by students wishing to plagiarize or to avoid reading a book, but has so many great things to offer if it is used appropriately. Content: There is a lot of educational material available on this site. Video clips, interactive tours, blogs, cartoons, and more can all be found on this site. There are various links in order to contact them, but no direct contact information like an address is provided. Besides educational material, there is lifestyle, entertainment, and dating information. I think that this may be distracting from the educational aspects of the site, but it makes sense because of the audience the website is intended for. Design: The site downloads efficiently and is visually interesting, especially for the intended audience of young adults. The site is easy to navigate, especially if you know what you are looking for from the start. In this case, the search bar will help you easily locate what you are looking for if it is indeed on the site.

Sparknotes is a resource aimed at high school and college students. It offers summaries of literary works as well as test prep. The main purpose of the site is to simplify in-depth texts down to a modern English level. Unfortunately, these summaries are not all that is available. The site largely consist of entertainment news. This aspect dominates the site, making it hard to find the reviews and study resources. Because of this my overall impression is that the site includes a good about of information for those looking for it, but is also a place where one can very easily get side tracked, rendering its information useless. It is worth a bookmark, but is not the most useful thing. The content of this site is very diverse. As for the literary summaries, there are over 100 on some of the best known works in many different subject areas. The site is up to date and loads easily. Most of the summaries are based off of the most recent publications of texts. The site is confused about its purpose. The summaries and text prep sections are hard to find while entertainment news is profusely advertised and easy to find. The educational sections are labeled in small black index style links, while the entertainment section has large magazine like spreads. Although the site has relevant information that is consistent and helpful, it is congested with much needless gossip that has potential for abuse. The websites speed is quite good. It loads very fast comparatively. The homepage is attractive, but is attractive for the wrong reasons. It is hard to find relevant information on the site (although there is a lot of it). This makes navigation of the site difficult and can easily suck the user into a "twilight zone." The site is strong on most platforms, even having apps available. Content presentation is mores streamlined on the app, but is congested on a web version. An administrator is available to answer any questions and provide further information.

Posted by Amber Rittenhouse on 1/24/10 Overview: This site is used primarily for educational reasons. It is intended for high school students and beyond. The site offers help in many areas of math in order to help with the understanding. Links are provided to get more help beyond what is provided in the site. This site accomplishes its purpose of teaching very well through the example problems given and the lessons provided. Content: This site offers help in order to learn many math concepts, including algebra, trigonometry, calculus, differential equations, complex variables, and matrix algebra. Once you select one of these categories, you can then pick a certain area within the subject. It then offers you an example problem and solution. It is very easy to navigate around the web page. The site offers a lot of information and a lot of help to better learn many math concepts. It does list the date that it was last revised, so the viewer can tell how accurate the information is. Links to other sites are provided to get more help. There are very few ads, so you are not distracted from the learning. Design: The site is very well designed. It is not hard at all to get to a certain subject area that you would like further help in. The site is not incredibly colorful, but this does not distract the viewer from their learning. There is a lot of useful information in this site, so it is definitely worth visiting if you need help in math.

Overview SOS Mathematics is a site for high school students and higher for extra practice and review of materials they are learning in class. It is easy to use and has easy access to where students should go for certain subjects. There is easy access to the other links on the website that allow the website to be complete. Content The content of this website is mainly informational about giving review in higher level math classes for at least high school students. The content of the website is complete because there are no broken links or part of the website does not have any incomplete content. The links are all up to date so there are no problems with the other sites it is linked to. The website is well organized and easy to understand. It is worth bookmarking and given to students to use as review. Design The design of this website is appealing to the eye because it is not too crowded or overwhelming because of the content. All the links are working properly and easy to follow. The website is available on all internet browsers. Due to its easy access students can use it not just only at school but as home as well for extra practice and review so it is easy for students to do better in the class material and subject matter. The website is well designed and easy to use.

Sydney Fancher Thinkfinity Overview: This website is intended to help teachers with finding new lesson plans. It is helpful because it has lesson plans pertaining to such a wide variety of subjects, most teachers could find something they find helpful. It is difficult to determine how often new lesson plans are added but the course appears to updated frequently. In general, this website is a good resource for teachers to have when they are looking for a change up to their normal lesson plans. Content: Thinkfinity is a website that is designed for teachers. Specifically it is to help with new ideas for lesson plans that can be used at any grade level and content area. The site it's self is mainly just a tool to link you with lesson plans. The lesson plans that it has chosen to show you are all highly original and have enough information with them that it makes it easy for the teacher to use them in their own classroom. They often times even include lesson plans for grading. The only criticism I have is that it is unclear how often new lesson plans are added to the site so the site may become less effective for a teacher over time, but, generally, it seems to be incredibly helpful. Design: The design is based largely around the site sponsor: Verizon. Therefore, the design is appealing, but seems very commercial. The actual layout of the site, though, is extremely user- friendly. All of the links are working and helpful. Also, the site allows for you to search for lesson plans that are grade and content area specific. Then, once the teacher has found lesson plans that are appropriate for the students they are teaching, the search can be narrowed even further into specific subjects, such as a specific book or vocabulary. This feature, among others, is what makes this site effective for a large number of teachers.