ITEC2360

Kayla Rider January 23, 2010 Overview This site is amazing for kids of all ages! Even if you are a kid at heart, it is still a great site. Also, it is very informative. It is a history site for the United States of America. It has games and loads of information on it, especially information that is normally not found on information and educational websites. It is brought to you in a fun way. I would definitely use this site to teach my students a thing or two about history and to keep them involved with it. I would also use it in the home for my children. Fun and very informational. Content This website provides a fun filled environment of historical facts about the USA and people of the USA. It is provided by the Library of Congress, so therefore it MUST be credible. However, if you don't believe in the title of it, there is a very informative About Us section that will have you believing in the content of the site. It also provides contact information so that you can ask questions about anything on or off the site. Overall, very impressive. Design The design of this website catches your eyes immediately. It is fun! It is easy to navigate through, especially since it was designed with young minds in mind. There is a table of contents and colorful links to navigate through. Overall, again, very impressive.

Kayla Rider January 23, 2010 Overview I found this site and thought it to be a great idea for art classes to incorporate technology into their classrooms. It is aimed at art teachers and students. It grabs the reader right away with its qwerky sayings and great design. Thought it would be a lot of fun to navigate through entirely. Content This website is aimed at the arts. A portion of our lives that is slowly dwindling downward. It creates a technology environment to enrich and learn more about art. It is geared towards teachers and students but anyone can benefit from this website. Design Of course, being an artsy website, it is colorful and fun to look at. However, the overall design of it is quite applicable as well. It is easy to navigate through and catches a readers attention quickly. Overall, I believe it has great potential for a classroom and/ or a fun afternoon of learning more about art and yourself.

New Horizons is an educational site that contains strategies for teachers to enhance and expand their educational curriculum. I chose the Arts in Education page for this review. Content: This website has been around since 1980 and although it is currently retired, it has been the launching platform of many new educational sites. In specific the Arts in Education page offers resources pertaining to art's beneficial attributes in brain stimulation and possible scientific processes that can be applied to art. Design: The design of the site is very easily understood and followed. There are no advertisements on any of the pages and links navigate within the newhorizons.org site only. Although it lacks the appearance of similar websites, this is a very simplistic and easily run learning tool. Attribution: This site's purpose is purposeful and educational. Its aims are primarily at benefiting the teacher and helping to incorporate pertinent tools to their educational programs. As a teacher I would very likely use this in constructing different approaches to learning, however I would be weary of how current and valid the information actually is due to the fact that it is retired.

Robb Lancaster January 25, 2010 This site is a website evaluation site which is designed to help researchers and anyone interested in finding the best sites with history information. Content: This site is one of the better ones that I've looked at. It has information on every kind of history; from prehistory to modern history to oral history. It's really interesting and engaging. This site claims that it's an "award winning portal that contains annotated links to over 1200 history web sites". Furthermore, there are lesson plans, guides, history activities, games and quizzes. Design: The design for this site has tons of information and links to other websites. Through these links you can read descriptions of the sited and how good and relevant they are. The design is also full of pictures of historical figures and other useful informational links that are easy to see and to navigate to and from. This site is truly one of the best tools for anyone interested in easy and quick results.

Word Reference.com is a language translation site that came highly recommended to me by my Spanish professor. Its sole purpose is to translate English words to and from Spanish, German, French, Italian, and Russian. Content: This is a free site and is a good recommendation for any language translations on the internet. One of its beneficial features is the online forum which helps dictate more traditional or slang words that may not be listed within the sites database as a dictionary. Design: The site is plain and simple. Its intended use is easily accessed and is at the top of the page. There are no flashing advertisements, however an offer is made about an application they provide for iPhone and iPod Touch. Other than that, the site provides a very usable layout with nothing to sidetrack its users from their intended goals. Attribution: The point of this site is to make crossing language boundaries easier. I would actively use this site with my students as a means for them to enhance and better understand a foreign language

Bridget Stein 9/14/11 Overview: This is an excellent source to use, not only for students but teachers as well especially when you are learning or teaching a foreign language. This site has verb conjugation, and many different language dictionaries available for your use. Content: Within this website, there are numerous resources available to use. There are language dictionaries ranging from Spanish all the way to Czech and Polish. Also available is the language forum, where you can search questions and have conversations with people about a question you have, or want to discuss a language with someone on the web. Design: This site has a very simple layout to it. It basically is a dictionary online, so it is very straightforward and easy to see where things are that you will need.

Robb Lancaster January 25, 2010 The Labyrinth is a resource for medieval studies site sponsored by Georgetown University. Content: This site offers one of the better searches for medieval content as well as quite a lot of links that will direct you to very specific content. When you click on a link it will take you to other links, each more specific than the last, until you finally wind up at your desired information. The content is spot on with anything you would need to do a research paper about the medieval times. There are links from archeology to myths and ledgends. Furthermore, if you aren't satisfied with the links there is an easy to use search box. Design: The design for this site is not as simple as it could be. The links open up too many other links and other tabs. Also, the search area is not very user friendly. They definantly call this web site the Labyrinth because of the difficulty your going to have using it rather than how it pertains to the medieval world.

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.

Colter Huhn 1-24-10 The purpose of this site is to be a resource for science, specifically biology, teachers. The site contains quizzes, worksheets, lessons, labs, and information on biology. The intended audience is science teachers across the country. My overall impression is fairly strong with this website. The content is great and could be very helpful for a biology teacher. The design is simple, but well put together and easy to navigate. As far as content goes, there are many strengths, and definitely some weaknesses. Upon first look the basic content and intended audience is clearly stated in the opening paragraph on the home page. Also, the information quality is excellent. It's well organized, easy to understand, seemingly accurate, and most importantly does a flawless job of fulfilling the sites purpose in helping science teachers. The major flaw I did find was the information providers and currency. There were no authors or references sited anywhere. Given, most of the links were to worksheets, labs, etc. but an author or creator should be listed somewhere. The only way of finding out who the author of the site is, was to email him/her. Now to the web design itself which was nearly perfect. The site was fast and usable on at least Firefox and Internet Explorer. The homepage was attractive and well organized. The site itself was very easy to navigate with directions in the opening paragraph. There were clear categories to content and helpful links for further information. Finally the content presentation itself was perfect. It's easy to use, organized, same format throughout, and sufficient information. The flaws seem to be there was no date of last revision, and a copyright and site sponsor were nowhere to be found.

Good resource for lesson plans, labs, worksheets, quizzes, etc.. for Biology and Science teachers.

Justin Sanchez Reviewed 10-21-13 www.biologycorner.com Purpose: The purpose of this website is to provide biology related teaching material. There are quizzes, worksheets, and other teaching material tools. Intended audience: The intended audience is teachers who are looking for education material. Available resources: There are many links to other education material websites. Overview: This is a really good website for teachers. There is a ton of different educational material. This website is also creative commons. The website seems to be well maintained and easy to download. Moving from link to link is very fast and easy. Content: All of the content seems to high school biology related. The content is mostly targeted towards teachers through education material. Design: The website downloads fast. The site is not too busy. The site seems to be well maintained, there is not broken links or under construction pages. All of the links are obvious as to where they will take you.

e-learningcentre.co.uk is a site focused around the advancement of technology in learning. Content: This site is extremely advanced and is not a good recommendation for teachers of young learners, however, it is great for upper level teachers and scholars. It allows viewers to search through numerous organizations and articles from many different countries that are working to enhance both technology and learning. Layout: The site is less easily navigated than others. At first glance their mission is unclear, however, once explored, it becomes a descent resource for any and all who are curious. There are no advertisements, and other than the graphics at the top of the page, there is little color or decor to be spoken of. Attribution: This site is good for college level academia. I would rarely recommend this site, for I feel as though it would be only beneficial to a select few. However, I feel it would be pertinent for anyone who is interested in the advancement of higher education with technology to look this site over.

Colter Huhn 1-24-10 This site has a very clear purpose which is to be a resource for middle school teachers and students, which is the intended audience of the site of course. The resources available on this site lessons and activities for a classroom, project ideas for clubs and classrooms, information on science, games for students and a message board for teachers to share ideas. My overall impression of this site is it is a spectacular resource. The content is perfect for the intended purpose and the design is easy and also nearly flawless. For the content this site is very strong. The basic content is easily found as well as the audience. The author is found at the bottom of the page with some information as well as how to contact them. The information is current, revised within the last ten days, and all links seem to be working fine. The information meets the sites purpose, is complete, very well organized, easy to understand, interactive, accurate as far as I can tell. The web site design was also very strong. The site was fast and compatible with both Firefox and Internet Explorer. The homepage was attractive, clear; it has the site organized into sections, with the site sponsor, information of the provider, and a copyright date. The site was very easy to navigate with the site split up into sections of interest, and all links were appropriate and working fantastically. All videos and pictures helped to enhance the information and the site was very current. The presentation of content was sufficient in information to make the site worthy, it was clear and organized, basic theme, info was easy to find and the links were well organized.

For middle school teachers and students. Resources given are lessons and activities for a classroom, project ideas for clubs and classrooms, information on science, games for students and a message board for teachers to share ideas

Colter Huhn 1-25-10 The purpose of this site is to watch informational videos and read articles on science programs from PBS. The intended audience is all ages that can understand the material which looks to be about middle school age up. The site has many different science based categories with videos and interactive articles. Overall the content is very useful for exploring science television programming further with articles and online video on certain science based programming. The design is very professional and well layed out. The content is very good on this site, with a few minor flaws. Upon first look its fairly easy to tell the content for the site and from it know who the audience is. The information providers seem clear with the sponsor (PBS) being clearly identified and the makers of all videos. The currency seems very good with new material being added constantly and all links working properly. The quality of information is great with a clear educational purpose which is well executed. Every archived program is well organized into categories with easily understandable links and information. Many programs can be watched online with teacher links making the content very interactive. All information seems relevant and correct. The only flaws I found were no direct authors were shown or their contact information, but you can contact PBS. Also, I couldn't seem to find a date of revision, but all program dates are shown. The website design itself is also very professional. The speed is great and the site is compatible with both Firefox and Internet Explorer. The homepage is very attractive, clear, organized and all sponsor and copyright information is easily found. The navigation is simple with good organization of programs into categories and links. All videos are fantastic and relevant and the pictures represent these. The content is perfect for getting involved in science topics through documentaries and videos. There are plenty of links from eac

A great site for Science videos and documentaries. Includes links for teachers to utilize these as well.

Scott Chanthongthip January 25, 2009 Overview: The site offered interesting facts about sea turtles, but the majority of the organizational site purpose was to raise sea turtle awareness for conservation efforts. As a teacher, it may be useful to refer to the site for simple informational tidbits, but it is not a primary source for all turtle research. The site offers species only secluded to the Caribbean eco-system. Information on efforts to support the conservation of sea turtles helps website viewers get involved. People can volunteer, adopt a turtle, or donate money to sea turtle conservation. Content: Information offered on this site can be useful to teachers and their students. Easy to navigate the site has many interactive tools like the turtle tracking map, where one can pick a turtle and see where s/he has traveled. Tracking gives Information about the migration of the turtles often and updates site viewers about sea turtle behaviors. CCC is the longest .org website of its kind that lends its attention to turtle conservation. Dr. Archie Carr was the founder of the CCC and research efforts have accumulated almost 50 years of experience. Many of the people that edit this site and review it are turtle researchers giving it a credible source for information, but it also leans towards conservation efforts as its premise. Conservation may be the sites main priority, but lesson plans for teachers with available turtle modules for students to learn are helpful. I do not know if the website charges for the downloadable PDF files for teachers, but one must register to gain access to the teaching modules. The sites message is clear, so it provides multiple ways to contribute to the funds for seas turtle conservation. The site gave me the necessary tidbits that help me learn more about turtles, yet not a good place to start to teach about turtles. I would recommend this site more for making learning about turtles more interesting and possibly integrat

Overview This website was created to inform the reader about Betsy Ross and all the aspects of her life. The site has great information and can be easily accessed by anyone who has a computer. Its very attention getting and has a lot of great information. Content When accessing this site it is very clear its purpose is to inform the reader about Betsy Ross. Anyone can find the information on this site useful but it is probably geared more toward younger students. The copyright, latest revision date, and publisher are clearly listed at the bottom of the website. The site also ends in a .org making the information much more reliable. The purpose of this site is to inform, there is no bias present. All the information is well organized in bulleted list form, making the information easy to find. If you click on any of the bulleted points it will take you to another link with more information. The website is very easy to access and navigate and I would recommend it to both students and teachers. Design This website has a great eye appeal. The color scheme was red, white, and blue which I thought was very appropriate, and gave the website a little something extra. The site is easy to navigate because of the bulleted information. There are pictures of Betsy Ross which also help draw the reader in. This website can be accessed by anyone and is very user friendly. Overall this is a great website.

Overview This is a great website for teachers! It does a great job informing the reader about Rosa Parks. It also Has likes to teaching resources and student activities. Those are two great tools for any teacher. Content When first entering the site the topic is clearly stated at the top. You can tell that it is geared more toward teachers because it has links just for them. Students can also use it because it is very informative and has follow along pages making it easy for younger students to understand. This website also has a home button allowing the reader to find all the copyright and author information they need. All the copyrights are up to date and clearly stated by clicking the home button. The purpose of this site is to strictly inform. It does a really great job at laying out the information so it is not confusing to the reader. All topics are labeled will easy follow along buttons. This is definitely a great site for teachers and students who are younger. Design This website has an excellent design. The front page is very colorful making the reader want to see what the site has to offer. It also has a table of contents so the reader can easily navigate the site. Everything in the site is working as it should be, all of the links take you to the correct pages. The way this website is laid out really works in their favor!

Overview The purpose of this website is to inform the reader about Benjamin Franklins many inventions. It is very easy for the public to access through Google. The best part about the website is there are a ton of links on his different inventions. Content At a first glance you can definitely tell the website is dealing with Benjamin Franklins inventions. The site also appears to be helpful to people of all ages. Neither the author not the publishing date is stated, but there is a homepage that will take you to all of the contact information. This site is really well put together. It talks about all of his inventions but from the website you can further you knowledge. Each invention has a separate link, which will take you to pictures or more information about the invention. All the information is clear and accurate and can be used by people of all ages and backgrounds. I would definitely recommend this site to any student of any age who would like to learn more about Benjamin Franklins inventions. Design The design of this website is good but not great. It does have a picture right at the top which helped to grab my attention. There is a very large homepage button at the top which takes you to any contact or author information you might need. All the information is organized very nicely making it easy to navigate the site. I found the links to the other websites very useful!

Overview The purpose of this website is to inform people about the history of Native Americans. It is easily accessed by the public and it's a great resource for learning about Native American History. Content When you first log on to this website the title is clearly stated, and its very easy to understand the purpose of the website. The copyright date is current and it ends with a .org, it appears to be a credible site. The information on this website is clearly laid out it terms of dates in chronological order. This makes the information much easier to understand. The content on the website is clearly informative. It is not trying to sway you one way or another. Not only does this website contain great information it also has popular links on the side. These links take you to other sites which may be quite helpful. I think this website would be great for students and teachers. Design The creators of this website could have a done a little better with the design plan. The title isn't very catchy or colorful. In past experiences I have learned more people are apt to read things if they look appealing. The website itself is very efficient and easy to navigate. However multimedia is also lacking. More color and pictures could have been used to draw the reader in. The website is supposed to inform you and it does a great job of that.

Zach Ajour 1/25/10

Overview: This website is compiled of worksheets for all subjects at an elementary level. This is organized to assist teachers from preschool through fifth grade. Content: The authors and sponsors are clearly identified. Also, the copyright date and updated dates are clearly visible on each link. The content is organized so you can follow the link for the grade you need. Within the grade, there are links for the subjects taught in that grade and worksheets that correspond with the concept being taught. There are some single page worksheets and also packet worksheets. There are also worksheets with themes and for holidays. Design: This website is made up very simply, but it is still appealing to the audience. It is not filled with too many graphics to make it distracting. This site is very navigable because it is organized so that the user can quickly find what they need without having to go through many steps. There are also other sites that are linked so the user may find more information for the subject they need.

Overview: This website provides the templates needed to recreate popular games such as The Price is Right, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and Wheel of Fortune, are only a few of the examples. This games are intended to be used in an educational setting to help students better understand a certain concpet. Content: The purpose of this site is to use games in the classroom to entertain and to teach the students. These games could be utilized at different times during the year to help students review concepts they have learned. With some of the games, the game show themes are included to add more to the game. There are also links for other games to be used to teach different subjects and also puzzles and other educational games. Design: The sponsor or the author(s) of this website are not listed, nor is the copyright shown. The page is displayed very plainly with not many graphics or colors. However, this is not a large site so extra ornamentations would make the page seem too busy and distracting.

Megan Ridings ITEC 2360 Website Evaluations January 24, 2010 Overview: On the website, Elementary Lesson Plans.Net, the main purpose is to help elementary school teachers with lesson plans for all different subjects. It is clear that this website is designed for an audience of elementary school teachers, student teachers and parents who are homeschooling their children. Overall I feel that the site is well made and organized, the site is easy to navigate, and extremely helpful with online video tutorials and printable versions of lesson plans. In addition, this site is creative because aside from the creators of the site, new lesson plans are added daily by teachers in order to keep the site full of useful lesson plans. Content Summary: I have found the content of this site to be "worth bookmarking for future needs." The site is continuously being revised, as each day teachers are adding more lesson plans, in addition it is easy to tell what the purpose of the site is to be informational. The content of this site is well organized and easy to navigate and understand. The site appears to be complete, and offers a sufficient amount of information for those interested in elementary school lesson plans. The only flaws I find within the site are related to the information providers. Since the lesson plans are added by teachers and parents daily it is hard to track the authors, also it is impossible to determine whether or not the authors of pages are qualified and reliable resources. Design Summary: On this site the design is much weaker than that of the content. This site downloads efficiently, however it lacks the "eye-appeal," that I would hope for within a site based on elementary lessons. The homepage over all is strong and contains information for contacting the sponsors, as well as appropriate copyright date and other clear indicators of the contents of the site. As for navigation, the design of this site is efficient. Within the mult