ITEC2360

Mike Wilson Site review September 18, 2009 Science Buddies Free Science Fair Project Ideas, Answers, & Tools for Serious Students Introduction This is a very detailed and comprehensive site to facilitate student science fair projects. It can be used by the casual science fair student though the stated target student is the serious science student. Detailed information is provided for students and teachers K-12. The site is supported by 30 major science and technology corporations and is run by a staff of 18 not including the Seagate IT people. Anything to do with a school science project, this is your stop. Google ranking is 6/10 with 321 backward links. Content Evaluation First Look The home page and site are by no means fancy. Simple and clear what the information is and where to go on the site. The depth of the site is extensive. As you start your information search you can easily select your target grade level. Information Providers The purpose of the site, sponsors and fact there are real scientists involved is clear. Information Currency Site is fully operational and current. No daily revision date is given but 2009 Copyright is in place. Extensive links to other sites from each specific science project page for additional information. Information Quality Content is extensive, selectable for grade level. Very well organized and effective science fair development and projects for students, teachers and parents. Massive resources on the site itself with additional links out as needed. Design Evaluation Speed Science Buddies is very well designed to be a quality information site. Fast loads. Very text oriented, limited and simple graphics with properly sized thumbnails to keep page loads quick. Home Page & Ease of Navigation 9 tabs across home page top or easily 9 home pages. Actual home page is 85% above the fold. Very easy and quick to move around the site. The 'Topic Selection Wizard' is very functional, grade, gender, subject

Ross Lindstrom - September 21, 2009 Website Evaluation #1: The American Political Science Association (APSA) The American Political Science Association's website is an aesthetically attractive website that also contains a wealth of information and additional resources. The Association brings together 15,000 members to form a community of political science study, fostering a healthy discourse and exchange of information. APSA organizes conferences, seminars, and produces publications for both students and teachers for the purpose of promoting the scholarly research of political science. My first impression of the website is a complete trust in the legitimacy of the information presented. Any student would find this website invaluable when looking for resources to do anything from simply understanding what political science is to writing a graduate dissertation or finding an internship in Washington. The website displayed efficient organization of the various areas of the site, a challenge when so much information is contained within. It had enough visual appeal to not become redundant while browsing and yet still retain the professionalism that should be inherent in such a field of study. However, a high school age student may find the website a bit dry and the content a little too advanced. Most of the publications of the website aren't available in a direct .html format, but download speeds are quick. There is significant information overlap among the publications, but in a field of study where slight opinion difference is a cornerstone of the conversation, this can only be a credit to its legitimacy. The first glance at the APSA website yields both an understanding of its purpose and a desire to explore the website's resource. The content is clearly organized based on subject matter as well as practical application. Proper credits to authors are prevalent, new content is regularly added, and old content is constantly maintained. One of the

Posted by Tanisha Daugaard on September 21, 2009 This site is mainly intended for middle school teachers, but it can also be used as a resource for students. It focuses on English, writing, and reading. It is a great site to find lesson plans, electronic books and manuscripts, and other useful information for the classroom. Content: This site is very well organized. It is divided into three sections: English, reading, and writing. It has numerous links to other sites dealing with each subject area. It appears to be updated frequently and the website developers also take input on what other sites would be good to add. I feel the content achieves the purpose quite effectively. Everything just flows together. It is easy to understand, and each link has a description of what can be found on the site. The authors appear to be qualified in middle school education. In general, the links work properly and route the users to other useful, creditable sites. Individual contributors are not listed, but an email for the designers is provided. This site also clearly labels the new links that have been posted. Design: The site is designed very well. It is clear of ads and other pictures that are not related to the subject. This site is easy to navigate. Each site that is linked falls under one of three categories. Each graphic serves a purpose and the site doesn't include anything that distracts the users. There is enough information provided that makes the site usable for teachers and students. It covers many areas under English, reading, and writing. The site is modified and the updates are clearly marked. Everything is well organized and easy for anyone of any age to use. Attribution: Using and quoting information from this site can be tricky. Some links clearly state who the authors are, but others don't at all. Overall, I think this site is used more for getting ideas than actually quoting someone. The information provided is very useful, but one has to be careful

Jessica Adams; Website Reviewed: September 20, 2009 "The Lessons Plan Page" is a wonderful website that lists various ways you can teach math such as games worksheets and lesson plans. CONTENT "The Lesson Plans Page" has a bulletin board that lists various topics that different teachers are discussing. Most of the teachers are giving helpful hints about how to teach different lesson plans as well as posting new lesson plans. Some of the various math subjects include; addition and subtraction, algebra, counting, date and time, decimals, fractions and percentages and the list goes on and on. DESIGN "The Lesson Plans Page" is an amazing website that I found very helpful when it came to different ideas on how to teach different variations of math. From new teacher's who aren't sure how to teach math yet to teacher's who have been teaching for years who just need new material this website is for them. It was last updated this year and was made by HotChalk Inc. Each lesson plan listed under each subject is different and very interesting as well as fun for the students. I would highly recommend this site to any teacher who needs a boost in how to teach math.

A site similar to Jstor.org but much more organized with a larger\ncollection of material. The site also includes sites like Jstor to help \nkeep the collections quite large.

This website is called Core Knowledge Lesson Plans at coreknowledge.org. Download was quick; without delay. Homepage is attractive and well organized. Critical pieces of information (sponsors, contacts, and copyright) are easy to locate and navigate to. Media is effective and while there is not a lot of it, I believe the lack of it adds significantly to the effectiveness of the site. The worth of visiting this site is high; there is plenty of useful information that can help educators in creating lesson plans with a purpose. The date in which the site was updated clearly viewable at the bottom of the page and is also current within the month. Contact and copyright information are also given here. Overall this site is useful and easy to navigate. It is worth visiting.

Ross Lindstrom - September 21, 2009 Website Evaluation #2 - Teaching Comparative Government and Politics This website is a blog-based collective of information and resources for the purpose of aiding instruction of comparative government and politics. The audience is primarily secondary and postsecondary teachers of government and politics who are seeking resources about and/or specific examples of comparative government they can use for their class. The impression I had was that it was an interesting and at times very applicable for teachers, but the blog-style format and lack of information accessible on command makes the potential application of this website in a teaching environment limited. The website took a little while to load, which I believe can be attributed to the length of the continued thread of blogs/discussion. (Excuse my lack of correct internet jargon). The first thing I noticed was a cramped column of text, outside links, and pictures organized in a sequential, most recent blog entry- at top format. The website lacks a visible title. Even the purpose description is vague: "Teaching Comparative Government and Politics is a complex and demanding task. We can all use all the help we can get. This cyber place is somewhere to facilitate helpful interactions." The blog entries usually include relevant pictures and multimedia links. Despite the lack of outside sources, the blog is archived from 2006, so there is a large amount of articles to sift through. Even though I questioned the main author's legitimacy and authority in the area, all the articles contained something that had practical classroom application. The content is also constantly updated, with multiple meaningful posts coming within the period of one day. It is a bit difficult to determine the exact purpose of the website, as well as the main author. The name Ken Wedding is given as the author, but doesn't offer more information in the way of his legitimacy as an ed

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.

Clayton Christensen 9/20/2009 The purpose of the site is to inform new math teachers of some things that they should keep in mind when starting their new teaching career. The intended audience is both new and experienced teachers concentrating on math teachers. The site provides links to lesson plans, math calculator sites, and many different sites helpful for a math teacher. Content: The content of the site is geared towards teachers looking for interactive assignments with their students. The website provides many links that allow teachers to navigate to other sites for further information quickly. The website provides a link to free lesson plans that will help teachers get an idea of lessons they may want to use that day. The website has not been updated since November 2007, but I believe the content is very helpful. The website shows the many rewards that it has won since it was developed. Design: This website is very simple it is very easy to navigate as all of the links are in a very organized list that is easy to find. The website is not extremely attractive because there is not a lot of color but because of this the site makes it easy to navigate to the other links. All of the links worked effectively and took me to the described site. The website however not particularly attractive it is very easily navigated and useful.

Jstor is a collection of journal articles from several fields, that covers mostly Political Science and History. The site does, carry several articles on various subjects beyond the two mentioned.

Content: This website's purpose is easily determined within moments of looking at the page. Although I do not specifically want to teach science the information it provides makes the idea a lot less threatening. The content that is displayed provides a variety of topics that have to do with biology (whether it is human, animal, ECT…). Even though, the website is pretty short the attention it demands when you open the screen is remarkable. There are links to several other websites that all open and are available to further education in other areas of biology like I said previously. Design: From exploring this site, I believe that it is a reliable educational website for the use of teaching science topics and providing stimulating visuals to assist in the students learning. This is a website teachers can use for a variety of grades as it is grade appropriate website as it suggests. The homepage not only opens quickly and efficiently but exhibits other science based activities and strategies in other tabs; it is very clear and directive for the users Attribution: Overall this website is one that I would most likely use if I was going to be a science teacher. From the moment you open the site you see that the intended audience is for students but also provides valuable information for the teachers. As far as what links connect the user to where seems to be very clear. The media that is presented in this site is both interactive with the visual effects and descriptive which amplifies learning. From what I experienced, everything runs smoothly and is up to date with the current knowledge of what is to be expected in the classroom when covering these topics as well as making learning fun, which is equally as important. There happens to also be various links in which the user can use to seek out help.

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

Content: This website was designed for math homework help. It has the four distinct categories; addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, and levels each visitor might need help in. Visually this website isn't very appealing, but the games look interesting for teaching students and help the promotion of a fun learning environment. Clicking on different tabs takes you to the different perspectives of the classroom i.e. the teachers, the learners, and the parents. There are also numerous links to other homework help websites as well. Design: Overall I think the design of the website is good and user friendly. There are a lot of links and tabs, but become useful when it is designed for not only students, but parents and teachers as well. The only downfall to the design of this website is their selling of products gets mixed in with some of the learning material too, so it becomes a little overwhelming. Attribution: I would encourage my students to check out the games on this website because they are a fun way to learn math. I would also encourage parents to play along with their students because it would also familiarize them with the material their students are learning too. The visual aspects of this site promote a fun learning environment and nothing vulgar or inappropriate is presented, making it a safe site to encourage students to visit.

Katharine Johnson September 19, 2009 Ag in the Classroom Introduction: This website focuses on agriculture in the classroom. It has a variety of information and links for both educators and students. Content Evaluation: First Look: When I first looked at the site honestly I didn't think it would be much but it is easy to navigate and easy to understand. Information Providers: The website has been endorsed by the Americans Association for the Advancement of Sciences. Also it has been sponsored by the USDA Agriculture in the Classroom program and is manages through an agreement with Utah State University. Information Currency: The site is not clear about when it was last updated. But most of the events are current so that leads me to believe it has been update recently. The other site links are updated and in working order. The only one that I had problems with was the questions tab. It said the site was unavailable. Information Quality: This site offers a wide variety of information that I believe could be helpful to new teachers. Also I believe it could help students learn more about agriculture. Design Evaluation: Speed: Most of the pages opened quickly and effectively. Home Page: The homepage is attractive and eye appealing. All the information is clear and organized and easy to find what you are looking for. Ease of Navigation: The site is easy to navigate. All the information is clear and organized and helps you find what you are looking for easily. Having the main points larger and bold helps navigate through the site. Use of multimedia: All the graphics and other media's used are effective. Browser compatibility: Only tested Internet Explorer. Content Presentation: All this information could be really helpful in the classroom for both teacher and students.

Sam Burns, 9/20/2009 "German Online Interactive Learning" is very similar to the last site I reviewed. It provides links to other sites for specific problems in the German language, both for learning and teaching German. Content: This site once again has hundreds of likes to hundreds of different German help sites. I clicked on many of the links and not one was the same as the links on the other site. This site has links for games and grammar once again but it also provides many useful PowerPoint's. The PowerPoint's are available to download to your computer and they actually provide accurate and helpful information. Once again I must say that I believe this site is aimed toward beginning German. There are not a lot of helpful links for advanced German studies. Design: This site is free and not hard at all to navigate. It provides a search engine as well as links for other sites. It is pretty well laid out and easy to find the information you are searching for, even if it is not of value. It is very colorful and is updated weekly. The current and new information is easy to interpret and to find. Overall this site is well organized and useful.

James Gee (a Linguist by trade) discusses the use of games, particularly video games, to teach difficult subjects like Chemistry.

Ron Morgan September 19, 2009 This website is intended for anyone interested in movies or graphic design. The website showcases a number of movie posters that have been designed by an artist in the field of designing movie posters. The website has a number of links viewers can check out. The site has some contact information and advice for anyone interested in the field of designing movie posters. Overall the website is successful at its purpose. However, the artist's name was not able to be found. Content Summary: This website is pretty straight forward and the viewer can easily see what the content of the website is. The information provided about the artist and artwork is sufficient. Credit is given to the appropriate entities. For example, the website was designed by altlab.com. The work however, doesn't seem to be all completely up to date. But the content is appropriate and useful to the viewer. Design Summary: The website is unique in its design and it works well. The information given in useful, informative, and relevant. The links are numerous and appropriate. The presentation of the artwork is done very well. There is also a short summary discussing the specifics of each poster.

Clayton Christensen 9/20/2009 The website is geared for teachers, parents, and students. The site is intended to help teachers, students, and parents get through math problems and lessons. The site provides math calculators, tutoring links for students and parents, lesson plans for teachers and many other useful tools. Content: The website is a math website has helpful content for all math levels from basic and everyday math to trigonometry and calculus. The site has a link that parents can use to freshen up on their math skills and even lesson plans for homeschooling. The teachers link has many useful links the one I found most interesting a link that generates worksheets to give to students as practice. Students can use the websites calculators to help with math and also visit sites that have tutors. Design: The design of the website at first was a little difficult and looked as if it would be hard to navigate, but after playing with it for a little while it was easier then expected. The website is not very attractive and my turn people off at first glance but after using the site I think that it could be very helpful in all levels of math whether it be teacher, students, or parents. I would defiantly use the site for future reference.

Posted by Allie Parrott 09/17/09\nThe Shakespearean Resource Center is a site dedicated to Shakespearean language, theatre, and history. Everything on the site is fully functional and thorough. Teachers and students alike could learn a lot from it. Content: The Shakespearean Resource Center is a perfect place for Secondary English teacher's to go for not only basic Shakespeare facts, but in-depth explanations of his language. This site is perfect for high school students and teachers that are struggling with Shakespeare's particular style. In one section "Dictionary of Shakespeare" there shows all of the words he contributed to our everyday vocabulary. I believe that this site is valid because at the bottom of the page it shows when it was last updated. June 2009 was the last time, and that is pretty recent in comparison to a lot of sources one will get concerning William. At the bottom the author and sponsor are also easily spotted, making it all the more credible. All links and information are related to Shakespeare or the Elizabethan time in England. It will help the student that everything on this site is well organized, and they can gather tons of information with out straying far from its links. Design: The site is designed exceptionally well. There are no bothersome pop-ups and there are a limited amount of ads. All the links are functional, and under each link there is a short description, telling the visitor exactly what they are about to learn. It does lack a certain visual effect. There aren't many pictures or graphics, but consider the fact that it is a site for Shakespeare information. Shakespeare had a way with words not pictures. Students who are researching him should be highly literate because there is a lot of reading. The design is perfect for what needs to be accomplished. Attributions: It would be extremely easy to cite this source. Information is not only found at the bottom of each individual page, but also in a link that says cite SRC