ITEC2360

webquest site

This website provides discussions and visualization activities to help students become more familiar with the data analysis.

Posted by Kirsten McAlexander on 9/20/2009 Enchanted learning provides a variety of material for teachers of all different grades. It provides printables and information in an easy to understand way. Especially useful for k-6th grades, but has content for every grade. Content: Although this website must be paid for, you can still get many things free. It is very cheap to join only $20.00 a month and well worth it. This site provides information on a variety of languages from everything from English to Dutch. It has every subject matter as well science, math, history, and writing. It has printables, lesson plans, places for students to look things up, activities, and books to print. This website is very helpful for teachers because it has such a wide variety of things. Design: This website is very easy to navigate. The only problem I have run into is on occasion it will not accept the login. The website is very colorful and attracts the attention of young minds easily. It is full of pictures to aid learning. Attribution: Since you must pay for this website, or even the pages you can get without paying for them, you can use everything on this site without citations. A student can get on and take information without plagiarizing. Teachers can print everything on the site. The point of the site is to have information and printables that are easily accessible by teachers and easily usable by teachers.

Amanda Lemaster January 24, 2011 overview: The purpose of this website is to provide materials and ideas for elementary age children. It is intended for teachers or children to use. The resources in the website are almost endless, there are activity worksheets, coloring pages, and craft ideas. I feel that this website could be very useful for a teacher, or even a parent. The content is semi-educational, so I be careful with how I use it. content: There is a lot of content in this website. Almost all the resources that can be used are print-out activities. There are coloring pages, maps, diagrams and basic information about specific subjects. The subjects range from animals, to music to geography. There might almost be too much to this website, just be prepared to weed through a lot of information about the subject used. design: The design of this website is not exactly what most people would call up to date. When a person looks at this website they may think that this is an unreliable source. Just because of the poor quality of how it looks. There is lots of white space and many bold colors that stand out. The layout is very simple. The website is useful but could have a little better layout.

The purpose of this website is to provide information on various topics. LearningEnchanted.com provides information including sciences, literature, arts and crafts, history, and many content areas. The information provided seems to be directed towards an older audience whose life entails interaction with young children. However, it is very possible that grade school children would be able to access the website themselves. There is an "early reader's" section where children can access short chapter books or short stories. My overall impression of this website was fair. It met many of the credentials provided on the criteria sheets for content and design. However, it lacked visual appeal but excelled at providing applicable information for me as a future educator. Content: At first look, this website clearly identified its purpose and content. The founders of this website, Jeananda Col and Mitchell Spector, were clearly credited. Information on both is provided. The authors were both very well qualified to present this information and held degrees in various fields. Contact information was available. This website is updated quite frequently. Last update was on August 25, 2011. I did not find any links to outside websites. They were all connected within the EnchantedLearning site. The purpose was clear. There was commercial use because you can subscribe to the website to get more access. Also, there was basic access to many web pages that made it informational as well. The content does present the information in an effective manner but the site lacks the use of interactive opportunities. Based on my knowledge, all the information provided appeared to be accurate, consistent, and in good grammar. Although a huge fault of this website was the lack of exterior links, the content of this website are very helpful for future educators and parents. Design: The homepage of this website downloaded without any problems in two different browsers. There was no real eye appe

Overview - Kinderart.com is a strong resource for elementary art educators where they can find lessons, teaching kits, supplies, community, and more. Content - The content and the intended audience are apparent from the get go at Kindart.com. The authors of the site, Andrea and Jantje Mulder-Slater are credible in their art education backgrounds and have provided accessible contact information. The site is kept current, indicated by its recent update and its up and running links. Content is purposeful for art educators and should be easy to navigate by its simple organization. My only complaints are in the pop up ads. Design - The design elements at Kinderart.com are clean and crisp for the most part. Aside from a bit of clutter near the foot of the home page the tool bars are easy to spot and navigate. Labels are appropriate and links are well organized. Again, my only complaint are the pop up ads.

Nathan Wonnacott 9/9/11 Overview: The purpose of Kinder Art is to supply teachers and parents ways to teach art. There are many lesson plans as well as supplies at the site. The pull-down menu contains a direct link to several art topics, craft ideas, and contests. Content: The first impression of the site is for teaching children, but it is littered with advertisement on the side bars. The authors, Andrea Mulder-Slater and Jantje Blokhuis-Mulder, are described as active and efficient teachers. Contacting them is a hassle, but possible. Overall, the content is updated and relevant, but is easy to say that major revisions are needed to make this site effective. Design: This site is not particularly fast, efficient, or effective. To obtain information one needs, he or she needs to navigate for a few minutes. I found a few dead ends when searching links. For the time it takes to finish searching, the information is not efficient.

This is a great website for any art teacher K-12. Content: This website provides art teachers of any grade level with lesson plans to use in their classrooms. This website will be particularly handy for begging art teachers. It is easy to navigate the site, lessons for everything from drawing to painting to 3D is provided in detailed lesson plans by clicking on the subject. The lessons are step by step and are great for beginnig artists. This website is nice for teachers that need ideas on how to present the information to their students.

Nathan Wonnacott 9/9/11 Overview: The Creative Spotlight is a site providing tutorials to new artists and supplies to continuing artist. It is clear that the site is more commercial than educational. It's a basic site with links to areas such as drawing, painting, and graphic design. Content: It is obvious that this site is directed toward art; however it doesn't provide helpful information. The tutorials focus on very limited instruction, followed by pictures to assist in "learning". The creator of the site only refers to himself by first name, which is an indicator that it's not a trustworthy source. Also, the copyright regulations are harsh, discouraging copying of any kind. I would not suggest this site for these reasons. Design: The design of this site is extremely basic, and links are slow to other sites. The format is cluttered and lacks revision. By the time one navigate through the site, he or she is probably disappointed by what they find.

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.

Virtual manipulatives for mathematics

The purpose of this game is to get a ball into a bucket by arranging various gears and other objects. It deals with basic principles of motion and physics.

Posted by Mitchell Clark 9/18/09: HippoCampus is an interactive homework site that provides homework help in math, science, psychology, history and religion. Content: HippoCampus is a simple but very effective homework help site sponsored by the Monterey Institute of Technology and Education. This site uses a combination of resources to help students understand the basics of nearly any level of math, science, psychology, history or religion class that they might encounter during high school or college. The lessons on this site use images, audio and user interaction to help with the comprehension of the material at hand. In addition to this there are also Spanish options for subjects such as calculus and algebra. There are also links to actual text books, but they are deceiving. It turns out that instead of being able to view the text, the user is presented with a video interview of the textbook's author about a certain subject. This can display a certain bias if the interview is conducted poorly. Another potential problem with this site is that it was last updated in 2007. Now for some subjects such as math or language arts this is irrelevant but for subjects such as science and psychology this could result in the absence of new and important information. Aside from the "textbook" links, this site is so well organized that the user can easily find the exact chapter or concept that they wish to review with just a few clicks of the mouse. Design: This site is well designed and very easy to navigate. There are four advertisements but they are organized neatly on the right side of the screen and are nothing more than links to scholarship information and additional resource sites. The sponsor of the site is clearly stated at the bottom of the page and there is a link to their contact information. The site is mainly composed of two sections, the first being a list of general subjects that the user might be interested in, i.e. math and the second section is where

This web site provides games and tools a teacher and student can use to learn mathematical skills such as decimals, fractions, and other systems used throughout history.

Allows you to poll classrooms using the Internet or cellphones and display results in real time.

Posted by Amber Rittenhouse on 1/23/10 Overview: Coolmath is a site that assists ages 13 and above in learning math. The site teaches a math concept with a lot of detail, and then encourages the viewer to try it themselves. Links to further pages work properly and are generally useful. It is very easy to understand and follow. Coolmath looks like it is a very useful and fun website that helps students better understand math. Content: Coolmath contains pre-algebra, algebra, and geometry lessons, with many different categories in each. It also contains many math games. Information about the author can be found through this site. The author has a master's in math and is a college math teacher, so she is well qualified to present information on math. The site is well organized and easy to understand. However, there is no date of last revision, so it is unclear about how often this website is revised. Therefore, the accuracy of the site can not be detected. There are a few ads around the outside, but they are not very distracting since the main page is more colorful and catches the eye very easily. Design: Overall, Coolmath is well designed. The homepage is very colorful, making it look very appealing. There are links to go to specific places to learn specific math problems. There are, however, numbers that follow the cursor when it moves, which is kind of distracting. The information of the site looks well organized, so you can go to exactly where you desire. There is a link to contact people in charge of this site. There are also links to other math websites for further reference.

Overview: This website is targeted for people between the ages of "13-100" its means for people who are confused, hate, or are bored with math. Cool Math is updated frequently and was created by Karen who is a teacher and has a Master's in mathematics, she made the website because she had a difficult time growing up with math and she did not want others to have the difficulty that she had. Content: There are math lessons, practice, and games all focused on math. Though this website does not cover a wide variety of math subjects, the subjects that it does focus on Karen did a wonderful job. These subjects include: pre-algebra, algebra, pre-calc, calc, and geometry. This site is definitely focused on the students and helping them. Design: The design is child friendly, very colorful and welcoming. The cursur is the numbers 1 through 6 which is a fun change, the graphics are cute and as a younger student I would have been attracted. The only negative part of this design is that it seems a little cluttered at times but I might think that because we are always taught "less is more" but a student might find this "clutter" appealing.

Overall I think that this is a very good site; I think that it would really help children that need help with math, or need help enjoying it. The author has a master's degree in math, and is a math teacher, which I think helps because she is knowledgeable about math and teaching it. This site could be a very helpful math resource. I also think it is a good idea that it is for everyone over the age of 13, not just school age children. Design The design of this site is very good, the page does not have any links that do not work or that aren't relevant to the purpose. The graphics are all relevant and appealing and they do not take too long to download. Criteria There are many different types of activities on this site that will help the audience enjoy and be better at math. The information is all relevant and the author provides a long page about herself, her qualifications and why she created the site.

Scott Chanthongthip on January 23, 2010 Overview: The National Science Foundation (NSF) website offers diverse areas of science studies. Many of the research articles are conducted by educational institutions, which the NSF provides grants or funding to. The homepage offers an update on the most recent research released in the press. NSF website can be useful for students that may want to look into topics of interests. I would recommend this more for teachers to grasp a subject matter better, so teachers may choose age-appropriate science knowledge for students. Content: The website was last updated on November 5th, 2009, but it has updated press releases related to science from the past few days. The NSF funded research studies posted on the web site. The search tool bar at the top right of the home page offers an easy way to look for a scientific topic of interest. Each search renders multiple links that relate to the search query, and none of the links is broken. The pages on the website have a lot of content and to many people that use it, the conglomeration of links and words can be overwhelming. The purpose of this site is clear, because it states it at the bottom, "Celebrating 60 Years of Discovery." The NSF research posts are credible because most of the information is tested through research from higher educational institutions. Teachers for K-12 can click on the link "classroom resources", under "site features" on the right side of the home page. I found this part to be helpful in finding interesting ways to teach science in the classroom. When teachers choose "classroom resources" links, site re-direction may proceed to help teach subjects of interest. There are also educational grants and science funding for teachers for K-12 and for classrooms from K-12. Design: The design of the website has so much information and links that it may be intimidating to try to navigate. Once one spends a little time at the site they

Useful Website for my WebQuest on the Basics of Acting. Jennifer Durn

Emily Phillips 8/31/2010 Overview: The purpose of this site is for a quick and easy way to solve simple math problems that only involve numbers, not concepts. The intended audiences are math students in lower levels of math. No available resources are provided. This site is basically a calculator with many functions, but can't do all of the functions that a more advanced graphing calculator can. While the site was easy to navigate, moving advertisements and pictures are distracting to the user. Content: A user can easily tell if this site will help their needs however in order to have full access to the site (i.e. the ability to see the steps to get the answer to the entered equation) they must be a member of the site. The information is accurate but since the answers are computer generated, once the user enters into calculus equations, they should be careful to check their answers with other sources because there is a chance that the answer could be one that is not the appropriate answer. There are no links to other sites that might be helpful or related to the subject. Design: The design was good and easy to navigate and follow. The pages within the site come up fairly quickly and the designs of each page are consistent. Some of the graphics contribute to the site but the advertisements definitely take away attention to the site.

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

The last site provides information about chemicals put out to stop the fire that may be harmful to humans.