ITEC2360

Tips on Internet safety

Jacqueline Twiford Web Site Review September 20, 2009 http://atozteacherstuff.com/ This website contains a lot of information for educators from Science, Math and reading and all the way from pre-school to high school. This is a great website to find a variety of information including lesson plan ideas. On this website you can also retrieve worksheets to help you in teaching the subject in your classroom. CONTENT When opening this website you can see an organized list of every subject that you will teach to your students. You can also get information for many different age groups from pre-school to high school. This "A-Z Teacher Stuff" is a site that provides you with tips for different activities as well as resources that you can use. You can discuss ideas on this site with other teachers as well as find articles related to the topic of your choice. "A-Z Teacher Stuff", is a great way to search all the topics you are looking for through one site. You can also retrieve lesson plans and activities as well as worksheets. The content provided on this site is in abundance and every teacher could find something on this site to utilize in their classroom. This site will help you find what you are looking for. "A-Z Teacher Stuff", provides a lot of helpful things for a teacher that needs new worksheets or even a lesson plan idea to change up the classroom for the students. DESIGN When I first opened "A-Z Teacher Stuff", the amount of links was a little defeating. After looking through the site a little more thoroughly I realized that it is very organized and loads quickly. This is a great way to search for information provided by teachers as well as the age group that you need. By using this broad search, you will save a lot of time by choosing the subject as well as the age level you plan on teaching it to. As a teacher time is very critical and you do not have much extra time to search through sites in detail to find what you need. By

Overview Paragraph: The purpose of this site is to provide different lesson plans and different activities for different subject areas in different age groups. The audience is teachers because it mostly contains tools for teachers. There are all kinds of different tools such as lesson plans and games along with worksheets and assignments to go with a lesson plan. Overall this site looks like a very good resource for teaching and creating lesson plans. Content Paragraph: The content on this site is mostly run by the public. It's very up to date and there are even forums that you can go and read and post on that is updated every few hours. The site is current according to its' copyright as well. The authors aren't displayed right out in the open because it is run mostly by the public. The sponsors are educational and displayed openly. All of the links are working and operational. The content is easy to use but could be organized a little better. Design Paragraph: The front page is very clear as to what is being displayed but the background is very shocking at first. There aren't very many pictures which hinders the usability of the website. The information is all very viable and easy to understand. The graphics make it kind of hard to focus on the content itself, but still isn't terrible to deal with. There is a link that is available for any further questions that you may have about the website. 

Posted by Kirsten McAlexander on 9/20/2009 abcteach provides a variety of printable materials for teachers from grade k-8th. The website provides activities and games that you can print for a variety of subjects. Content: This website is an excellent website for teachers because it allows you to print a variety of material. The website has everything from baseball bar graphs to sound flash cards. The website has many different topics including sports, seasons, art, writing, phonics and so on. It includes several different printable pages for every topic. Design: This website is very easy to navigate. It labels all subjects very clearly and does not take much time at all to find exactly what you are looking for. Attribution: This website does have a membership fee, but allows you to print many things for free. It does not ask for a sign in to print, or to navigate away from the homepage. The links work well and are very quick.

Posted by Tanisha Daugaard on September 21, 2009 This site is specifically designed for English teachers at any age level. It has many useful resources ranging from children's literature to ESL. It covers a wide range of topics and issues in English education. Content: This site is highly organized and really easy to navigate. The links are divided into the different areas of English and grammar. The site includes a date for which it was last updated, and it appears that it is updated often. The purpose of this site is easy to determine and it has sufficient information on the topic. The content appears to be complete and put together in a useful way to all skill levels. The information I found had good grammar and spelling. The site appears to be created by someone who is highly educated in English education. In general, the links work and route the user to other useful sites, and everything flows together nicely. This was the most useful site I have found yet! Design: This site is designed brilliantly. Everything was really easy to navigate. It does include a couple ads, but they do not take away for the purpose of the site. It does include some ads that do pertain to the subject and purpose of the site. All of the links are useful and divided in a manner that is easy to locate the information you need. The site is eye-catching and uses graphics and fonts to get the users attention. The site is modified frequently and includes contact information. Overall, it is designed in a way that keeps the attention of the user and is easy to use. Attribution: This site also isn't specifically designed for information that is quoted. However, it does give permission to link to any educational site. The site is copyrighted and has contact information for the site creators. All of the information and links are very useful and is meant to be used by teachers; it can also be used by students or anyone else needing help with English.

Cara Storey 9/2/10 Overview: Web English Teacher is a website designed as a teaching aid for English teachers through grades Kindergarten to 12th grade. The site offers a variety of resources including lesson plans, classroom activities, reading lists, and resources for students to excel in the classroom. This site is a useful site for any English teacher looking for resources. I found it to be a helpful site based on content, and the design easy to navigate. As a teacher I would use this site in my classroom. Content: At first look it's very easy to determine the directive of this site as it clearly identifies its audience and contents. The information on the author of the site is easily accessible and gives the reader an opportunity to contact them. All of the pages had been updated in the last couple of months and all the links were working well. The purpose of the site was clearly informational, and the purpose of the site was achieved through its contents. The site's content is very applicable to its audience, and offers accurate information and other links that could help with planning a curriculum. Design: This site downloaded easily and on several different browsers. The homepage was attractive without being distracting from the contents, and it clearly indicated the audience and contents of the site. Navigating is made extremely easy by the table of contents and the "sitemap" a list of links categorized by subject. The content of the site was organized and labeled, and there was enough content to make visiting the site worth while. The information on the site was easy to find and decipher. The site was current and up to date. It also clearly listed the author and contact info for any questions.

Open Source Desktop Publishing much like PageMaker or InDesign

An amusement park of math and more! Math lessons, math games, math practice, math fun! Coolmath4kids.com This website is targeted toward parents, teachers, and young kids interested in math and math games. The purpose of the website is to give lessons and games that will allow kids to easier understand math. The website seems easy to understand and gives simple explanations on math concepts. Content: The website is easily understood, and very clearly promotes math games and lessons to younger elementary age kids. The president, Karen, and writers of the website are clearly presented. The starting date is given, and the material seems to be up to date. The content is user-friendly and appropriate. Design: The website is very colorful, and appealing to the eye, especially for kids, who are most likely to use this site. The information is very useful and relevant to the younger kids, and easy to comprehend. There is enough info given to make it a useful website, and there are links to further info and to the creators.

CoolMAth.com- Review on 10/4/12 Diigo i.d= Jessle33 CoolMAth.com purpose is a site designed to make math more fun; referring to itself as an "amusement park" of games used to help make math more enjoyable. This site is designed for students of age 13 and up. The lowest level of math that it provides is pre-algebra so students younger than 8th grade may struggle a bit if using this site. There are various resources available for students who use this site: math lessons, math practice, math dictionaries, math games, all levels of math pre-algebra and up, puzzles, books, etc. There is also a tab that parents and teachers may visit that provides ways to help your kids with math homework, web education, and certain resources (books) that are available to them. My overall impression of this site is that it is easy for students to navigate no matter their age and bright colors are used. There are games that keep the students engaged and help to make the lessons educational, but beneficial. There are a lot of various activities for the students to use and that helps in many ways.

Kayla Hyde 10/20/2013 Overview: This website is made to make math cool and fun to students. It would be great for those students that don't think math can be fun or that rather play computer games then do math. It is a great way to promote learning in a new way. Content: This site is full of information and different links to different games based on different skills. There are puzzles and games that can be targeted for children ages three to five to eighth grades. Any student at any math level can find a game to help increase their learning of the subject. Design: The website can be a little overwhelming with so many links and so many colors. Because the site is set on a black background and multicolored text, it can be a little too much at times. Also there are many ads that can be a little much, but the content is still worth it.

This application offers a slew of services (including word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation). I don't like them as much as Google applications because they have a for profit mentality. They give you very limited services on many of the applications with the expectation that you will purchase a yearly subscription.

Themathworksheetsite.com This site is created for teachers. The purpose is to provide easy to use worksheets for the classroom, and there are several different types of worksheets available. The target is more toward middle school and elementary age kids. The website is pretty easy to maneuver, and the subject material is relevant. Content: The website is easy to understand, and gives quick and simple worksheets that are very easy to figure out. The website's provider, Scott Bryce, is given at the bottom, and the updated date is easy to find as well- July 7. The content is easy to find, and user-friendly. Design: The website's design is boring, not very eye-catching, but seeing as the audience is more directed toward teachers, it doesn't seem to matter. The information is very useful to teachers, and is very relevant. There is a lot of information and resources available and make the site worthwhile to teachers. The site is fairly quick, and easy to maneuver.

A free plugin for Firefox browsers on Mac, PC, and Linux that allows you to organize research articles for professional purposes

This website is highly credited and useful for the teacher and student who need help with grammar, spelling, and composition. This site also provides worksheets and exercises a teacher can use in the class to teach students good writing skills they will need.

Clayton Christensen 9/20/2009 This website is intended for math students needing help and practice in their subject matter. The site intends to provide help in any way. The site provides homework help, calculators, tutorials and many other helpful links. Content: The content of the site is laid out in a very organized way it has links listed under certain subjects that will help students. The website contains anything from basic math to calculus and even help with test anxiety and standardized test help. There is no revised date but it seems that the website is very informative and on top of math help. When clicking on links it provides more links to more specific areas of study. I like the fact that it has a wide range of subject so that it is not specific to one age group. Design: The design of the website is both attractive yet simple to navigate. The links are well laid out and easy to find the exact subject that a person is looking for. I like that the website is not loaded with animations but that it is simple. It would be easy for students to find there way around the website and do it in a timely fashion. The faster students can get through homework problems the more interested they will stay and this website does a good job of allowing students to navigate easily.

A simple tangrams activity

This website provides more insite into the world of art through the study of art history. Content: This website has an art history timeline on its homepage that can show students the main movements and periods in art history and when they occured. The website also has a side bar complete with all major movements and artists that the veiwer can click on and learn more about. Upon clicking on an artist featured in the sidebar, one can see some of the artists work, a biography of the artists life and what style, medium and country their work was done in. The same goes for clicking on a style of art, the veiwer is given a detailed description of the art style, shown examples of work done in that style and artists that practiced it. This is a great website for older students to find out more about art, so they can better their own work and write papers

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.

Katharine Johnson September 19, 2009 Georgia Agriculture Education Introduction: This website is from the Georgia Department of Education and is there to help teachers in effectively teaching their classes. It has different power points and lesson plans. Content Evaluation: First Look: When I first looked at this site it was inviting. It is well organized and easy to navigate. Information Providers: The authors of the site are listed at the bottom of the homepage. It just talks about who they are and gives their job titles. There is contact information if you have any questions. Information Currency: It just says that it was last updated in 2009. From looking at the information it looks as though the site is maintained regularly. The other site links are updated and in working order. Information Quality: I think the information that this site provides could be extremely helpful to a new teacher. It gives power points with information that could be used and also has lesson plans that could help. Not only this but there is information for other organizations and other aspects of agriculture in the class room. However I did run into some problems opening a couple of the folders, but other than that everything is functional. 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. Use of multimedia: All the graphics and other medias used are effective. Browser compatibility: Only tested Internet Explorer. Content Presentation: All this information could be really helpful in the classroom.

Several interactive puzzles of states and countries throughout the world.

Monique Koller Jan. 24 2010 This is a site that is helpful when trying to learn maps and geography! Content: The content is very good. There's a list of places you can do. You are given a map and you fill it in. The maps seem pretty accurate. The maps can get harder so that you can make sure you are learning. Design: The site isn't overly interesting or colorful however it is easy to navigate and use! The maps are well done and they load quickly! I think periodically they make a new map of an area. I can now learn more about China. Overview: The purpose of this site is to teach anyone the locations and capitols of different parts of the world. The maps have different difficulty levels making you learn the locations better. I think this site has a lot of benefits and I would love to use this site more for my own knowledge. I like that the maps time you so you know how well you know them by the speed you finish.

Jacqueline Twiford Web Site Review September 20, 2009 http://www.schoolworld.com/teacherSites.cfm?subpage=502 "School World", is wonderful way to incorporate technology into your classroom. This site allows you as a teacher to post assignments, announcements, and messages and even quizzes online. By incorporating this site into your classroom you are also including parents in their student's education. CONTENT This site's purpose is very obvious once you read through the first few paragraphs. Through this site you can build a webpage for your classroom, for a small cost. By utilizing this website you can bring your classroom into the student's home, including parents in their learning. As a teacher you can post grade book information to quizzes and notes to the parents and students. This is a great way to incorporate technology into your classroom on a daily basis; also it is beneficial to have a site that you can check on student's progress at any point. DESIGN "School World", is a very organized website allowing you to immediately see what the content is and how it can apply to you and your classroom as well as how it can help you. An interesting icon I noticed was the awards of excellence and teacher's choice winner, all very reputable awards that makes me feel this site is a very reputable one for teacher s to use. It also encourages use of this site to include organization ad technology as well as including adults in the child's education. Through this site you can have students help you update content as well as yourself in seconds. This site is an excellent way to incorporate technology as well as keep a well organized classroom for a small amount a year.

Posted by Allie Parrott 09/17/09\nEducation World as it says on the site is "an educator's best friend". On this site there are ideas for lesson plans, education games, and even ways to incorporate technology into the classroom. Content: This site has a ton of information. Although there is information for all ages, it seems more geared toward elementary school teachers. There are links for every subject. Math practice, punctuation of the day, and writing instructions are all in one spot. However there are five main categories to make a teacher's research quicker. These include: Lesson Planning, Professional Development, Technology Integration, Administrator's Desk, and School issues. There is even a convenient search bar located at the top of the page if the previous options do not fit that teacher's needs. The site is updated daily. This is extremely beneficial for a returning user. There are a lot of links and buttons to push before the user reaches their destination, but once there the information is clear. Most lesson plans are completely done for the user. There are also educational game instructions ready to be printed out. It's very easy for teachers to use. Everything is copyrighted by Education World and they can easily be contacted by selecting the link at the bottom. I would consider this site very credible and useful tool. Design: The design is fantastic. The most important links are at the top of the page in bright colors. Almost every link is in alphabetical order, making it easy to come back to a particular one. It is very colorful and flashy. There are a lot of advertisements down the right side of the page, but surprisingly they do not draw attention away from the information. The links work flawlessly and quickly. The feature that lets one searcher on the world wide web, or strictly in Ed World is also a helpful element of the design. Attributions: I would feel save using this site to get ideas for my class. There is contact information.

This is a great look into a lesson plan done by another teacher that allows you to think about doing a similar lesson.