Group items tagged

Sarah Lindstrom October 15, 2012 Overview The purpose of this website is for elementary students to be able to practice telling time by using different games and worksheets. This website is also helpful for elementary teachers looking for ways for students to practice telling time. It has games and worksheets for students to help them more fully understand the concept of telling time. Overall I thought this website was easy to use and gave lots of ideas to help students get better at telling time. The content all related to telling time which is important when that is what the teacher's lesson is focused on. Content The information was current and it all had to do with telling time, but it gave lots of options to go about practicing how to tell time. The specific worksheet I used required the students to tell time in order to decode the message. This website was a little more interactive because you could play games online that helped students practice telling time. It had links to other websites about telling time which is helpful so teachers have more ideas about how to teach about telling time. Design The homepage was not very appealing to look at, if I wasn't looking specifically for websites about telling time I probably wouldn't have cared to continue looking at the site. The site is easy to use and has many different games for students and even lesson ideas for teachers. Multimedia wasn't used a whole lot on this website and that would have made the website more entertaining to use.

Summary This web site is an amazing source to tell you the answer but it doesn't do a very good job in explaining. This web site is good to use as a starting point to get the answer but to understand the process in doing that you will have to go to another site to obtain that information. My purpose in using this web site was so when the children were test their own work that they could get a quick response. Overview This web site works well when you are trying to find a specific answer to a question but it gives limited feedback on how they were able to obtain the answer. The design was more for an adult and the web site was set to be more efficient than to make informational learning fun. The advantage to this site is that you can get the answer back quickly and but efficient with your time. But the disadvantage is that to get more information on the subject you would have to look on another web site for the process.

Saydi Gardner Growing the Next Generation 10/15/12 Overview: This website is designed to help young kids learn about plants, soil, sun, and how they all relate to one another and to us as humans. Some of the helpful activities on this website are coloring activities, videos, recipes that use fresh fruits and veggies, games, advice for gardening, diagrams, questions and answers segment, and various articles. This site is very easy to navigate and I found it very useful when needing information about plants and the benefits they provide for humans. Content and Design: The content on this site was easy to understand and relevant as to why it was created. The information on this site is accurate and up to date. This site explains how plants use soil, light, and different components of the atmosphere to help themselves and other organisms, such as humans and animals, around them. It is very easy to move around and find various activities on this site. The layout and design is easy to navigate and use but could use some improvements.

Elizabethan Era Allison Cetak 10/11/12 Overview The subject matter of this site is life, culture, and all related topics that pertain to Elizabethan England. The purpose of this site is to educate students of history or literature about all aspects of life, culture, and all related topics during Elizabethan England. The audience of this site is students of history or literature who want to know more about any aspect of Elizabethan England. This site contains information pertaining to any aspect of Elizabethan England someone could want to know. This site is well organized, credible, and has sufficient information to give readers a thorough picture of life during this era. Content The content of this site is thorough and easy to navigate. It contains information about all aspects of life during the Elizabethan Era. It is grammatically and syntactically correct, educates readers without overwhelming them, and provides sufficient support and detail to back up every claim that it makes. The site also has an authorship page which details who wrote the information and where it came from, making it credible and able to be inquired about if necessary. Design This site is designed extremely clearly and is easy to follow. The home page offers different aspects of Elizabethan life to explore and within each of those pages information is clearly labeled. The information is updated and the dates are posted making it clear how recent the information is. The links to each page within the site work well, quickly, and do not lag. Overall, the design helps enhance the content and does not detract from the information.

Madison Hamblen Revised: 10.15.12 Overview: This website was designed to be an educational tool for studying the Civil War. It was specifically engineered for fourth grade students in Virginia to prepare them for the state standardized tests. There is a worksheet for students to complete after exploring this website in great detail. Mrs. Walter made the worksheet so the students could be evaluated on their understanding of the Civil War. I think this website was very well constructed. It covers many influential people who played a key role during the Civil War in America. Content: This is an informational website which was created in order to educate students on the history of America during the Civil War. The content on this website is accurate and relevant to my interests of study. Even though the page has not been revised since 2005, the facts remain the same. The reason for the lapse in revision is irrelevant to the accuracy of the information is because the website is about history. The past is what happened in previous years, and therefore it can't be changed. No matter when a history site is produced, the content will remain consistent and true. This site is very beneficial for elementary school social studies students. The facts are basic enough for their comprehension level, yet in depth enough to form a solid foundation of the history of America during the Civil War. Design: The homepage of this website is appealing at first glance. It is nice how the homepage immediately splits off into two different links. One link takes the student to a Union page, while the other one links to a page on the Confederacy. The design of this website is very basic and extremely easy to understand. Navigating through the different links is easy when the links are easy to read and the pictures are relevant to the content.

Overview A how to site that has instructions for a multitude of things. It claims to have over two million articles. The intended audience is anyone looking to learn a skill. Content Content is clear and easy to understand. Multimedia works well and is useful. Site links work but sponsored links are not identified so it is easy to end up in an advertisement. Design Website is easy to read and navigate. There are many multimedia resources that add to the information available. Some pages may have too many links to quickly find the information you need.

Overview: The website examines the holiday near Halloween known as Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). It adds new historical information that is expanded upon more than in other sources I found. This information explains the progression of the tradition from the ancient Aztecs era to contemporary times, while also examining the global expansion and adaptation of these cultural practices. This would be helpful to a student of Spanish to more deeply explain how this tradition came to be and how it continues to change over time. There are extensive videos and layers of the site to explore if the student wants to gain further understanding. I would use this site with my future students. Content and Design: The layout of the website does not have a strong eye appeal, however there is an abundance of useful and fun information available. The author is listed, but there is not a way to contact them on this page. The site is fairly easy to access, however the other sections are in a box that is about half way down the page on the side, so easily overlooked. The information is recent, however not updated frequently. There is a large amount of information available here, though the design could be improved.

Madison Hamblen Revised: 10.15.12 Overview: This website was created in order to help people study facts about the American Civil War in flash card format. The intended audience is for fourth grade students in Virginia that are preparing for the state standardized tests. There are no available resources that can link the user to other informational pages. My impressions of this website are that it is an educational link providing an activity to help students reinforce information they should have previously been taught. Content: The content within this website is similar to that in others regarding the facts about the American Civil War. Other websites have the same type of information and key points. The content is relevant to information fourth graders are expected to be tested on during their state standardized tests. The content is also easy to understand because it is on a very basic reading level at which is compatible with the intended audience. Design: The design of the website is boring due to the fact that it is just an activity and not a website meant for entertainment. It is very cut and dry with the way the site distributes information. Since the students can read both sides of the card at the same time, the website is simply a reading experience in flashcard form. The navigation process is easy because the only thing to do on this website is switch from one card to another. This site is worth visiting because no matter how much the student knows, the cards will always give them the answer. If they are always given the answer, then they are guaranteed to learn something.

Overview: This site is designed to teach the public about the Republican Party. It shows what the republican believes in and how they affect politics. The Republican National Committee sponsors and writes the website to inform people about the Republican Party and to also teach others what the republican national party does. I would defiantly use this site to learn more about the Republican Party and what they stand for. Content: The site gives includes information about the party. The site shows what the party believes in, news about the party, videos, and shows you how to become a member. The site is very reliable because it the information on the site comes straight from the National Committee. The site also gives the copyright information. The site has lots of information on the Republican Party and it shows it in an effective way. Design: The site is very eye appealing. It is easy to navigate the site; it gives clear titles to help you figure out where you want to go. This site is very well designed.

Overview The purpose of this website is not only to inform people about anti-Semitism during WWII but also to inform the audience of how anti-Semitism continues today in many different countries and how bigotry for other people has increased vastly as time has gone on. The audience for this website is for higher-level education especially civil rights activists. This website has information not only on the Holocaust but on many other conflicts going on right now that would be helpful in understanding what anti-Semitism is. Content and Design Based on the evaluations done for this website the information is very factual and relevant to what is says it is trying to do. There is plenty of information on the Holocaust and anti-Semitism along with sources to support their evidence. The design of the website is very well done, easy to move around with all of the links working properly. There is a very descriptive table of contents to help find any information needed along with a way of contacting support and donating. The website developer is not stated on the site but the sponsor of the site is.

Holly Page October 14, 2012 Overview: The website entitled "Mr. Anker's Tests" was created for teachers and students. The website covers all content areas in grades k-7. The site is filled with activities that support California State and the Common Core State Standards. The site provides link with additional resources for outside information. The links provide information in math, social studies, science, reading, vocabulary, literature, and Spanish. I found the site very useful for my particular needs. I think this website would be very useful in a variety of subject areas for online exploration. Content: I thought that the website was pretty self-explanatory from looking at the homepage. I had no trouble identifying the audience and content of the website. The author is clearly identified (a biography of the author is provided giving credibility to the site) and available to contact at any time. It was difficult for me to verify how current the website was due to the lack of a revision date. The information seemed up-to-date and the links on the site were current and fully functioning. It was clear upon entering the site that it is used for educational purposes. The content supports the intended purpose and is complete. The site was well organized and seemingly free of bias. The games included on the site were interactive and seemed accurate to the best of my knowledge. The site was professional with correct spelling and grammar. Design: The site's homepage downloaded efficiently and was well organized; easily orienting it's users. The creator of the site and contact information was provided. There was no copyright date anywhere within the website. I found it easy to navigate the webpages within the site; directions and external links were provided and well functioning. There were graphics and games (these made a significant contribution to the website). "Mr. Anker's Tests" had plenty of information that was clearly labeled and consistent. A

Jacqueline Collins 10/15/12 Overview: This site is designed to teach students about different historic events. The site gives a variety of historic events along with a timeline of how the events occurred. The site gives a variety of links to give you more information. The site is simple to use and is good for getting information. I would defiantly use this site to reference historical events and to suggest to others when looking up historical events. Content: The site has a lot of useful information that coincides with the previous knowledge I have of the events. The site seems creditable although it does not have a clear revision date; it does have the copy right information. The site informs about different historic events effectively and also the information does not seem biased. Design The site is not eye appealing however; it does provide an easy navigation system to find all the information within the site. All material on the site is clearly labeled and is easy to follow.

Overview The purpose of this site is an online encyclopedia for art meant for anyone interested in finding out more about anything pertaining to art. This site has many options for how you want to search the site such as by the artist name, the medium used, subject, location etc. This site draws information about art from many sources and compiles them so they are in one easy searchable place on the site. Content and design Based on the content and design evaluations of this site it is very well designed and easy to use. It's an online data base for art and so the content all relates to art and is easy to search. This site is not very interactive besides the links you can click to find more information but that doesn't take from the effectiveness of the content. Also the site doesn't provide a lot of information on the author in order to determine the credibility but it is noted that the information comes from a variety of places and is all compiled onto this site.

Summary This web site is a respectable source to find all formulas, even those that don't deal with math (Physics, Chemistry, and Biology). This website is amazing because formals are stationary and so they do not change much. My use for this site was to have the kids to find the formula and this web site even had worksheets that the kids could mess around with and test out what the surface area was with each different object. Overview This web site is very plain to the eye but is very helpful when trying to acquire a formula. The advantages to this web site are that it has every formula that you could think of and it is in a format that is very user friendly (Tables). But the one down side is that the web site doesn't show you how to work these formulas.

Overview: This website was created to provide information about the US Constitution. The site provides good information and its target audience is for k-3. Although the site does provide links for grades 4-7 and 8-12. These links are very nice to have as they are grade pertinent and go in more depth as the grade level increases. A teacher could have a student that is more advanced or even more interested in the topic use one of the other links to gain more knowledge and peak their interest. Overall I think the site could be very useful to cover the constitution and what it entails. Content and Design: The content that the site provides is grade level appropriate and very interesting. The scheme of the site was easy to follow navigate. It also had several pictures to help keep the interest of the learners. The way information is provided is clever as it provides and introduction then has a nice summary on how it all works. The site did provide pages for questions and even had a forum for people to look at and talk with each other on.

This webiste is great!!! It is the most realible out of all the other websites I chose to do. It provides a brief summary over stuff like how the war got started, background of the war, outbreak of the civil war and the Emancipation Proclamation. Plus it has a huge number of videos to view and help the user understand the subject better. Content and Design: The content of this website is just tip-top and the audience is for anyone that is wanting to know more about the great Civil War. The videos are simple enough that a elementry kid could get the basic idea of it but also is filled with enough facts that a high school kid could get what they and probably be satisfied. The design is very simple and easy to navigate. They have the videes to watch at the top of the page and the reading is just a bit down the page. Plus there are a few links that a user could explore at the bottom of the page so they can explore more into the website.

Overview: This website explores briefly the holiday of Día de los Muertos. Though it is not very attractive to the eye, the information given is very helpful for any Spanish language learner. A student would build or expand their knowledge using the historical, individual traditions, food and candy, and vocabulary necessary for understanding the festivities. The site also leads to other helpful pages such as a recipe for sugar skulls that was the easiest and most realistic I found. This is a fairly good website, that gives the unique insight of the vocabulary; therefore I would use this in my class to expand upon previous knowledge. Content and Design: The design lacks the attention grabber to draw in the audience, however it is not completely boring, and effectively describes and offers unique cultural details to the tradition. The webpage itself works well, and is easily navigated. In the same way other links are useful work efficiently. The information has not been changed since 2004, but since it is giving the general process for the tradition the information still holds true, however there may be better sources for how the culture has transformed in modern time. There is contact information that could be used for further exploration of this theme. The vocabulary is an extremely useful tool in teaching Spanish and Spanish culture, therefore I would say this is a usable website.

9 tips when creating videos for classroom use / teacher created teaching videos

10/15/2012 Overview: The purpose of this site was to fulfill an educational grant and educate students on Roman history. Information is massive, and well cited everywhere. This site is truly exceptional, with interactive tours, games, and forums (the forums are inactive, but there is a wealth of information archived there). The only problem is a seeming lack of updates; changes are noted in the site, but dates are not provided. Content: There is a striking amount of information here, from languages to lifestyles to gladiatorial combat. Of special note is that the designers of the site are professors of Italian history that are primary sources for the subject material. Additionally there are resources available for teachers, with recommendations for how to teach subject material. The outside links are comprehensive and useful for further learning on the subject material. Design: Here the site comes across as a little bland. Information is presented without much flash. However, the ease of navigation and clear menus somewhat offset this.

Summary This web site is a good site with a lot of information that it is made for children that are around the age of being in middle school. My use for this web site was for 7th grades so it had all the information that I needed. It was perfect for my use and it had great information on surface area. I just needed this site to teach the children about surface area; what it is, how it is found and why it is useful. All of these areas were met by this web site. Overview If your kids are younger than it might be hard for them to understand and if they are older, the information might be a little basic for them in the stage of learning they are in. The advantages of this web site were that it had a lot of good and useful information but the disadvantage is that it is made for one specific age group so you are only able to use it for a grade or two. If it fits it your age group that you are teaching then it is an astounding source because it gets very detailed on each subject. Even the design of the web site is set for a middle school age group.