Group items tagged

Holly Page October 14, 2012 Overview: The PBS Kids website was created to better help educate young children and encourage interactive learning. The site could be used in the classroom for curriculum-based entertainment. Its is a great technological aid for learning, includes interactive games for students, and is great for teachers to implement into their elementary level lesson plans. The website is geared towards young learners. Though there are no links to outside web sources, the website was well organized and contained information in all subject areas. I found the website suitable for my researching needs on standard measurement. I thought the website was worth my time and would definitely use it later in helping supplement elementary curriculum. Content: It is apparent from the homepage, that PBS Kids is a educational and interactive site for young learners. Though there was no specific author listed, the information was up-to-date and dependable. There was a contact link included in the website for questions and concerns of parents and users. A revision date was provided, and the content is updated on a regular basis. The links embedded in the site were easy to find and functional. It is obvious when looking at the website that the purpose is both educational and entertainment oriented. The site was structured in a kid friendly manner with complete and easy to understand information. The site was seemingly free of any sort of bias and the content was accurate. There were no links to outside sources related to the website content. Design: The homepage downloaded quickly upon entering the site. The site appeals to its audience (kids) with bright colors, TV show characters, and audio interaction. The website is easy to navigate and clearly indicated the contents within the site. Sponsor and copyright information was provided. The directions were simple and the links in the site worked quickly and efficiently. Multimedia was used appropriately and contribut

Debra Burkhalter October 15, 2012 Student News Daily Overview: Student News Daily is a fabulous current events site for high school students to become readers of the news. The founders set up the website with a goal to "to build students' knowledge of current events and strengthen their critical thinking skills…in a manageable format." Using the site gives great references and information to students in a very easy to navigate way. Teachers will also be impressed with the format and many links to other useful current events websites. Content: The user of this site is able to identify right away that the content is current events. The site is updated daily. The intended audience is stated clearly under the "About Us" tab: "StudentNewsDaily.com is a non-profit current events website for high school students." The directional tabs are organized and easy to navigate and teachers will also appreciate the easy and manageable format. Student News Daily has six main categories which would be quite useful and could easily be incorporated into weekly current event lesson planning: * Daily News Article * Daily Best of The Web * Tuesday's World Briefs * Wednesday's Biased Item * Thursday's Commentary * Friday's News Quiz In addition to main categories the site also provides other current events items including: editorial cartoons, quick takes and a quote of the week. Design: The homepage downloads efficiently, is easy to read, extremely navigable and updated daily. Directions for use are clear and easy to follow and the content areas are labeled and very well organized. The site incorporates the use of multimedia via weekly videos, daily cartoons and links which makes a huge contribution to the site as an up to date portal for global current events. The design and purpose of the site is to educate and the content presentation which is inclusive of questions and answers makes it very doable for students to learn

Overview The purpose of this site is educational for lower elementary students; its audience is therefore mainly elementary students but also parents and educators as they are the ones who may be interested in exploring the site to discover its usefulness for their children or students. This site contains many educational online interactive games for lower elementary kids that help mostly with reading and mathematics but it also has some other interactive options for other topics relevant to elementary students. Content and design Overall based on the content and design evaluations this site seems to be a good site worth bookmarking at least for use with elementary students. The design makes it visually attractive to the students it is intended for and it makes it easy for them to navigate the site. From observing a kindergarten class navigate the site it was apparent that they were able to go where they were told to with ease and then when they were allowed to explore more on their own they did so with ease.

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.

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

Overview The purpose of this website is not only educational but it is also a way that people can get involved in the world of the Holocaust. At this website you can explore all the information gathered about the Holocaust but also donate money to help people that are going threw situations like that of the Holocaust i.e. Rwanda. This website is mainly based for higher education levels, high school and up, but could help younger students find information if teachers were to help navigate the site. There is a vast amount of information on this website that now is being converted over to other languages to help people all over the world understand this horrific time period. There were also many other links that a student/teacher could use to find information that would easily back up their other findings if they needed multiple sources. Content and Design Based on the evaluations done for this website the content and design are very fitting for the information given. The website is very easy to navigate with plenty of links taking you to other webpages or entirely different websites. The information on this website is very well organized and detailed, giving proper proof of where they got their information. The design of the website is put together well, easily getting the audience's attention but not to muddled with lots of graphics, making it hard to find information. Although the website developer was not stated on the site the sponsor for site was stated in the Contact Us page.

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.

Melanie Hays 10-10-12 Overview: The purpose of this website is to provide resources and discussions on the learning of mathematics. The audience is mainly math teachers and students in math classes. It had many additional links a person could click on to access more ways to help a mathematics learning environment succeed. Overall, I was very impressed with the website. It could be used to incorporate modern technology in the teaching of mathematics. Content: The content of the website is very relevant to what the purpose of the site is. It also seems to be updated rather frequently and would be very useful to help math teachers come up with new ways to teach their students. Design: The design of the website is very appealing to the eye. It is very easy to navigate and was set up in such a way that has clear headings and explains what each available link will lead the viewer to.

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.

Bryan Martin 10/15/2012 Overview: The purpose of this site is to educate the reader about Ancient Roman history. This site is a great resource and is appropriate for most ages, however some mature content is available when in the gladiatorial and emperor sections of the site. Content: There is a wealth of information on this site about a variety of subjects. Information is organized logically, and is easy to access. There is an alarming and noticeable lack of additional links and source materials or citations, and the author has no indication of expertise in the field. Design: The design of the site is good, however the button style navigation can take some getting used to if one is used to sidebar style. There is a lot of period art and illustration on the site, however there is a noticeable lack of multimedia and modernization. The beige theme of the site is also somewhat bland, and the in site ads can be a little hard to distinguish from content.

Bryan Martin 10/15/2012 Overview: The purpose of this site is to educate the reader about a variety of ancient history subjects from a variety of cultures and perspectives. It does this by using artwork, subject material, and literature. The site is easy to navigate and though there is a lot of links, all appear to be working. Content: There is a wealth of content on many many subjects. The navigation helps to keep it all organized, and is very effective. There is a lot of content that ties ancient history into modern day interpretations by Hollywood that effectively helps correct historical inaccuracies. There is an extensive section available for teachers as well. Design: This site is vibrant and colorful in design. There are a lot of elements that highlight the subject material, and navigation is very easy. There is a wealth of links and passages to other sites with even more relevant information.

Overview: This website was created to provide educational games that kids can interact with. The intended audience is for k-6th grade. There are many different games that the site provides and the topics are easy to understand. I enjoyed the broadness of the site. It had several different games for each grade level and topic. You could play a different game every day during a week which to me helps the learning not seem so monotonous. Overall I think this site could be very useful for a k-6th grade teacher or possibly even higher grades depending on student's levels of learning. Content and Design The amount of information provided by the site was amazing. The site was able to cover all of the basic learning areas and to do so with many different and still interactive ways. The design of the site was easy to follow but the games were brought up inside a pop-up window which was a slight inconvenience and allowed for you to get lost easily. Although the site is made by volunteers it does provide contact links and gives links for sites that could also be helpful.

Free elementary, middle and high school teacher resources, including puzzlemaker, student games and activities and lesson plans.

Free elementary, middle and high school teacher resources, including puzzlemaker, student games and activities and lesson plans.

Overview: The website, Fact Monster, was very useful and had lots of information. It had information for many different areas for school use. Intended for teachers and 4th- 12th grade for almost any subject. Each page had links for separate websites of similar content. Content: The content that was included in the website were for history, news, math, and science. All web pages loaded with ease and there were no pages that weren't running, and all the outside sources worked. All content was recent and the authors were all mentioned as well as contact information. Design: The design was interesting and colorful, perfect for getting students attention. Easy to guide through, and very user friendly for anyone to use.

Overview: This website, The Biology Corner, it has all content about biology. Everything is very well labeled and easy to use. This site is intended for high school or college biology class. There are additional links to websites related to what ever topic someone may be looking at. Content: There is information on every subject that is with biology. It is eye appealing and has multiple pictures. As well as being easy to use and has different content areas. Design: The design of the website is nice, there are pictures and has different colors.

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.

Overview The purpose of this website, at least this specific link, is mainly to show via pictures, what happened during the Holocaust but the rest of the website does have valuable information on it. The intended audience for this website is higher-level education, because the pictures of the album would be hard to explain to younger - elementary aged students. They're also many articles about survivors along with interviews about these people. Content and Design Based on the evaluations done for this site the information and design of the website are very factual and helpful. The many links given help the audiences navigate the site easily without getting lost in the information. The actual information given on this website is very reliable and has plenty of sources to say so. The design of the website easily get's the audience's attention but is not overly covered in pictures as the ones they find important are in the actual album. The website developer was not stated anywhere but the sponsors of the site are stated at the bottom of each page.

Overview: The website, Buzzle, has more than enough information for anything. It could be used for any school project or paper. The website is intended for high school students all the way to college. It also had external links for websites of similar information. Content: The content could be laid out a little better but the content makes up for it. There is an almost endless amount of information on every subject for school or otherwise. The authors and there contact information is there. This website would be intended for older students above middle school since it is not the easiest to navigate. Design: The design they have is plain and doesn't catch the eye very well. Though it useful in the information part.

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.

Holly Page October 14, 2012 Overview: The purpose of Math Is Fun is to help learners better understand mathematics. The objective is that students are capable of learning math content both enjoyably and easily. The audience for the site is both teachers and students (grades k-12). There are links to several other websites that are up-to-date and easy to access. The website makes it possible for users to find outside resources. I found the website useful in the subject and content areas I explored. There seemed to be information on a variety of mathematics topics. I was overall very impressed with the website. Content: Content wise, it was very easy to determine upon first glance that mathisfun.com can be used as a mathematics curriculum guide and serve as supplemental reading for students. Though there was little background on the author of the site, the information seemed very credible and links were provided for questions and verifying information. The site was current, including a recent revision date with several working links to other related sites. The content aligns with the intended purpose of the site, the information was displayed in a creative and organized fashion, and there was sufficient information for my searching needs. The site was interactive and professional. Further information on mathematics content was provided via updated and working links that were both appropriate and effective. Design: The design and layout was both creative and efficient. I had no trouble downloading the homepage. The site was decorated with picture links that added to the website organization. There was provider and contact information provided in the site contents. I easily found the copyright date at the bottom of the home page. The website was easy to navigate and follow with clear directions and updated links both within the site and for outside sources. The site had several pictures and utilized creative media. The site was compatible with several browsers. The