Website Evaluation

Reviewer: Daniel Lishok

Name of Site: Professor Garfield

Address of Site: http://professorgarfield.org/pgf_home.html

Grade Levels: pre K through 9th

Possible Educational Uses of Site: There are many games and activities that are
very well made compared to most games out there. There is a level of polish that
is lacking on other sites. Also , the still popular character Garfield is all over the
site, which will give kids something to look at.

Main Idea, Topics and Major Points of the Site: The site’s mission statement :
“Our mission, therefore, is to be a world leader in the direct, free delivery of
innovative and motivational digital learning content with a primary emphasis on
children’s literacy.” There is a wide range of activities for a large amount of grade
levels that all seem interesting in fun (as well as creative) without losing site of
their educational value.

Links Contained on Homepage: The home page has an interactive lab with
Garfield milling about. From here you can click on all the different games, with
interactive graphics when you highlight a particular game. There is also a
“teacher’s lounge” link that explains the site and gives teachers ideas on how to
work the activities into their curriculum .

Ratings (1= lowest, 10 = highest)

Design and Appearance: 10

Ease of Use of the Site: 9

Usefulness of the Content: 10

Recommendations (to educators, parents or students): It would be very helpful
for teachers and parents to take a look at the teacher’s lounge section, it gives a
very detailed explanation of the activities ,how to use them, and the company
who made the site’s purpose.

Other Comments: Great site and easily the best I’ve seen.
 Website Evaluation

Name of Site: Gamequarium

Address of Site: http://www.gamequarium.com/

Grade Levels: k-6

Possible Educational Uses of Site: games that are fun but also educational, they
can help kids by almost making them forget they’re being educated.

Main Idea, Topics and Major Points of the Site: The major idea of the site is that
it is a hub of different educational games that are fun but informative. Basically ,
they’re trying to make learning fun without sacrificing the learning part of the
equation.

Links Contained on Homepage: There are links to all the different “hubs” of
games(different grade levels and subject matter) , videos, ebooks, and even
teacher resources.

Ratings (1= lowest, 10 = highest)

Design and Appearance: 7

Ease of Use of the Site: 8

Usefulness of the Content: 8

Recommendations (to educators, parents or students): While this is a good site,

I would definitely supplement it with others as It is not the complete package.
 Website Evaluation

Name of Site: Mr. Nussbaum

Address of Site: http://www.mrnussbaum.com/index.html

Grade Levels: k-8

Possible Educational Uses of Site: More “in-depth” games for kids that lean
more on the educational side than the arcade type games of Gamequarium.

Main Idea, Topics and Major Points of the Site: The site is designed to help
students with a large range of topics in (once again) a fun way to circumvent the
boredom younger kids feel from text book readings or things of that nature

Links Contained on Homepage: There are links for teachers, parents, and all the
different types of games.

Ratings (1= lowest, 10 = highest)

Design and Appearance: 8

Ease of Use of the Site: 8

Usefulness of the Content: 9

Recommendations (to educators, parents or students): Good site but one major
negative: It tries to get you to sign up for a “silver account” which cost money, but
has many more features.
 Website Evaluation

Name of Site: Aesop’s Fables Online

Address of Site: http://www.aesopfables.com/

Grade Levels: any (can be taught simply or more complexly)

Possible Educational Uses of Site: Aesop’s Fables are great for teaching the
concept of morality , whether at a more simplistic level or one that sparks debate
in a high school classroom.

Main Idea, Topics and Major Points of the Site: The site is designed to give you
all of Aesop’s Fables with audio readings and suggestions on the morals of each
fable.

Links Contained on Homepage: The fables themselves, audio recordings of the

fables, an FAQ, reviews of the site and images for the fables.

Ratings (1= lowest, 10 = highest)

Design and Appearance: 4

Ease of Use of the Site: 9

Usefulness of the Content: 8

Recommendations (to educators, parents or students): Look at this site

beforehand, although the fables and explanations are great, the site’s
appearance is very poor.
 Website Evaluation

Name of Site: Alex Catalogue of Electronic Texts

Address of Site: http://infomotions.com/alex/

Grade Levels: any

Possible Educational Uses of Site: The site has a huge amount of electronic
texts from classic stories to plays and everything in between,

Main Idea, Topics and Major Points of the Site: The idea of the site is to provide
a simple database to find a ton of electronic texts.

Links Contained on Homepage: The search bar, options to brows by author ,

title, or tag and contact information.

Ratings (1= lowest, 10 = highest)

Design and Appearance: 7

Ease of Use of the Site: 10

Usefulness of the Content: 9

Recommendations (to educators, parents or students): Although the database is

comprehensive , it obviously can’t contain everything. It would be worth taking a
look through the database before having the students look.

Website Evaluation

Name of Site: Setting

Address of
Site:http://www.beaconlearningcenter.com/WebLessons/Setting/default.htm
Grade Levels: 8-10th

Possible Educational Uses of Site: The site talks about setting of novels/stories
and asks many questions while giving a “virtual tour” from Romeo.

Main Idea, Topics and Major Points of the Site: The site is designed to teach
students about setting in novels, and how it can play into the story culturally and
historically.

Links Contained on Homepage: Pretty straightforward, you can go back to the

beacon learning center homepage or continue with the tour.

Ratings (1= lowest, 10 = highest)

Design and Appearance: 7

Ease of Use of the Site: 10

Usefulness of the Content: 8

Recommendations (to educators, parents or students): It would be wise to have

the students read a book where setting is integral to the narrative before going to
the site.
 Website Evaluation

Name of Site: The Poet’s Pantry Tour

Address of Site: http://www.field-trips.org/tours/lit/poet/_tourlaunch1.htm

Grade Levels: 7th-9th

Possible Educational Uses of Site: Teaches kids about poetry and it’s various
formats and forms. Very in depth in showing how poetry is created.

Main Idea, Topics and Major Points of the Site: The idea is to provide a tour
through many poetry websites, giving students a comprehensive view on poetry
as a whole.

Links Contained on Homepage: It basically just has a “next” and “previous”

button as it guides you through different sites with poetry information and actual
poems.

Ratings (1= lowest, 10 = highest)

Design and Appearance: 7

Ease of Use of the Site: 9

Usefulness of the Content: 8

Recommendations (to educators, parents or students): Students could probably

use a primer on poetry before the “tour” , as there are many somewhat complex
explanations of the mechanics of poetry.

Website Evaluation

Name of Site: Tools for Reading, Writing, and Thinking.

Address of Site: http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6-

12/Tools/Index.htm

Grade Levels: 9-12

Possible Educational Uses of Site: Site gives student many tools to supplement
their reading, writing, and critical thinking skills.

Main Idea, Topics and Major Points of the Site: The idea is to provide students
with a hub site that gives them a ton of links to tools to help them.

Links Contained on Homepage: All of the tools and databases are presented in
a grid format for students to click on with a paragraph description after each.

Ratings (1= lowest, 10 = highest)

Design and Appearance: 9

Ease of Use of the Site: 9

Usefulness of the Content: 10

Recommendations (to educators, parents or students): Encourage students to
play around with these tools, they are very useful and make them more well
rounded students, not just help them pass a test.

Website Evaluation

Name of Site: Brain Pop

Address of Site: http://www.brainpop.com

Grade Levels: 7-12

Possible Educational Uses of Site: Incredible amount of information and videos

presented in an extremely well done and fun way to make learning (once again!)
fun.

Main Idea, Topics and Major Points of the Site: The site is designed to help kids
with a all subject matters and give them valid information while also being fun to
look at , play with, and most of all, entertaining.

Links Contained on Homepage: There are links to each subject matter, a

“brainpop jr.” for younger kids, a link for teachers, state standards and an FAQ.

Ratings (1= lowest, 10 = highest)

Design and Appearance: 10 (if possible, 11, that’s how good it is.)

Ease of Use of the Site: 10

Usefulness of the Content: 10

Recommendations (to educators, parents or students): Teachers: This is a

GREAT destination for getting your students “into” the subject matter.

Website Evaluation

Name of Site: PBS for Teachers

Address of Site: http://www.pbs.org/teachers/

Grade Levels: PreK through 12

Possible Educational Uses of Site: The site gives teachers great information on
what topics they can teach, how to teach them, and great online resources to
make their student’s experience a great one.

Main Idea, Topics and Major Points of the Site: The site is designed to help
teachers who want to use a bit more technology in the classroom with different
videos and show from PBS free to use, and also information to create better
lesson plans.

Links Contained on Homepage: Each division of grade level, videos, new

features, and a message board for teachers.

Ratings (1= lowest, 10 = highest)

Design and Appearance: 8

Ease of Use of the Site: 9

Usefulness of the Content: 10

\Recommendations (to educators, parents or students): Great site and worth

signing up for!