ANNOTATED WEB REVIEWS

By: Stacy Schreiber

http://www.biologycorner.com/

1. What is the overall (or general) purpose of the website?
1. The purpose of this website is to help Biology teachers enhance their lesson plans and classroom activities.
2. Biology web quest suggestions are available through links on the web quest page. Some examples are blood donations, biomes and disease outbreaks
3. Many images are available to make any Biology lesson more interesting to the students.
4. Teachers also have access to pre-made quizzes as well as a quiz-maker. This would allow the teacher to customize a quiz based on his or her exact teachings.
2. What are the major strengths of the website?
1. Strengths of this website include graphics, organization, text layout, and overall user-friendly look.

i. Specifically, the graphics on this page made me want to look further. The images are clear and sized perfectly for the particular place they are in.

ii. The general organization is appealing to the user. There is just the right amount of text on each page. Too much text would make any user (like me) turn to a different page quickly!

iii. The text layout is perfect. The size of the text is appropriate for the specific places it’s in. I don’t feel senile when I am reading through these pages.

iv. The smaller details such as the combination of colors, buttons and again graphics make this website user-friendly.

3. How can teachers use the website for teaching/learning?
1. Teachers can use this website in many of the previously mentioned ways. They can create quizzes (or make them particular), use the images in class and use the web quest ideas for student development.
4. How can students use the website for independent or group learning, if at all?
1. I would say that this website is for teachers only. It is designed for use by a teacher and not a student.
5. What are some pitfalls, if any, of the site?
1. I honestly do not have any complaints or improvements that I feel could be made about this website.

http://www.weatherwizkids.com/index.htm

6. What is the overall (or general) purpose of the website?
1. The overall purpose of the website is to education students about all of the different aspects of weather.
7. What are the major strengths of the website?
1. The graphics, organization and centering of the text + graphics are some strengths.
2. The content is written in comic sans. This font is appealing to young people (and maybe some older people too!) Its easy to read and a little more exciting than times new roman.
3. The content itself is appropriate for student readers. Though its not age specific, I would have to say that most students (4^th grade and above) would enjoy reading the information on this website. **My collaboration group and I actually chose this website for one of the links on our page.

i. Specifically, the graphics make the page exciting for students, but are not so numerous and overwhelming that they demand all of the attention.

ii. The organization of the pages is very geometric. This makes the interface user-friendly for students. They can expect a certain consistency when they change pages.

8. How can teachers use the website for teaching/learning?
1. Teachers could definitely use this website for class activities. This website is fantastic for individual student use, but even better for group projects.
2. This website could be used to find information for a web quest.
3. The most important factor of this website is that the students might actually “take something away” with them when they are done with it. The definitions and content are written in a student friendly way.
9. How can students use the website for independent or group learning, if at all?
1. (See previous)
10. What are some pitfalls, if any, of the site?
1. The only pitfall of this website is that it can’t be used in the upper grades. I think that high school students would become bored very quickly with a website like this. Its meant to be used from 4^th grade to 8^th grade

http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/

11. What is the overall (or general) purpose of the website?
1. This website is a K-6 website for teachers only. The purpose of this website is to help elementary school teachers with all the aspects of running an elementary school classroom.
2. This site has subject specific information as well as classroom management skills and discipline plans.
12. What are the major strengths of the website?
1. The strengths of this website are the content and the layout.

i. Specifically, the content of this website includes information that I have not yet found on any other teacher websites. I find it very difficult to find information (that I can actually understand) about classroom management and discipline. This site has all of that information without the “fluff”.

ii. The layout of this website is organized and concise. The information is all focused around a central point and the home page basically fits on one screen. That is definitely strength.

iii. **This website is like the Wal-Mart or Target of websites for teachers. You can get everything you’re looking for in one place!

13. How can teachers use the website for teaching/learning?
1. Teachers can use this website for their planning, student development, classroom management and discipline tactics. There is a lot of “to the point” information.
14. How can students use the website for independent or group learning, if at all?
1. This website is not intended for student use.
15. What are some pitfalls, if any, of the site?
1. The font used in this website was a little too creative. That type of font would be better suited to an artistic website. As a teacher, I found it hard to read at certain times.