1. Name of Website: Teachnology
2. Web Site Address: http://www.teach-nology.com/
3. Copyright date and/or last update: 1998-2008 Teachnology, Inc. All rights reserved.
4. Author/organization credentials: This is a web portal. It offers a variety of free resources. Highly professional educators maintain this web portal. The team includes teachers, professors of higher education, educational consultants, small business constituencies, and experienced web designers. This site is free for its services due to advertising campaign and sponsorship. Visiting sponsorship sites provide support that enables authors to continue to offer and maintain this site.
5. Web site design and ease of navigation:
Tabs on website are large and organized at the top. The search engine is at the top. It has tabs for the submenus. Once you go into a submenu, then all information in that submenu comes up. It is also well organized and alphabetized. Along with information from this website, there are also more links to other websites where some more information can be found. Main submenus are lesson plans, printables, rubrics, curriculum for specified subject areas, teaching theme units, tips, tools, worksheets, and membership offers. There are also links to featured resources and hot spots on the home page. Under site map at the very bottom all information is submenus are compacted into one page in boxes. So there are different views to apply to a variety of viewing preferences.
All information is well organized which makes navigation throughout website very user-friendly. Each subject area is well defined, so specified area is easy to find. All information can be found quickly. Search engine is very helpful. The only thing is one has to be member to be able to access all information and tools.
6. Your response and recommendation for use:
This website is very useful for teachers. I enjoyed this website. It has plenty of resources that are used by teachers. It does have plenty of information but it is very well organized. I really like that there are a variety of free classroom materials and support for the tools. I did not like that you have to purchase membership to be able to access all information. Overall, this website has good resources. I believe it saves time by having all these resources compiled into one website.
This website may be used as a reservoir of online resources for teachers at any time and it provides tools for designing classroom instruction. It provides professional development consultations for the support of integrating technology in the classroom, original content and software to help teachers create instructional materials, original publications created by experienced teachers for other teachers, and reasonably priced membership programs. The lesson plans are very specific and helpful. As a teacher, I think it is helpful that links are available. This website could be used as your main search engine for teacher resources. It is nice to only have to go to one place to look for the information you need. This website will also be helpful to college students who plan on becoming teachers. College students may use resources for information on homework.
1. Name of Website: Texas Instruments, Education Technology
2. Web Site Address: http://education.ti.com/
3. Copyright date and/or last update: 1995-2008 Texas Instruments Incorporated
4. Author/organization credentials: This website is owned and operated by the Texas Instruments company itself. Company is very well known for the production of calculators and resources that go along with items they produce. Organization is well known throughout the United States.
5. Web site design and ease of navigation: Website has plenty of information. The search engine is at the top right along with puchase, support, and sign in tabs. The color schemes are appealing to the eye. Photos are also used on the homepage. At the top, there are submenus to the whole website. Then you see submenus on the middle of website which either go to find products, product support, or downloads for TI products. To the right there are educator, student, parent, and administrator tabs. Each tab consists of resources catering to that specific audience.
The submenus at the top have a drop down of items within that submenu. I could go thru and name all items, but there are too many. Website is organized well with all of its information. Each submenu has its own page and links/menus on it. Every page is well organized and easy to navigate.
This website is very user friendly. Print is large enough and not to compacted. It does have many submenus and then drop downs for each. Once you go into that page of specific submenu, there are more choices/links to go to. So there is plenty of information, but it is easy to find. One will need to give the specific menus to another person, so they can find the same information.
6. Your response and recommendation for use
This website has too a point too much information, but it is all well organized. It just has many links and submenus. It may be easy to navigate, but if you are specifically looking for one thing, then it may take you a while to find. Now this only pertains to someone who is new to this site and someone who really would not know under which menu to look. If you have some knowledge about the TI instruments, then you should be able to find what you need without taking too long.
I like this website. It has plenty of resources to help someone with their TI device. Texas Instruments really did great job with providing support for their products. I like the variety of resources as well. Resources target a variety of audience.
I would really recommend this site for teachers. It has different activities for educators. The subjects are listed separately which makes very convenient. For example, it has over 900 activities for subject area of Algebra. Schools want educators to implement technology in the classroom and this website provides those resources. Teachers can produce a lesson plan that would implement one of the TI activities. This also has practice exams. The downloads are free of charge as well.
I would also recommend to students. There are games and software for students. It also includes tutorials for students. I really like that it has exam preparation tips. There are also tools for the parents. So if a student has a question and does not understand, then a parent can help out as well. Helps implement parent and student interaction. Administrators may also use this website for great benefits. One noticed right away is information regarding resources for funding and grants. Research on the products is also available for administrators.
1. Name of Website: Wolfram Math World
2. Web Site Address: http://mathworld.wolfram.com/
3. Copyright date and/or last update: Thu Oct 16 2008
4. Author/organization credentials:
This website has been assembled by Eric W. Weisstein with assistance of thousands contributors. He studied physics and astronomy at Cornell University and Caltech. He has a PhD from Caltech. This website is an award winning for being the world’s most widely accessed online mathematics resource.
5. Web site design and ease of navigation:
This websites homepage is not overloaded with information. It has the submenus to the left of the page. The newest information posted is towards the bottom of the homepage design. The website search engine is on the top right. There are also links to other related websites to the right. The print on this homepage is small but readable. It is not compacted, which is very appealing. The design of the homepage helps website be very appealing to the eye.
The submenus to the left include specific math subject areas like Algebra, Calculus and Analysis, Geometry, etc. So the navigation for specified subject are is access friendly. Below the specified subject area submenus are the submenus to the Index, Interactive Entries, New information to the website, classroom tools, etc. So first you have you content areas of math and then content areas specified to the website.
Once you go into the subject areas of math, the concepts within that math subject are bulleted in alphabetical order. This is very well organized. Once you go into the specific concept, one had the definition. Along with this definition is a visual description as well. The links to the related websites are very detailed and organized like this website. It is almost designed in comparison to a phone book. It is very accessible and user-friendly. In general this website is very well organized.
6. Your response and recommendation for use
As a mathematician, I really enjoyed this website. I am very impressed with the accuracy and detailed information given in this website. There are many math concepts given. This website is very appealing to my eye. I did feel the print was small, but the organization and good information makes that be a very small weakness. I really liked the visuals of the concepts.
I believe teachers could use as a refresher on some specific concepts for a lesson. It certainly gives a good visual that could be helped to aid the teacher to better explain a concept. The Math World classroom has many terms. Students could use the terms if they need help with a concept. Although, I think that the classroom support is plenty for students, but this could be another resource of choice. Some students need to have a concept shown or explained to them in different ways so they can finally understand it. I believe this is a website mainly for mathematicians. It can be used for college students who are becoming mathematicians. It definitely appeals to mathematicians. The visuals would be very helpful to college students.
The links to different related sites on the right definitely appeals to mathematicians. The Wolfram research website is given. Demonstration project wolfram site is given as well. All these related sites build on the math concepts. The website with the demonstrations would definitely help a teacher give a visual of the specific concept talked about on a daily lesson.
1. Name of Website: Quia
2. Web Site Address: http://quia.com/webGamequarium.org
3. Copyright date and/or last update: 1998-2008 Quia Corporation
4. Author/organization credentials:
Quia is a privately held educational technology company. Paul Mishkin, President and Chief Executive Officer founded it. He worked for Siebel Systems and was a senior engineer for the Oracle Corporation. He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Harvard College and studied educational software design at Harvard. Product development is taken care of Jennifer Gu. She has a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of California and a master’s degree in computer science form Stanford. The Chief Financial Officer is John Harrington. He holds a M.B.A. form the University of California.
5. Web site design and ease of navigation:
At the top there is a login to the website. There is also a fee to get full access. One needs to sign in to get full access to website. To the right of the login, there is information on what is new to the website. There is also a link to tour the website. Right below is links for submenus for either an instructor or a student.
Then below those two boxes is information about what people have to say about website. Next to it has shared activities one can access immediately. Submenus are divided into subject areas. Once you go into a specific area a search engine appears to better define your search. Below are all items in the specific subject area. The links are separated to specific concepts. Once you find your concept then an activity or game appears that you can access.
This website is very easy to navigate but you can only get full access if you login and pay for getting access. Print is large and appealing to the eye. All is spaced and not compacted. All items are specific and easy to find.
Once one gets full access, website has left-hand navigation bar that has all of the tools listed. The links go to ones profile, classes, activities, quizzes, surveys, question book, files, calendar, shared activities, search, comments, and to what is new. All resources, links, and submenus are easy to find. Website is well organized.
6. Your response and recommendation for use
I did not like that one can only access fully if you are logged in and pay. I really enjoyed having the shared activities. The home page was appealing to my eyes. The homepage has to be appealing or else I really am not interested in navigating the rest of the site. This is a wonderful website. I really enjoyed what I was able to access.
Instructors can use this website. I believe it is worthwhile to pay for the services it renders. Teachers have 16 types of games and learning activities. They can create quizzes with 10 different types of questions. They can create lessons and track quiz results, maintain online schedule and calendar, upload images and audio clips, copy and modify up to three million activities, and share activities with anyone.
Students can also access this website. They can access games, check their grades, they can see what is happening on instructor’s website, and they can email instructor.
This website could be ideally used as a classroom website. The website would help manage a classroom. I really liked that the website gives option to link students with their teachers. It allows for both to collaborate and have all information on one website.
1. Name of Website: West Texas A&M University Virtual Math Lab
2. Web Site Address: http://www.wtamu.edu/academic/anns/mps/math/mathlab/
3. Copyright date and/or last update: 2002, WTAMU and Kim Seward. All contents of the WTAMU College Algebra Tutorials are copyrighted (C) 2002, by WTAMU and Kim Seward. All contents of the WTAMU Intermediate Algebra Tutorial are copyrighted (C) 2001, by WTAMU and Kim Seward. All contents of the WTAMU Beginning Algebra Tutorial are copyrighted (C) 2001, by WTAMU and Kim Seward. All contents of the WTAMU GRE Math Study Session are copyrighted (C) 2003, by WTAMU and Kim Seward. All contents of the WTAMU THEA/ACCUPLACER Math Study Session are copyrighted (C) 2003, by WTAMU and Kim Seward. All rights reserved.
4. Author/organization credentials: This site is brought to you by West Texas A&M University (WTAMU). Kim Seward created it with the assistance of Jennifer Puckett. Kim Seward is currently maintaining it.
5. Web site design and ease of navigation: The website design for this website is very simple. The submenus are listed in the toolbar at the top and also listed on the middle of the webpage. The submenus are specific mathematical content areas. The color and buffalo pictures are what make this website appealing. It is well organized. To the right are links to admission, graduate school, WTclass, Starr Center, Students Support Services, and Tutoring services. These are just resources that are available so students can access the resources WTAMU has to offer.
As you go into each submenu, there are numbered specific concept tutorials within that area. There are also practice tests to go along with the tutorials. Each tutorial has the learning objective, introduction, tutorial, practice problems with solutions, and also links for additional help on that specific concept. There are also links to videos to help with the specific concept.
This website is easy to navigate. There are arrows to go back to previous page or to go to main content area page. It is self explanatory. It also has tutorials to help you get to know the website itself. It is spaced out and not compacted at all. The print is also large and easy to follow. Overall, this website is user friendly.
6. Your response and recommendation for use
I really find this website useful. As a WTAMU student, I really appreciate WTAMU having these resources available. This helps having to go into the web if one is having trouble with concept in a beginning math course in college. I know many students have trouble with grasping some math concepts and this is just an extra resource WT offers for those students. Also the tabs on the right seem to be very useful in my opinion. Some WTAMU students may not know that WT offers tutoring services. These links are very helpful.
The use of this website is obvious. The great thing is one does not have to be a WTAMU student to access this website. This website is great for students, either high school or college. It is great help in College Algebra, Intermediate Algebra, Beginning Algebra, or preparing for the math part of the THEA, Accuplacer or general GRE test.
The videos are great visual for students. This website caters to the different learning styles of each different student. This website could also be used by teachers as a resource for ideas in a lesson plan. Some teachers may have difficulty catering to all different learning styles and this could help them.
