Web+Resource+Link+Page

=**After reviewing a variety of resources on the web, post a summary of the content of the resource, your evaluation of the resource, and thoughts of how the site you reviewed could be used. Remember to begin your posting with he URL of the site you are sharing and, as always, include your name! The first entry is a sample.**=


 * A review of the resource from the WebQuest section by Kathy Hayward. The URL is: [|http://Webquest.org] **


 * Webquests have always interested me because they foster active learning as well as providing a structure for group work. Webquests offer learning experiences for students of any age, providing online resources are available for younger students. **


 * This page has been active since 1996 when Dr. Bernie Dodge, from San Diego State University, began a database of example WebQuests. This database is kept up to date and weeded out when a link goes bad (as volunteer time permits). As of 2007, the database contains over 2500 WebQuests. **


 * I found this WebQuest site to be easy to navigate and use. The search aspect was content specific and/or grade level specific. The webquest "hits" were dated, had an author listed, and provided a place for feedback regarding broken links. I performed a sample search for a high school level webqeust on the topic of slavery. I only found one, but the essential question was engaging, the tasks clearly stated, and the resouces provided fit the assignment. As a high school librarian I would suggest this webquest to my social studies teachers, and offer to help facilitate the groups as they explored their topics. **

Review of the resource from the internet safety section by Sarah Demmel. The URL is: http://www.getnetwise.org/

GetNetWise began in 1999 as a result of parents needing help with guiding their children online. It is a public service by a wide range of Internet industry corporations aimed at helping Internet users make informed decisions about their family's use of the Internet. This site is mainly aimed at parents. It offers online safety guides, tools for families, websites for kids, and how to report trouble online. I found it to be a very easy site to navigate through. At the top of the home page there are several links to different blogs on the subject. I love blogs. We have several in our family. It is a great way to communicate and it allows people to see many different opinions and get some great feedback. There is also a section with How-To Video Tutorials. In this area it shows parents how to keep their children safe online with different filters. Many parents probably don't know how to do this and this site provides an easy way to protect their children. There is also a spam removal section. I really liked the Keeping Children Safe Online area. Once you click on that link, it takes you to websites for kids. Then, it takes you to an ALA website with over 700 sites that are great for kids. I actually bookmarked that site it was so good. :) It provides educational, hands-on activities and things to do as a family. Really great! One way I think this site could be used in a school is for the librarian to reach out to the community and have a parent get together and help them set this up. It would be nice to interact with parents, show them your library, and show them how much you know about technology. It is a great way to collaborate with parents!


 * Review of the resource from the evaluation section by Sarah Demmel. The URL is: http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/evalcrit.html **


 * This site is Susan Beck's "Evaluation Criteria: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly." It has five basic criteria to be used when evaluating a website: accuracy, authority, objectivity, currency, and coverage. I believe reviewing websites and making sure they are providing reliable information is so important. As a librarian, you want to make sure your students are getting the most accurate information out there. So many students believe that everything they read online is true. As we get more digital, we need to make sure they know that isn't true and have the resources to decide for themselves if a website is safe. This website goes through each criteria and lists questions to ask yourself when looking at a site.It also lists the rationale for the questions. I think this is so important because students are always wondering why they have to do something. An example under the accuracy category is: Is there an author? The rationale would be: Anyone can publish anything on the web. Another example: Is the information reliable and error-free? Rationale: Web resources rarely have editors or fact checkers. This website also provides suggestions for successful internet assignments, such as provide guidance, plan ahead and avoid busywork. I think this site can be used in a number of ways. As a librarian, I would take the first few weeks of the year to have at least the 9th and 10th graders come in and have them look at some different websites. I might print off some of the questions from this website and have the students evaluate a few sites to see if they are good enough to use. I would also provide the handouts to teachers so they can require students evaluate their sources for each project they do. It is so important that we fill our students with the best information and this site really helps accomplish this!!! **

A review of a website in the //Teaching Students to Evaluate Websites// by Shawna Lincicome [] (the original website listed in the book is defunct) This page is about the evaluation of web materials. Embedded in the site is an audio-video presentation on how to evaluate a website using four criteria – authority, accuracy, currency, and objectivity. The video explicitly demonstrates how to determine the four criteria by comparing two sites about Martin Luther King Jr. While both of these sites have a domain of “.org,” they are very different in their ability to meet the criteria of a reliable and trustworthy source to be used for research. The video also stresses that all sites, whether reliable or not have bias and that it is necessary to keep this bias in mind. The video is accompanied by a link to an exercise that re-enforces learning. This site is easy to use. It has clear directions for downloading the necessary software for viewing and then the access is as easy as pressing the link to the tutorial. The tutorial is well organized and has both visual and audio aids to help the learner. The other link on the page re-enforces the learning in the tutorial.

This site would be awesome as an aid to help students from upper elementary to high school to understand and to be able to deconstruct a website to find the elements meeting the four criteria. It also reiterates the idea that all websites have bias and to keep that in mind when using as a source. The authority, accuracy, currency, and objectivity of site are explicitly taught. I would use this as a supplement to a lesson on website evaluation and information literacy.

A review of a website Tech & Learning by Lesli Tanski [|http://www.techlearning.com] This is a really interesting and informative that has been around for 30 years (in journal form prior to internet). They intend their audience to be district wide and want to ultimately keep everyone up to date on current and upcoming technologies. The site is realitively detailed and includes articles, blogs, webinars, video and more. It allows for a lot of discussion to take place between subscribers. There are sections for forum discussion as well as a tips and opinions section. There are discussions not only about the technology itself but also how students interact with it and what you can do to promote growth. This is a good site. My first complaint however is the advertising on it is distracting. I believe it actaully impedes on the affectiveness of the site. Pop-up windows keep coming up which drive me nuts. As for the content, I really like that the page is set up to not just talk at the reader. There are so many ways for you to interact and have your voice heard. I believe that collaboration is a beautiful way for people to learn. I think this would be a great site to source in a monthly newsletter. If I were a librarian, I would ultimately love to have teachers go to this site and post on the blogs regularly. However I know this is not likely at all and would instead pick and choose for them. I would become an active memeber and not only use it to get new ideas on how to use technology but also to hopefully get some additional trainging for myself. While this site could be used by students, I think they would find it boring. Again, I would like to pick out some choice pieces and perhaps have a display area that lets students know what new technologies are around the corner. All in all, I would genuinely suggest this site. I would love for someone who is actually a teacher to have a look at it let me know if it would be helpfull.

A review of a resource from the Internet Safety section by Carin Barrett; the URL is [|http://safekids.com] This resource was connected to another in the book called Safe Teens, which is what I was originally looking for. This sister site has been mostly abandoned, I think because in looking at the parent site safekids, it seems as though it has started to direct most of its messages to pre-teens and teens anyway.

The site is managed and operated by one of the first publishers of any internet safety guidelines for kids, Larry Magid, who published a brochure in 1994 on the subject and has not stopped advocating for it since. A newer sister site of safekids.com is [|http://connectsafely.org], which has a lot of videos and other resources beyond what's provided at safekids; it appears that this new sister site may be poised to absorb safekids.com at some point, as it is easy to see more resources are dedicated to it and its tools and resources.

Both sites are easy to navigate and contain a lot of useful information and ideas that are discussed in a pragmatic and relevant way. For example, I was very impressed that the site discusses issues like sexting, facebook privacy, and location information online, not so much directed at parents but rather as the younger users themselves, putting a lot of responsibility on them to understand what positive and negative uses the internet holds and how they can best manage their internet use in a way that reflects honorable digital citizenship. The site also has available materials for parents to use in communicating with their child or teen about these issues, and even "contracts" that outline some expected behaviors of both parties.

Overall, I think the resources offered lots of potential. I like Sarah D's earlier suggestion about sharing these types of resources with parents as an aspect of a school's community interaction and support through the media canter, and I also think this would be a good resource to share with both my counselors and health teachers. Emotional health and the challenges teens face are rapidly changing (as we've seen with cyberbullying), and I think a health teacher and media specialist could work together to integrate these concepts into health class so students see its importance and relevance to their psychological and emotional well-being. As a "No Place for Hate" school, I also think these two sites have good resources on bullying specifically that I could introduce to that group as well.

A review of www.wikispaces.com and [] by Andrea Wiltse www.wikispaces.com One of the sites I explored was 21st Century Communication Tools. This link took me to a list of ways that staff and students can collaborate with each other using the internet. One of these that I am familiar with is the Wiki. The wikispaces site is a useful tool to provide a safe place for students to discuss and share information. Teachers can set up wikis for students so that only those members that the teacher invites can see and collaborate to the wiki.

I am currently using one with the 7th grade students in my school to collaborate between classes on their assigned Providence or Territory. I am also setting up another one for the 8th graders to collaborate on the American Revolutionary War. In both of the classes the students are responsible for contributing information to the wiki set up for their group and then work together to create a way to present the information to their peers.

Since this is what we are using for this class assignment I also looked into some of the other tools that are available. [] This is a website available for discussion on various topics. Educators can go to it and join in on discussions and begin new ones. You can also join groups that interest you. After joining these groups you will receive email updates and invitations to participate in online learning events on new and upcoming technologies. The only drawback that I see is that you have to be a member of ISTE to be able to participate.

This website allows teachers to join a community for support. If a teacher needs assistance, wants to know what tool works, or wants to join in on discussions this is a great site.

A review of a resource from the Teaching Students to Evaluate Web Sites section by Tasha Tolbert. The website is ALA’s Great Web Sites for Kids []

This website is like a ready reference resource. The main page is divided into common subjects/categories and has links to many resources in each category. The categories are animals, the arts, history, math, etc.. There are also categories about authors, illustrators and books. Most of the resource categories are school subjects and other areas of student interests such as sports and music. All links are working and dated. The majority are from organizations or have authors and the website itself is created through ALA, which in itself is very reliable in the library field.

There is also a search option on the page, which allows you to search for keywords and sort by age/grade level. There is a key provided to help you determine the age level the resource best suits. It is color coded and very simple to identify. You can limit your search to age or content or both. I do a biographies project focusing on the Middle Ages. I searched for inforamtion and links on this topic and was surprised at how many useful resoruces I found. I also did a search on "cultures" which is an 8th grade project we do and was really excited about the possibilities for this topic. This is a great tool for teachers and librarians. Having credible and reliable sources all in one place helps cut down on time during research.

This resource also has link that provide information on evaluating resources and how to tell if you are using a credible source or not. Helping students be familiar on the evaluation criteria for webpages and articles also helps save time and increase the quality of research for students. The format of the page/resource is easy to understand and the links are easy to follow and the page overall is easy to navigate.

I believe this website could be a great resource for kids and teachers. I can't wait to incorporate it as one of my better resources!

A review of a resource (Survey Monkey) from the 21st Centuruy Communication tools by Tasha Tolbert. The website is [|www.surveymonkey.com]. I really like survey monkey. I think online surveys are a great way to engage students. You can use the survey to create fun surveys about topics of student interest such as books, movies, sports, etc. or you could create quizes for classroom use. I like to use surveys on my library webpage to actively involve students and get then interested in the libary. Right nwo we are voting for the Colorado Blue Spruce award through online surveys and I will be doing my book Oscar Awards through online surveys this year as well. Survey monkey is also gerat for students to create polls for classes such as student council or for doing math or science projects that require different surveys.

Survey monkey is free to use and easy to register. You can register with your google or facbeook account, which also makes sign up easy for kids who are subscribe to these services.

Kat Sharp [] This is the web site of Ann Arbor Skyline High School. I used it as an example in our last posting, but I’m so impressed by the site that I chose one of its links to use as an example here. The site serves as a virtual library for students. The home page of the website is simple, clear, but attractive, and age-appropriate for high school students. My favorite quality of the site is that it offers so much //relevant// information for students who want to be successful high school students and successful graduates, in a variety of media. And, there are attractive options for all types of students, whether purely academics, or gaming enthusiasts, poets, procrastinators, or social networkers. I hope to offer an effective website like this one as a Teacher-Librarian. I think that high quality school media center websites like this one are important because the key to getting student’s attention in the digital age is to go to the students, rather than expecting the students to come to you. The library website may be a student’s only or main experience with using the media center, because many students do their homework and research online today. Today’s technology provides so many options for making a website attractive to students so they will access it, and for making the information presentable in a way that will impress the students and make them willing participants in learning. When it comes to the librarian’s role in preparing students for success in the 21st century by way of the website, how best to present information in a way that is meaningful to students? I think by not only listing the standards pinpointed as being important for the 21st century (students are already bombarded with “requirements” for graduation and college admission), but to really reach them, show 21st century skills in action in the real world. This website does a terrific job using current technology to provide interesting data presentation to help prepare students for the future.

Marcia Dietemann Pathfinders: [] This site is created by: Internet Public Library and the Librarians' Internet Index

In chapter 10 of our textbook the author spent some time talking about pathfinders and discussing how and when a librarian could create pathfinders for her particular school. I have been working on my own pathfinder for this class and I have found it to be very useful. I teach two science courses and when I find something on the computer that I want to share with one of my classes I have been pasting it into a wiki called marciaswebsites.wikispaces.com. The last time I did this I told my students that they could visit my website and see all of my favorite links. They could also easily find the links that we used in class. I also tried to encourage my students to start saving their favorite links, so that they could find them when they needed to.

The pathfinder that I have decided to evaluate was created by the Internet Public Library and the Librarians’ Internet Index. I found it to be very informative and I spent quite a bit of time just looking up information. I liked the way it was arranged according to subjects. These subjects were organized in broad categories that followed the Dewey Decimal system. I looked up the human body and found amazing images of cross-sections of almost all parts of the human body. I looked up my favorite artist (Mary Cassat) and found a very large list of museums I need to visit in order to see her artwork in person. Each subject had a very large list of links as well as other media ideas that it could lead you to in order to find the answers you were looking for.

The only drawback I found to this site is that it just needed more subjects. I wish it covered more specific scientific subjects. It seems to me that it has a good starter collection and it will hopefully grow over time. Maybe I should get to work on a scientific pathfinder that covers all the topics I am interested in.

I know I will use this site when I am a librarian and a student comes to me with a question that I can’t answer. This site led me to a subject that deals with how stuff works, so if a student is curious about how a toaster works I know where to look. This site will just be a good starting point for a variety of topics.


 * Jody Mudd**

Google Apps for Educators http://www.google.com/educators/tools.html One of the websites I decided to review is Google Apps for Educators. Our district has just begun using Google Apps in our middle and high school with all students and I wanted to familiarize myself with the site. The search tools on this site are amazing including Google Earth which you have to try! Google Docs is an easy-to-use online word processor, spreadsheet,and presentation editor that enables you and your students to create, store, share a collaborate online in real time documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Google Docs sharing features enable you and your students to decide exactly who can access and edit the documents.

Blogger http://www.blogger.com/start Because I have not yet tried my hand at blogging, I decided to check out the website Blogger. A blog is a Web log - a diary of sorts created by individuals to keep track of ideas, experiences and to comment on just about anything. If you have not seen blogs, it is best ot learn aobut them by doing a simple search on our favorite topic + blog and you can explore the vast riches of blogging. On the Blogger Dashboard, you have access to Blogs I'm Following, Blogger Buzz and Blogs of Note. The Blogger Buzz previews some of the most popular blogs and the Blogs of Note show blogs that you might be interested in. I am anxious to start blogging and see so many possibilities in the library. . . blogging about favorite books, favorite authors, upcoming events in the library, analyze characters, reading strategies, think alouds. . . the possibilities are endless! One can delve into education related blogs at http://educational.blogs.com/ and htp://oedb.org/library/features/top-100-education-blogs.