StephanieFilardoUnit1

=__Unit 1__= back to Stephanie's page

Exemplars
I searched for “Christopher Columbus” in Google __Good Example__: http://www.kidport.com/RefLib/UsaHistory/Columbus/Columbus.htm This site is a good example because—although it has ads on the sides—it has a clean look to it so there aren’t many distractions. The page is set up in a question/answer format so students can be clear on what to expect from each section. The answers are also brief and to the point. The setup of this page is good because it has a table of contents (as links) at the top of the page and links to other information related to the topic in the right column. There are also links to outside sources and books at the bottom of the page.

__Bad Example__: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/c/columbus.shtml

This site is a bad example because there is too much unrelated information at the top of the page. Any student wanting to find information has to scroll past the //insanely// colorful links. While the page includes good images (like a diagram of a ship with all the parts named), the majority of the page is dedicated to activity printouts. This could be useful to teachers, but not to students (I think it would create more of a distraction). There is also a fee to use the site without ads and whatnot...I'm not a fan of that.

Talk 1
I think the main rules to follow when choosing a website are 1.) Age appropriate 2.) Well-organized/Easy to navigate and 3.) Credible source. Age appropriate is important because a site can have great information, but if it isn't accessible to your students, it's not worth using. A site must be well-organized and easy to navigate because students need to be clear on where the information they are looking for is located. The information needs to be credible because part of our job as educators is to teach students how to do research on the internet. It is our job to teach with accurate information, so this part cannot be skipped.

Alissa chose an article from Brittanica online encyclopedia for her good site. I think this is a good choice because Brittanica is a "household" name as far as encyclopedias go so I would expect the website to be credible and well done. This page has a table of contents and is easy to navigate. The information is also written for a broad range of ages, although it is rather wordy, I would be comfortable using it starting in middle school. For her bad site, Alissa chose the now infamous Columbus Navigation website. I think this is an excellent example of a bad site because it is by no means well-organized, making it difficult to navigate and read. The site also seems to be a one-man project and the site does not list any sources. Even if this guy is an "expert" on Columbus, I would not feel comfortable sharing this information with students (aside from its other problems) without any source information.