Website Evaluation

This week, we learned about what is expected of a website that would be a useful tool in a classroom setting. A couple of key factors that make a good website are easy navigation, being easy to read (font and color scheme), being a credible source (who designed the website), and being educationally beneficial and interesting (factual information, etc.). We were provided with a long list of websites that are used in many classrooms, and the one I selected was ABCya! This particular website was created by a teacher who wanted to provide free access to online student games and activities. The website is sorted by grade from K-5th and has activities for multiple subject areas. I thought that these games and activities would be stimulating to students; however, they would be used for student practice, not as a teaching tool. The evaluation we did required us to delve into the website, checking for grammatical errors, searching for credibility, and really putting ourselves in the mind of a young student. Since I am pursuing a career in Elementary Education, I had to think about what Kindergarteners and First-Graders would be able to accomplish as early readers. This particular website, ABCya, would require some adult direction for most students wanting to use the website, even though the activities seem to be grade-appropriate. All they might need would be directions on how the play the game. Most of the games had audible instructions, which is beneficial since most that age would not be able to read directions. The only issue with that is they may not have the audio on; it could be classroom quiet time, etc. It was especially difficult for me to look at the website as if I were a 6-10 year old. I had to think about whether the font was easy enough to read, whether the navigation would be easy enough for an early technology user, whether the graphics were overwhelming or organized accordingly, etc. There were many factors that were brought to my attention that I would not have thought of otherwise. This is great knowledge for me to have because I predict that technology will continue to increase in prevalence and importance in classrooms everywhere, and I want to be tuned-in to current technology trends and tools in order to make my classroom the best learning environment for my students.