Assignment One:  Review of an Educational Web Site

I chose “The Web Quest Page” as my exemplary web site.  It is exemplary in content as well as design.This site is devoted to the creation and use of web quests in the classroom.  A web quest is a hunt for information on the web. The quest gives students a purpose, framework, topic, and links to sites that will help them along the way.  This site has numerous web quests for you to use (over200).   There are also detailed instructions telling how to make web quests of your own.

WEB SITE DESIGN:
 · the design is simple; only seven parts to main page; one of these gives an overview  of the website, the purpose of the site, gives credentials of the author, and sites research done (giving validity and relevance of information at the site); another part of the main page is a place in which to the search web site
 · looks like it is updated regularly (last update 3/2000)
 · has e-mail on main page
 · minimal graphics; they don’t distract; same background design on each page

                                CONTENT:
                                · extremely valuable teacher resource
                                · uses technology as teaching tool
                                · detailed, easy to follow guidelines for making a web quest
                                · many examples of web quests  at various grade levels
                                · includes a means to submit your own web quest
                                · has extensive training materials, including workshop materials
                                  http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest/webquest.html
 
 

Assignment Two:  Review of an Exemplary Personal Web Site

Exemplary Personal Web Site: http://www.ac.net/~lakerat/index.htm

I had a very difficult time finding a website that I would consider exemplary.  It’s amazing how many poorly done sites are out there.  Often sites seemed to be more graphics than text (or sites highlighted the graphics, leaving the content as an afterthought).  Finally, I searched on one of my hobbies, rubber stamping.  Here I found Bridget’s Rubber Stamping Home.

The design and layout of this site were simple and functional.  Every link was accessible from the main page.  The graphics were minimal, giving the site a clean look, and emphasizing content.   Color choice and font were easy to read.  It was a very easy site to navigate.  There were links to almost all other pages at the bottom of each page.  This site was well maintained, last updated in August.  A large part of this site included photographs of original card designs. The site creator had the foresight to include these as thumbnails.  The thumbnails were not included on the homepage, enabling it to be loaded quickly.

Speaking as an avid rubber stamper, I found the content of the site to be excellent.  The varied designs of the cards in this site were wonderful.  The many links to other stamping sites were great.  I couldn’t make it through them all!  Directions for each card design were not included.  I found this to be advantageous.  It’s nice to look at many designs without being distracted by text.  The author of the site made it clear that she would happily answer any questions regarding card design through email.  Her email address was listed often, sometimes more than once per page.  Other pages in this site included hand stamped cards sent to the author, her nature photography, and information about her family.

Overall, this was a great personal website.
 
 

Assignment Three:  My ePortfolio