Website Evaluations

Website Evaluations

1. Name of Site:  Astronomy Education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln 
2. Website Address:  http://astro.unl.edu/ 
3. Copyright Date/Last Update
   This website is part of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln main website. The copyright date is not stated in the Astronomy Education webpage; however the University webpage has a copyright of 2014. The website displays the most current update occurred March 22, 2014. 
4. Author/Organization Credentials
   The organization that created this website is the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Astronomy education group. This group consists of a team of artists and programmers under the direction of Dr. Kevin Lee. Dr. Lee is a Research Associate Professor for the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the university and the Student Observatory Coordinator
5. Website Design and Ease of Navigation
   This website is quite easy to navigate through. There is a menu bar at the top that breaks the website into 8 parts. The first tab called “ClassAction” had resources that instructors could use in their astronomy classrooms. For example, this tab had a link called questions which led to flash player in which there were astronomy questions over different concepts and units. There is also another tab called “NAAP Labs” in which students can use simulators to complete online labs. These labs also have worksheets in which students are given instructions and questions on how to complete the online lab. These instructions were somewhat easy to understand. The third tab called “Interactives” supplies instructors with ranking tasks about basic astronomy concepts. The fourth tab called “Video” has links to different forms of video. For example, one link opens a page to the Au YouTube video series. Another link under this tab includes a link called “Simulations” in which there are a links that display to instructors how to run the applets for the virtual labs. This link also illustrates to instructors how to create dialog with their students and possible questions students might ask.  The “Mobile” tab has a few links to early software that was developed by the website. The “Downloads” tab has a link in which you can download every virtual lab and other simulation pdf’s. It also had a link that lists the animations and questions flash player. There is a tab called “Local” that displays links about events occurring in the near future for the institution.  The “More” tab leads to links in which there are pictures of the moon and to a virtual laboratory.
6. Recommended Use and Response
   Astronomy is considered to be a visual science due to the difficulty in explaining astronomy concepts. This website has a plethora of animations and simulations for my students to use. This website is great for instructing astronomy because it displays many different types of astronomical phenomena that take years to occur in real life and displays them in a short period of time. I intend to use these animations to instruct my students about astronomy. I also intend for my students to complete the virtual labs. The worksheets offered for the labs are also great in instructing my students on how to use the simulators. To be honest when I was taking freshmen astronomy at WTAMU, my instructor used this website frequently. I enjoyed using the simulations because it allowed me to have hands on experience, and it made learning astronomy concepts easy due to all of the visuals and animations.

1. Name of Site:  KHANACADEMY
2. Website Address: https://www.khanacademy.org/ 
3. Copyright Date/Last Update
   The website was copyrighted in 2014 by the KHAN ACADEMY. The last time the website was updated was March 11, 2013. 
4. Author/Organization Credentials
   This website was founded by Sal Khan and is managed by a large team. Team members range from software engineers, designers, and educators. The educators who are the content specialists come from a variety of backgrounds. For example one educator serves on the editorial panel for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics journal of Teaching Children Mathematics. Another content specialist has his bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and a master’s in the History and Philosophy of Science. 
5. Website Design and Ease of Navigation
   The website design and ease of navigation for this website is great. In order to have access to the website an account must be made or one can log in with a Facebook or Google+ account. Once logged in, there are two pull down tabs at the top left of the website. The first pull down tab labeled “Learn” has a large range resources for students. For example under the Science tab, there are different links for different science subjects. In each one of those links are videos over different concepts for that particular science. Also under the Learn tab are test prep resources for tests such as the SAT. Next to the “Learn” tab is the “Coach” tab which is for teachers to use. Once this linked has been clicked on it leads to web page where teachers can track student progress when completing the missions for KHAN ACADAMY. There is a tab at near the top of the page called “Student Progress” where instructors can see each student’s individual progress and identify concepts students need help on. 
6. Recommended Use and Response
   I intend to use this website as supplemental instruction for my students. The videos are amazing in teaching the science concepts. I would have my students complete the videos and have them work on the concepts individually. This website has the following science content areas, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and a few videos over Astronomy. This is great for me because I will be able to teach all these science subjects at the high school level. I also really like having the ability to track my class’s progress so that I can see what concepts my students struggle with the most. This website also allows me to track individual students’ progress and examine areas where they are struggling. Having the ability to track my students’ progress allows me to become a more effective teacher. The reason for this is because I can devote my time and energy in aiding the student where they need help. Besides tracking my students, the videos of this website do a great way of overviewing the basic concepts. Also my students who are junior and seniors can take advantage of the test prep material the website offers for the SAT. Finally this website allows students to track their own progress. This ability to self-evaluate and to track their progress is a skill they need to develop in order to be successful in college.

1. Name of Site: PhET Interactive Simulations
2. Website Address:  http://phet.colorado.edu/ 
3. Copyright Date/Last Update
   The website was copyrighted in 2013 by the University of Colorado. It was difficult to identify when the website was last updated. Though the website displays that the last simulation update took place on February 5, 2014.
4. Author/Organization Credentials
   The PhET team is consisted of individuals from various types of backgrounds. For example, some individuals are software engineers, research associates, professors, and K-12 specialists. The founder of the website is Carl Wieman who received a Nobel Prize in Physics. This website is sponsored my numerous organizations such as the National Science Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the O’Donnell Foundation. 
5. Website Design and Ease of Navigation
   The website is quite easy to navigate and it has a great design. At the bottom of the webpage are links that are in three different categories which are “How to Run Simulations”, “For Teachers”, and “About”.  In the middle right side of the website is a box with a link called “Play with sims…>” that sends one to a webpage with all the simulations offered by PhET. On the left side of the webpage that displays the simulations, are links that separate the simulations into different science topics and grade levels. There is also a link that lists all the languages that are offered for the simulations. On the main page, if one clicks on the “Teacher” link category it sends the user to a PhET webpage with resources for teachers. In the middle of this webpage is a link called “browsing” in which it allows instructors to find instructional activities and homework assignments created by other teacher. These assignments found in “browsing” can be used to integrate the simulations into lessons. Also this website offers instructions on how to operate the simulators, as well as allowing educators to have the option of downloading and working offline with them. 
6. Recommended Use and Response
   I intend to use this website to help my students better understand tough science concepts. These simulations are a great way to allow students to have hands on experience with the concepts. I plan to find worksheets in which I can integrate some of these simulations into my lessons, as well as create and share my own worksheets. I also plan to utilize the translators for my English Language Learners. Many of these simulators have the ability to be translated into different languages using the PhET Translation Utility. These simulations are great ways of helping students learn about science concepts. For example, the Density simulator allows students to understand the relationship between volume and mass have on density. There some preset materials on this simulator like wood, ice, and brick. However, students can also create their own blocks to determine if they float. If students start out with a block that has a volume of 1 liter and a mass of 7 kilograms the block will not float in the water, but if students increased the volume to 7 liters they will witness the block will start floating.

1. Name of Site:  Zooniverse
2. Website Address:  https://www.zooniverse.org/ 
3. Copyright Date/Last Update:
   This website was copyrighted in 2013 by Zooniverse. The website does not display when it was last updated; however, the website seems to be current.
4. Author/Organization Credentials
   The website was developed and maintained by the Citizen Science Alliance which is partnered with the ORCHID Project and with NASA. The main team that supports the website has about 12 members. The members include the following, software developers, web developers, astronomers, astrophysicists, exoplanetary scientists, and educators.
5. Website Design and Ease of Navigation
   The website is somewhat easy to navigate through, however there are a few bugs in the website. For example, I have difficulty clicking on the links on the tabs. That was the only major problem I found. At the top of the web page there are three tabs. The first called “Projects” and the first link lists all of the projects people can complete on the Zooniverse website. The project topics range from Astronomy concepts to Biology, and to even environmental concepts.  The second tab called “Community” has three links. The most important link is the “Education” link. This link takes one to a Zooniverse webpage with a variety of educational resources. One link called “Zooteach” is a link that allows educators to find and share lesson plants that were created to use the Zooniverse website. Another link leads to the Zooniverse education blog which blogs about student’s reactions of instructors integrating the Zooniverse website into their lesson plans.
6. Recommended Use and Response
   I intend to use this website in a variety of ways in instructing my students in all of  the science classes I will teach. For example if I teach Biology, the Zooniverse has a project called “Cell Slider” in which students characterize microscope slides with cells on them. The project instructs students on how to complete the project and it even illustrates to them how to identify cancer cells. As an instructor, I believe this is a great way to get students excited about learning. The reason it is exciting for students is because students actually examine pictures that were taken by actual scientists. Another Zooniverse project I would like to utilize in my classroom would be the Snapshot Serengeti project. This would be great project to integrate into my Ecology unit for biology. Students have examined photos taken by camera traps. When examining the photos, students have to classify the animals in them.   I also intend to use the Zooteach link in order to find more lesson plans to integrate the Zooniverse website. In addition there is a Solar Storm Watch Resources link in which it also provides lesson plans for the climate projects of the Zooniverse Website.