Many interesting web sites are available now, designed for instructional use, or useful for educational purposes.  These sites may help students learn some skill or content, or to make a product. Unfortunately, many web sites have serious weaknesses from an educational or informational point of view. The purpose of this assignment is to explore some relevant educational web sites and to evaluate them for a specific instructional purpose.
 

Task

Choose an instructional unit topic (for example, the digestive system or Huckleberry Finn). Also, choose a target grade level or levels. Using your web searching skills, find 2 relevant websites that could help you teach this topic. The site need not be perfect, but it should have some instructional value from your point of view (which you must communicate to me).  Explore each site thoroughly.  Using the criteria and questions suggested in this ERIC Digest, consider instructional strengths and weaknesses. Consider possible instructional uses of the site.  Using a word processor, compose an annotated "webliography" that provides the following for each site:

• Web site title
• URL (hot)
• Author or organization responsible for site
• Last update or copyright date
• Description of site
• Possible instructional use(s)
• Strengths and weaknesses

Expect to share one of your sites in class.

You have the option to work on this assignment with a partner.  If you choose to collaborate, the two of you must agree on all aspects of the assignment and you will receive exactly the same score.

Format

Print out your assignment and leave it in your folder on or before February 1.  Also, send it to me as an email attachment (so that I can click on your sites and avoid typing the URLs).