Evaluating Websites in the Future

The evaluation of sites is very important. Until today I honestly never considered it's importance. You are always told by certain teachers which sites to stay away from and which to use. I never thought about the research they put into figuring out which sites were appropriate and which weren't. I now that feel that I have a good idea of key indicators to look for when deciding the validity of a site.
This will of course be helpful in my classroom. It is something that shouldn't be kept secret from students. If I am using a site in class I will let them know how I decided it was appropriate for class and which sites I found that were not. It was interesting to see the number of sites today that were not valid sites but looked like they could be. It takes a small amount of knowledge and even smaller amount of digging to realize whether a site is worth trusting or not. Why not share this knowledge with other students?

Evaluating Websites

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/eval.html

This is a good website for evaluating. Kathy Schrock added PDF files that include checklists for different classroom settings. She also broke down the evaluation process into easy terms like "The 5 W's of Website Evaluation" or "The ABCs of Website Evaluation". Her site is easy to use and understand for people of different ages as well as the different levels of understanding when it comes to the internet. Check it out!

Wiki Reflection

The wikis are much easier to use than I originally expected. I had the most trouble with adding photographs and making that look the way I wanted it to. I have it all figured out now though after going over it in class.   I wish that there was a way to change the background to make it a little more interesting. I am pleased with it so far though!

I think that this could be very useful in the classroom. I see myself using it more as a homework tool. I would post homework and notes or examples on this. That way when the students get home and work on their homework they have a recourse to jog their memories if they have forgotten or don't have good note taking skills. There could also be some form of a discussion board so that they can have homework issue discussions through that. This way I can see that they are trying to access all recourses before they give up. It also adds fun to homework. My only worry is working with the fact that not everyone will have internet access.

Expectations

My expectations for this course before coming in were that I would learn to use technology and how to integrate that into my future classroom. It seems to be more about the computer and ways of using the internet than what I thought it would be. My expectations for this class are simply to learn what there is to know about computers, the internet, and the way it all works. (More than just google and iChat) I feel that this will be a great learning experience for me even though I feel I already have to ability to pick up on new technology fairly easy. I have been too scared to try blogs because I am a math person and hate to write. However, look at me! I am writing my second blog post of the day on our second day of class! I have much interest in this class and not many hesitations or fears.

Bio

I am from Chattanooga, TN. I went to a small private school in Chattanooga; where I graduated from a class of 22. I grew up in a small church as well. That made coming to UT an adjustment for me! After a year of being up here I got used to it and my one and only sibling (sister) came to UT. She is the one I consider my best friend. I am a very big family person. After I finish at UT I plan to teach math in a private school in Chattanooga. I love the outdoors. In my free time I like to hike in the summer and ski in the winter. I am also addicted to Starbucks. :)