Website Reviews

These are my personal thoughts and views on these specific websites.

Website Evaluation 1

1. Name of Website: International Reading Association

2. Website Address: www.reading.org

3. Copyright Information:

© 1996–2012 International Reading Association. All rights reserved. See Fair Use Policy at http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-fairuse.html

4. Author and Organizational Credentials:

International Reading Association; IRA has been a nonprofit, global network of individuals and institutions committed to worldwide literacy. There are more than 60,000 members who promote high levels of literacy. Their mission statement is: “The mission of the International Reading Association is to promote reading by continuously advancing the quality of literacy instruction and research worldwide.” The Strategic Direction Statements include many different areas, which make the organization widely accepted among educators. These statements include: professional development, partnership, research, advocacy, councils and affiliates, technology and international affiliates/members.

5. Website design and ease of navigation:

When going to the website, www.reading.org, I immediately noticed that it looked very professional and clean. As I began to click on links, I knew that it was a great website and had a great layout. Not one of the links that I visited was broken, which rarely happens on a website. This site is updated often with information, new authors and publications. There is a banner at the top that has upcoming events for members of IRA. There is a place for searching which leads you to the link you are looking for information. The column on the left of the page has most visited links that are useful. The sub-headers that are widely recognized are: Login for Members, Trending Topics, General, Resources and Information. This website is simple to navigate and the design is clean and easy on the eyes.

6. Response and Recommendations for intended audience:

I was immediately drawn to this website after I read some of the reviews it had on our message board. I loved the ease of the website and the information that it gave me. The IRA website is great for information on reading material or topics in education that I would like to research. This was not a familiar website to me, but after this class, I am adding it to my bookmarks. It will be great for struggling readers along with emergent readers, which I deal with on a daily basis. It is going to be a great asset to my classroom and my professional development. I think that I will visit the Resources tab often, as it has things that benefit my early childhood classroom.

In addition to the resources, there is a link for many grants and awards that have deadlines approaching. This is a great source for teachers who want to apply for grants and receive more funding for their classrooms.

Website Evaluation 2

6. Name of Website: Texas Education Agency

2. Website Address: http://www.tea.state.tx.us/

3. Copyright Information/Update Information: © Copyright Texas Education Agency (TEA) 2007-2012. Each page was modified on a different day. The most recent modification that I found was on 9/27/12.

4. Author and Organizational Credentials:

Texas Education Agency is the author and organization of this website. There are many different divisions from Accountability Research to Waivers and many in between.

5. Website design and ease of navigation:

The design of this website is very clean and professional. There is so much information, but it is well organized by hyperlinks and divisions. Each division has an enormous amount of information, and it is organized by subtitles and links inside the division. There are links for teachers, administrators, funding, testing, accountability, curriculum, reports, news, events, and links for jobs. Each one of those links on the left side of the home page have subtitles explaining what the link consists of in case you are unsure. It also has a hyperlink for you to click if you just want to go straight to the subtitle link. TEA is the home for all of Texas’ educators and administrators and is used on a daily basis. This is the website for teachers to find curriculum and standards for teaching. Texas Essential for Knowledge and Skills are designed as Texas’ curriculum standards. Each of these TEKS is organized by grade level, subject and content. They are easily accessed for teachers to download as a PDF or print, whichever is more convenient for them. Inside the TEKS, there are links for each grade level and then subject so you don’t have to scroll through the information before finding the subject or TEK that you need. Texas Education Agency’s website is very user friendly and nicely organized for daily use from educators and administrators.

6. Response and Recommendations for intended audience:

The intended audience for the Texas Education Agency website is for all Texas educators and administrators.

Website Evaluation 3

1. Name of Website: Children's and Young Adult Author Cynthia Leitich Smith Official Web Site

2. Website Address: http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/

3. Copyright Information/Update Information: “Children's and Young Adult Author Cynthia Leitich Smith Official Web Site” authored by Cynthia Leitich Smith (cynthia@cynthialeitichsmith.com). This web site and all images are Copyright © 1998-2011 by Cynthia Smith, except where noted. All rights reserved.

4. Author and Organizational Credentials:

Cynthia Leitich Smith is the author of her own website, but was designed and maintained by Lisa Firke. Cynthia Leitich Smith is a New York Times best-selling and award-winning author who writes fiction stories for children and young adults. Some of the children’s books published are: Holler Loudly, Santa Knows, Indian Shoes, Rain is Not My Indian Name, Jingle Dancer among some other short stories. Some of the young adult books published are: Tantalize, Eternal, Blessed, Diabolical and Sanguini’s Store among more and some short stories, too. Cynthia’s husband is also an author and is talked about often on her website.

5. Website design and ease of navigation:

Cynthia’s website is very user friendly and fun to visit. I love the way that she has the links set up so you just click on it to read more. All of the headers are simple and clean, and you know what you’re going to when you click on it. I visited almost all of the hyperlinks and none of them are broken. The navigation of the site is flowing and very easy to use. Some of the links include: About Cyn, Cyn’s Events, Books for Kids, Books for YAs, FAQs for All, Goodies for Writers, and Children’s and YA Resources. There is more than enough information on Cynthia’s website to learn more about her as not only an author, but as a person. I feel like I gained a better knowledge of her personality of writing through just reading about her life. The complete site map is a great link for an overview of the website.

6. Response and Recommendations for intended audience:

I loved this website! Out of all of them, this has been my favorite. I liked that Cynthia seems so down-to-earth and isn’t afraid to put some personal information out there. Her link to her blog is posted under her About Cyn section and is a fun read, also. Although I didn’t know much about Cynthia before visiting the website, I have learned many things about her and would love to work her books into my classroom library. This website, and literature, are for an intended audience of older children than what I am teaching, but I would still like to have a few of her books for my personal nieces and nephews. Cynthia’s writing has earned many awards, and her website should, too! I loved visiting it!

Website Evaluation 4

1. Name of Website: Dr. Jon Allan Reyhner

2. Website Address: http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/index.html

3. Copyright Information/Update Information: Copyright © 2012 Northern Arizona University, All rights reserved. There was no information on an updated web page date.

4. Author and Organizational Credentials:

Jon Reyhner is the author of his own website. He has written many articles, book chapters and visits conferences often. Dr. Reyhner has given over 100 workshops, presentations and speeches at various conferences at the regional, national and international level. He is the author of Education and Language Restoration (Chelsea House, 2006) and co-author or American Indian Education: A History (University of Oklahoma Press, 2004). He is also the author of Language and Literacy Teaching for Indigenous Education: A Bilingual Approach (Multilingual Matters, 2002). He has edited many, many articles. Not only is Dr. Reyhner an author and editor, he is a teacher. He taught junior high for four years, before becoming a school administrator for ten years in Arizona, Montana and New Mexico. He then left school administration to become an assistant professor at Montana State University--Billings. In 1995, Reyhner became a professor of bilingual and multicultural education courses at Northern Arizona University, where he currently resides. American Indian / Indigenous Education (http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/AIE/index.html) and Teaching Indigenous Languages (http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/TIL.html) are two websites developed by Dr. Reyhner.

5. Website design and ease of navigation:

Upon first visit of Dr. Jon Allan Reyhner’s website, I noticed that there was going to be a plethora of information. There are many links and many different subjects to learn about. From American Indian Education to Parent Involvement, these links are for information of visitors to his website. Also, there are many resources such as study habits and writing resources for students. The website is not as professional and clean as some of the others that I have visited, but the information is plenty!

6. Response and Recommendations for intended audience:

To me, as a reader, this website is easy to navigate, but also somewhat overwhelming. If I was coming to this website to look for a few things, it would be easy to find them. If I was coming to learn more information that I did not know about, I wouldn’t know where to begin! If the intended audiences of this website are primarily students and teachers, it is a great website to peruse. If you are looking for information about Dr. Reyhner, it is also a great website. I find it hard to focus on just one piece of information, as there are many aspects over the home page.