1. Name of Website: Language is a Virus
3. Copyright and/or Last Update: The copyright for this site is ©2001-2013.
4. Author/Organization Credentials: Language is a Virus
is a network of different people. Because there are many links that forward to
different websites, there are many authors that keep Language is a Virus running. There is no information about the
creators of Language is a Virus, so
viewers must determine on their own the credibility of each of the websites
linked on the page. Furthermore, Language
is a Virus does not claim to be one hundred percent accurate, as said on
their disclaimer, “it is not liable for its accuracy, mistakes or omissions”.
Many of the links, however, are reliable. For example, the link “Creative
Writing in the News” leads to many examples of newspaper articles. One article
in particular, “Poet Billy Collins”, is a reliable website featuring an
interview conducted by Jeffrey Brown of PBS
Newshour.
5. Website Design and Ease of Navigation: Language is a
Virus has a ton of information, so the site must be extremely organized in
order for the viewer to find exactly what they are looking for. At the top of
the page, there is a list of the four broadest categories of the site: Writing
Games, Writing Exercises, Poetry Guide, and Post. Of course, each of these
categories has many subcategories that are listed further down the page. If one
clicks on one of the four categories, however, the site changes to a new page
that offers a list of all the subcategories in that particular section.
A little further down the home page,
there are four large pictures of four different poets. Each of these pictures
come attached with articles that explain the style of the poets and why their
work made them famous. One poet in particular, William S. Burroughs, was famous
for taking paragraphs of poem, cutting them up, and forming a brand new poem
using the exact same words of original poem. This technique not only made
unique poetry, but it also creating new and interesting lines that could be
taken and formed into another poem. This type of thought process is one of the
things Language is a Virus stresses:
the ability to create new poems based on old ideas. In fact, Text Manipulation
(a subcategory of Writing Exercises) is dedicated to this very idea. Users can
take a poem they have written, enter it into different links that manipulate
the text in some way, and create a brand new poem or line.
As a viewer travels further down the
webpage, past the four pictures, they are able to see all of the subcategories
(there are ten in all). Each subcategory has a list of activities, exercises,
articles, and generators that viewers can participate in. The subcategories are
in black with a shadow text effect, while all of the links that lead to the
different activities are in orange. Also, beside the name of the activity,
there is a brief description on what the viewer can expect from that certain
activity. This makes it simple for viewers to know exactly what to click on to
navigate to the activity they want to do.
Lastly, there are two extra links
that a viewer can click on that are not provided under a category. The first is
Contact. The contact button simply pops up a box that asks for the viewer’s
email and question/comment. I suppose if the viewer has any questions or
suggestions to improve the website, they can use the contact link and email the
group of people that keep Language is a
Virus running. The second link is Writing Prompt. If a person wishes to
write a type of text but needs an idea of what to write about, they can click
this button, and different writing prompts will appear. For instance, the
current writing prompt is: What do you need when you feel jealous?
6. Response:
·
Strengths: The main goal of this website is to
cure writer’s block. Certainly, almost all of the links on this website work to
do just that. There are links for name generators, title suggestions, and
dictionaries. Like I previously explained, there are different links that
manipulate text to come up with new sentences. One can simply replace different
words in a sentence or mix up an entire paragraph. There are even links to
create a visual picture of poetry through mosaics and collages. This website
also puts a large emphasis on poetry, and there is a link that teaches viewers
to create poetry through different forms such as couplet, quatrain, blank
sonnet, haiku, tanka, and renga. All of these things can creatively inspire
people to create better and intriguing texts in a way they have never thought
of doing before. Even struggling writers will be able to benefit from this
website and relate writing with entertainment.
·
Weaknesses: I personally feel that every
educational website should be free from distractions. When looking up different
writing methods, I do not want advertisements breaking my concentration. Thus,
the major weakness of this website is the advertisements. Most of the
advertisements have nothing to do with what the website is promoting, so
students looking at this website may see an advertisement that reads, “Weird
Food Kills Blood Pressure”, and become distracting from the work they are
trying to complete. Another weakness to this website is the lack of information
about the author or organization that sponsors it. A group that wishes their
website to contribute to a student’s education should make themselves reliable.
They should not have to put a disclaimer on their website that shelters them
from inaccuracy.
7. Recommendation for Use: A secondary English teacher can easily use this website to
inspire creativity in his/her students. Some of the elements of this website,
such as the Writing Prompt link, can start off a particular unit, or simply be
used as practice for writing essays. Also, this is a great website that can be
used during a poetry unit. A lot of students struggle with writing poetry, but
this website makes poetry fun and easy. As the website explains in its
description: “You can choose from a multitude of writing games, gizmos,
generators, writing prompts and exercises, tips, experiments and manifestos
from infamous avante garde writers and how-to articles on fiction writing and
poetry”. In fact, the information given about the different writers and poets
could be beneficial when teaching students about different writing practices.
In addition, this website is organized and extremely easy to navigate, so
students should have no trouble surfing this website on their own. If they use
this website, their writing abilities and interest toward writing are likely to
improve.
1.
Name of
Website: Vocabulary.com
3.
Copyright
and/or Last Update: The copyright for this site is ©2013. Each of the
vocabulary lists are updated frequently. In fact, new lists created by
subscribers appear every day.
4.
Author/Organization
Credentials: The company that created this website is Thinkmap, Inc.
founded by Michael Freedman and Marc Tinkler. Thinkmap, Inc. was founded in
1997 that works to use “visualization to facilitate communication, learning,
and discovery”. Currently, companies such as General Dynamics, Motorola, NASA
Ames Research Center, Pfizer, and Sony Music are all customers of Thinkmap,
Inc.
5.
Web
Design and Ease of Navigation: Someone who has never visited this website
before find a vocabulary question taking up most of the homepage.
Vocabulary.com first asks a few vocabulary questions to create a basis for the
viewer’s vocabulary knowledge level. As the website begins to learn which
vocabulary words to viewer does and doesn’t know, it begins to generate
questions it predicts to be in the viewer’s knowledge range. By this I mean
words that are not too easy or too hard for the viewer. After the viewer has
answered a few questions, he can view charts and graphs that mark which words
he knows and which ones he needs to work on. There are also sentences that
accompany the vocabulary words so the viewer may easily understand what each
word means. Also, the more vocabulary words a person gets right, the more
points they receive. When they receive a certain number of points, they are
awarded a badge. If the viewer is confused on what they are supposed to do,
there is a “how it works” link that describes exactly what the viewer is to
expect from the website and what they are supposed to do to advance.
Another aspect of
this website is the list of words a person can make. For instance, a teacher
that is reading To Kill a Mockingbird
with her students can create a list on Vocabulary.com
containing all of the vocabulary words in the book that she believes her students
may struggle with. In turn, her students can log onto the website, click on the
list their teacher made, and study the words. Not only do subscribers make
vocabulary lists, however. Vocabulary.com also makes lists of all kinds. It
makes its own lists of different texts such as I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and A Midsummer’s Night Dream. It also made a list from one of
President Obama’s speeches, and several lists were made in preparation for the
SATs. People can find these lists through examining the “featured lists” or the
“top rated lists” as well as searching using the available search bar. Other
categories of existing lists include: Text Prep, Literature, Morphology and
Roots, Historical Documents, Speeches, Just for Fun, and News.
One must keep in
mind that a viewer must subscribe to this website in order for the website to
keep track of the words a person correctly or incorrectly answers. If a person
wishes to receive points and badges, a subscription is necessary. Also, a
teacher that wants her students to study one of the vocabulary lists can look
at the student’s account and see which words the student got right and which
ones he struggled with. That is another benefit of having student subscribe to
the website.
6. Response:
·
Strengths:
I find this website superior to any other vocabulary website for many reasons.
First, there are no advertisements. Anyone simply looking to find the
definition of a word does not have to worry about being sidetracked. Second,
the website is invested in making sure the viewer is learning vocabulary words.
Instead of just listing information or conducting boring assessments, Vocabulary.com asks unique questions,
keeps track of the words a person correctly or incorrectly answers, rewards the
viewer, and chooses words specifically for the viewer’s vocabulary knowledge
level. Third, this website allows vocabulary lists to be made. Instead of
people aimlessly learning vocabulary words without a particular goal in mind,
people can be encouraged that they are studying for the SATs or are working to
better understand a particular text. These lists allow people to set goals, and
they are more likely to stick to learning the words. Lastly, people, especially
younger students, tend to still be confused when they read an example sentence
on other vocabulary websites. Perhaps the sentence used doesn’t allow the
viewer to fully understand the meaning of the word. In contrast, Vocabulary.com uses modern sentences to
allow readers to understand what their vocabulary word means. An example of
what the website might use is: “A squirrel, a zebra, a deer, a wolf, and a
grizzly bear meet in a field. Yes, a disaster in the making, but also a bunch
of quadrupeds—animals that walk on
four feet.”
·
Weaknesses:
When a person makes a vocabulary list, they have the option to make their list
public or private. When a list is public, the list is open to anyone that
chooses to use it. When a list is private, only the creator can use it. If I
were a teacher and I made a specific list for the vocabulary books in a text I
was teaching, I would want my list to only be available to my students. On a
public list, people can make comments on the list about how well they did or if
they thought the list had the appropriate words. A teacher can’t control what
is said on a public forum, so negative comments can be made that students don’t
need to see when studying vocabulary words. If I had the ability to only open
the list I made to my students, I would be able to control what was said in the
comments section.
7.
Recommendation
for Use: This website has a lot of benefits for teachers, parents, and
students. Anyone that has a desire to expand their vocabulary should give this
website a try. Teachers, in particular, should see Vocabulary.com as a valuable asset. Teachers of all subjects can
compile lists of vocabulary words related to their subject, and have their
students study the words. When making a list, teachers can choose which
definition they want to go with each word and write notes to accompany each
word. A teacher can even add a sentence using that word for the students to
study. Also, when studying a list, students can click on the Spelling Bee
option. The website will then give them a definition of a word, and the student
must know which vocabulary word it is and how to spell it. Teachers who require
their students to use this website will see an improvement of their students’
writing. Knowing vocabulary words will also help students do better on major
exams such as the SATs.
1.
Name of
Website: Purdue Owl
3.
Copyright
and/or Last Update: The copyright for this site is ©1995-2013. The site was
last edited on June 7, 2013.
4.
Author/Organization
Credentials: Purdue Owl was
created by Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. A large number of
Purdue students keep Purdue Owl
running. As of right now, Caitlan Spronk stands as the OWL Webmaster and Joshua
M. Paiz is the OWL Coordinator.
5.
Web
Design and Ease of Navigation: Purdue
Owl is a website meant to help writers. Done is a simple format with simple
colors, Purdue Owl has links for
every imaginable question one might have about writing. Across the top of the
page are links that lead to information about Purdue Owl and what it is about. These subjects include Purdue’s
writing lab, news about the University, information about the website and its
goal to help students, and contact information. Along the left-hand side of the
site, black links in an orange box are probably going to be the most helpful in
a school-type setting. These links lead to help with specific types of writing
(fiction, non-fiction, biographies, poetry, etc.), citation, teacher and tutor
resources, subject-specific writing, job search writing, and even English as a
second language. When someone clicks on one of these links, an entire list of
other links appear. For example, if one clicked “General Writing”, the new
links that appear are: “The Writing Process”, “Academic Writing”, “Common
Writing Assignments”, “Mechanics”, “Grammar”, “Punctuation”, etc. If a student
needs help crafting a thesis statement, he can click on “The Writing Process”,
and he will be directed to other links, one of them being “Creating a Thesis
Statement”. Of course, if he wanted, he could simply search “thesis statement”
in the search bar on the homepage of the website.
One topic on this website that I see a lot of students using
is the citation link. While this website won’t generate automatic citations
(which is appropriate because students must know how to cite their work
themselves), it does give guidelines on how to cite different sources in APA
Style, MLA Style, and Chicago Manual of Style. If students are unclear how to
cite a certain source, they can refer to this website to teach them exactly how
it should be done.
Another thing this website offers is help and advice for
teachers and tutors. When a teacher or tutor clicks on the link “Teacher and
Tutor Resources”, they will be taken to links that offer advice on aspects of
their job. There is even information about writing letters of recommendation
and preventing plagiarism.
There is such a vast amount of information this site offers,
that if website was not organized, it would just be a big mess. The fact that
all of the information is organized into links and subjects means that the
community can get the most out of this website. It is also important to note
that on the top right-hand side of the page, there is a link labeled “Site
Map”. This “map” lists every single specific subject of information that the
site offers. Instead of clicking a link that leads to another set of links and
so on, the site map lays out all of the links on one page. This may be a faster
way of sifting through the information.
6.
Response:
·
Strengths:
The organization must be mentioned as a strength. It is amazing that this group
of people were able to make a website that presents so much information in a
neat and organized way. Of course, I can’t mention the organization without
mentioning the importance of the vast amount of information. Any question
whatsoever about writing a person has is probably on this website. I’m awed
that the website not only addresses students, but it also addresses teachers.
Even teachers can benefit from using this website when pondering how to
approach a certain technique of teaching writing. This website is professional
and easy to navigate. There are no distracting advertisements or fancy
letters/pictures that take away attention from the information. I will
definitely bring this website to the attention of my students, especially when
they begin writing research papers.
·
Weaknesses:
I honestly can’t think of any weaknesses of this website. The site is updated
frequently, so if things change, such as technical parts of MLA format, the
staff of the website makes the changes necessary. I’m impressed by the layout
of the website and how easy it is to find exactly what I’m looking for.
7.
Recommendation
for Use: As I said earlier, anybody can use this website. Students
especially benefit because of all the information provided for them to become
exceptional writers. Teachers can receive advice on the best ways to teach
certain aspects of writing, and people outside of the education department can
visit the website for help learning the English language and writing résumés
for jobs. While teachers can suggest this website to students for any type of
writing in any subject, students should definitely use this website when
writing research papers. Purdue Owls suggests prewriting strategies and how to
make an outline. It also goes over thesis statements, how to structure
paragraphs, grammar rules, editing and revising, and citation. This is the
ultimate website to go to for any questions concerning writing.
1.
Name of
Website: American Library Association (ALA)
3.
Copyright
and/or Last Update: The copyright for this site is ©1996-2013. ALA updates
their news section daily, and the last update was November 5, 2013 at 4:11 p.m.
4.
Author/Organization
Credentials: ALA was founded in 1876 and is the largest library association
in the world. ALA has many divisions, committees, and offices that allow ALA to
thrive. Each division has its own website within the ALA website, so there is a
vast amount of people dedicated to keeping the ALA website running. Currently,
the president of ALA is Barbara Stripling.
5.
Web
Design and Ease of Navigation: ALA is a huge organization that covers every
aspect of libraries. These aspects include: literacy, intellectual freedom,
access to information through library services, the transformation of
libraries, organization, etc. Because there is so much information, one cannot
simply research all there is to know about this website in a matter of months,
much less weeks or days. Because of that, my main focus from this website is
books. Information about books is the main reason I would want my students to
research the ALA website.
When a viewer first
looks at the homepage of the ALA website, they are bombarded with all of the
different categories the American Library Association deals with. On the
left-hand side of the page, there are links in blue that list different
categories about ALA. If one clicks on “Awards and Grants” a new page opens
that lists several other links. The first link, “Book, Print & Media
Awards”, is an ideal place for a viewer to go to learn about awarded books.
True to ALA’s style, there is a massive list of the different awards books, print,
and media can receive. One can look through these awards to find books the
American Library Association finds credible and important. For instance, if a
viewer clicked on the award “John Newbery Medal”, they would find The One and Only Ivan as the winner.
People wishing to read quality literature can use this website to find the
books they want. Also, English teachers wishing to teach modern trade books to
their class can use this website to find awarded books.
Still under the link
“Awards and Grants”, there is another link that reads “Recommended Lists (‘Best
Of’)”. This link lists books that large groups of people deem notable, though
they haven’t necessary received an award. This list also presents quality
literature reading.
Another link I would
suggest a viewer to visit is “Banned and Challenged Books”. The subcategories are “About Banned and Challenged Books”, “Banned Books Week”,
“Challenges to Library Materials”, and “Frequently Challenged Books”. Each of
these links are valuable to viewers wishing to learn why books are banned, what
the ALA is doing to stop books from being banned, which books are being banned,
and what they can do to help and support the ALA’s cause. Keep in mind that
each of the subcategories lead to even more links. If a viewer wanted to know
of specific books that have been banned, he/she can click on “Frequently
Challenged Books” and find the books banned by the year, author, and reason.
For instance, one of the top challenged books of 2012 was The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini for homosexuality, offensive
language, religious viewpoint, and sexually explicit.
This website is
designed in a simple fashion, presumably to put more emphasis on the
information the website supplies. Whether it is seen as a good or bad thing,
the ALA websites provides an immense amount of information, and people,
especially students, may be intimidated by that. While the website is fairly
easy to navigate and I found what I wanted pretty quickly, I would be further
satisfied if a new website was created by the ALA that only covered books. A
new website would still provide a gigantic amount of information, but people
might be more at ease knowing that the information they are sifting through
only covers books.
6.
Response:
·
Strengths:
From an English teacher’s perspective, this website provides information about
books that would be valuable when deciding which texts to teach in a classroom
setting. Whether an advocate for intellectual freedom or not, a teacher can
look at banned books and prepare themselves for the responses they may get
toward the book choice from students, parents, and possibly coworkers. Also,
knowing what books received awards or honorable mention might make it easier
for teacher to decide which books to read in a classroom. From a student’s
perspective, this website allows me to pick quality literature for myself.
Because the lists are neatly organized, viewers should have no problem finding
the books they want. Another strength of this website is its credibility. This
website is a primary source that is ideal for research. In fact, the creators
of the site must expect many people to use the site for research papers because
there is a link on the homepage that gives the correct MLA citation for the
website.
·
Weaknesses:
As I mentioned earlier, the sheer amount of information can be a disadvantage
to the website. Viewers looking from information about books may choose a
website other than ALA simply because they are intimidated by all the
information and links the website offers. If a new website was created that
only gave information about books, more people may be more open and comfortable
with using that website for research.
7.
Recommended
for Use: As I mentioned earlier, teachers and students can benefit from
this website by finding books that have been awarded or banned. One benefit I
didn’t mention before, however, is that this website is the perfect source when
teaching about challenged books. As specified by the American Library
Association, Banned Books Week normally takes place sometime in September. In
2013, Banned Books Week was September 22-28. This would be an ideal time for
teachers to inform their students about banned and challenged books. Students
need to know why books are being banned and whether or not they should support
the ALA in stopping this from happening. The choices they make about this
debate will effect what future generations will be reading.
1.
Name of
Website: International Reading Association (IRA)
3.
Copyright
and/or Last Update: The copyright for this site is: ©1996-2013.
4.
Author/Organization
Credentials: The IRA is a global network that was founded in 1956. The
current president is Maureen McLaughlin.
5.
Web
Design and Ease of Navigation: This website offers information on a grand
scale. One link leads to a set of other links which leads to more links. Much
like the American Library Association website, IRA has an immense amount of
information, but it is all meticulously organized. Teachers and students would
probably the information most valuable to them on the far left-side of the page
under “Resources”. These categories include lesson plans, reading lists,
resources by topic, etc. Under “Reading Lists” there are three links to
different types of books lists. One is the teacher choice, the second is the
children choice, and the third is the young adult choice. When a teacher is
looking for books recommended by fellow teachers to use in a classroom, they
can click the teacher choice link. The book lists are listed by year and grade
level, and there are short descriptions of each book, so teachers can easily
find books that fit their needs. Students looking for young adult books can
also find lists organized by year. If students are not finding books that
interest them, perhaps searching this list will help them pick out suitable
books.
An ideal link for teachers is “Lesson Plans”, found on the
home page. This link leads to two important categories: “Sharpen Your Teaching
Skills” and “Engage Your Students”. Under “Engage Your Students” is a link that
leads to student activities sponsored by readwritethink.
Teacher can introduce these different activities to students in order to help
them improve their reading and writing skills.
The navigation is fairly easy on this website, but like the
ALA website, there is so much information that students may be too intimidated
to take the site seriously. I would be
beneficial if a new website was made simply outlining the information under the
“Resources” section.
6.
Response:
·
Strengths:
The benefits this website provides for students and teachers are tremendous.
Teachers receive suggestions on high quality lesson plans and effective
teaching strategies. The reading lists made available make it easy for teachers
to view high quality trade books recommended by other teachers. Students, on
the other hand, can view the reading lists in order to find books that interest
them and encourage them to read. In fact, IRA’s mission statement is “to
promote reading by continuously advancing the quality of literacy instruction
and research worldwide”. Also, podcasts (listed under the “Engage Your
Students” section) contain famous authors emphasizing the importance of
reading. Under the student activities link, student can engage in different
activities that help them with their reading and writing and even make the
process fun. For example, one activity, called the Cube Creator, allows
students to take a story they have read or written and fill in information in
an animated cube. This process allows students to identify characters, setting,
conflict, resolution, etc. in stories they have read or written.
·
Weaknesses:
As mentioned earlier, this website has an intimidating amount of information.
While dedicated researchers may find this rewarding, high school students weary
of literacy may find the website unapproachable. Creating a new website that
focuses only on the information outlined in the “Resources” section may be an
ideal way to approach timid high schoolers.
7.
Recommended
for Use: Because the mission of this website is to encourage people to
read, IRA is the perfect website to introduce students to the benefits of
reading. Students can find books recommended by other teenagers to suit their
interests and reading levels. The activities the website provides allow
students to participate in fun activities that strengthen their literacy
knowledge. If IRA’s mission statement rings true, more students will begin to
find the enjoyment of reading. Also, teachers looking for new and refreshing
way to teach literature can use this website to their advantage. This website
helps teachers reach students through reading in modern ways.
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