Evaluation of websites

Website 1: Louisiana State University football team (official site of LSU Athletics)

This site can be reached by going to:
http://www.lsusports.net/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=5200&KEY=&SPID=2164&SPSID=27815

On a scale with the highest score being a 4.0, I would rate this website as being a 3.6. I feel that it has got much critical and entertaining content, and a true LSU football fan would find this to be a great central site to locate information and statistics about their team. For someone who is not as die-hard a Tiger fan, they will be able to learn much more about the team, their playing schedule, information about Baton Rouge, as well as much more. There is a great wealth of content here, and so much more for me to discover! I felt the graphics to be pleasing to the eye, as well, with many colored photos of the team and players displayed throughout the pages. I liked the fact that the background of the page was white, with the team's purple and gold colors as a theme above and below the page. Because the team is also playing in the BCS Bowl game, they have a running countdown timer counting down to game time. This was something I felt very entertaining! The things I did not like about this site is the abundance of advertisements throughout the pages. I felt that this was a distraction and caused the page to seem too busy. Because of the many great features and pages that this site has, I rate this website pretty high.


Website 2: Ball Parks of Baseball

This site can be reached by going to:
http://www.ballparksofbaseball.com

I would give this site a score of 3.2. This site gives good information and historical background behind each of the major league baseball parks. I enjoyed being able to easily search for my favorite ballparks. Once I clicked on a ballpark's name, however, I got a few pictures, but mostly writing. The page was organized by having writing in many longer paragraphs, all on one side of the page. The other side featured some pictures, but many of the pictures seemed out of date. As someone who likes to just peruse a website, I would not waste my time reading all of the information, especially in the way that the page was formatted. The neat thing about this site was that down at the bottom of each stadium's page, you were able to see the current running weather conditions of that city. The website features a section in which you can give feedback about the site, and at the bottom of the page, I can see that this page has been running since 2001. Some feedback I have for improvement are that the website take time to show much improved layout, organization, graphics, and layout. With all the other cool websites currently out there, this site would not keep my interest for very long.


Website 3: Mrs. Renz's 4th Grade Class Website

This site can be reached by going to:
http://www2.redmond.k12.or.us/mccall/renz/

I would give this site a score of a 3.7. I have used this website many times in my own teaching and in helping to inform me about various features I should also include on my class website. I know that this site is one of the most popular sites for other fourth grade teachers to visit. Mrs. Renz has organized the massive amount of information on this site in a very effecient way. On the home page, she has a small graphic next to the title of another page you can enter, such as Parent Corner, Websites for Students, and Homework Backpack. The content is great, as there isn't too much writing, but lots of graphics and colors used. This is a site in which one can find much information, and as a teacher, I can see how beneficial this would be for the parents of my students. Not only that, but as a teacher, you would benefit from having parents that are well informed of class projects and information. Down at the bottom, you can find a way to contact Mrs. Renz. Because so many people contact her, she has set up a section in which you can see her responses to many commonly asked questions. I feel that this site is one in which there is a high quality content, design, navigation, and formatting.


Website 4: Rick Steves travel website

This site can be reached by going to:
http://www.ricksteves.com

I would give this site a 3.5. I feel that this is a quality site, and it has lots of important travel information for travellers to Europe. For someone who enjoys watching Rick Steves' travel videos and shows on tv, this site can give even more specific information. I found this site helpful on my own trip to Europe, with helping me to purchase Eurail tickets. I love that this site is built for community purposes, too, and features message boards on a variety of subjects. This is a site in which not only the site administrator adds information, but the people also add their experiences. I felt that it was a bit of a challenge for me to find what I was looking for on this site, just as there is SO much information. All of the seperate links and pages made my visit to this site one in which I initially did not know where to start. I do feel that for a traveller, this site is the one place to go for much critical, accurate, and up-to-date information.


Website 5: Mercer Island School District website

This site can be reached by going to:
http://www.misd.k12.wa.us

I would give this site a 3.8. I feel that this site does very well in the areas of content, design, navigation, and formatting. This site has pictures of students as part of its header, but not too many other distracting graphics. This makes it easy to view the information. It is easy to find my way to each of the school's personal websites, as well as to departments of the district. I feel that the web interface our district uses is one in which parents and students can easily find critical information. I would describe this as a classy website that truly helps our district to look high quality and professional.