Hi!
This letter of review may seem slightly scatter brained, but remember it is that time of year. I feel, though, that I have some delicious pointers for the four of you to chew on, and remember that I am learning a long with you. If I have pointed something out that is unsolvable at this point, I apologize.
Navigation:
As for the navigation, I really found it easy to get around the website. I also feel that many of your future audience members would find it easy as well. I also really appreciated having the links follow me wherever I went. What I mean is that each time I clicked a specific link, I was able to find a link to get me back home/about/manifesto, etc.
Choices:
I found that all of the technological choices made on this website aided in the information on the product. I found it to be clean cut and organized, which is more than I can say about a lot of websites available.
Purpose/Focus:
This is where it gets fuzzy for me. The issue may be simply that the argument is over my head but it is not really clear to me. I gathered that education system is stifling some kind of creative outlets for students, but I am biased in this. Let me explain why. The majority of information I saw under The Dispelling Myths and Creativity suggested that teachers are not using activities that incorporate creativity because they fear they might have class management issues. That is, they will have troubled students. I disagree that teachers are straying away from creativity at this point. This is something I plan to incorperate into my classroom, as do many of my peers. I am unsure where this is aimed to be posted because this whole entire thing, teachers will find insulting or as a personal attack to their teaching strategies. The majority of the reason that teachers do not use technology or creativity in the classroom is because the Illinois State Learning Standards do not allow much room for that. And many teachers are not happy with this, either.
Credibility:
I really enjoyed the bios. I was slightly caught off guard by Andrew’s in a foreign language. Is there an option to read this in another language? Some of us who do not read this language may actually want to find out more about Andrew.
Also, Paper weight’s “about” kind of bothered me. I believe teachers were referred to as lazy. I agree that the majority of teachers we had in high school sat behind their desks and did not offer us innovative ways of using technology. What I have learned in my education education (LOL) at ISU is that once teachers get into the classroom they miss out on the new things that come along in education. For example, blogging which came out in 1995 has just recently made its mark on the classroom. It really takes a long time for things to get into schools because teachers are secluded. To refer to them as lazy anywhere where they might see it really risks losing a large portion of your audience that may be more supportive to those who are not teachers. And not all teachers are lazy.
Appreciation:
I really did enjoy what I learned throughout this website. I appreciated it as well. Once the tone is adjusted, as a future teacher, I may soon find it even more relevant than I did before.
Three More things:
The two articles were really tiny font and there as a lot of information. I found this super intimidating and scary. When I see there is a lot to read, I usually click to the next screen and skip the reading
A lot of random symbols showed up throughout my reading. I don’t know if this is because I do not have a PC or what… but I wanted to make you aware.
The video was very bland. I feel that there was more that could have been done to incorporate media to the manifesto. I could tell that he was reading off a screen and it really did nothing for the information being presented. Also, the manifesto text link leads no where and I would have much rather read that…..
*** I really enjoyed this thus far, and I cannot wait to see the revisions!!!
