App Ed Review Roundup – Website Wrecking Ball: Add Some Quality Websites to Your Repertoire

A Potpourri of Highly Rated, Rubric-Assessed Websites to make Learning Fun (and Many More to Explore at App Ed Review)

The school year is well underway, and students are engaging research, completing extended learning opportunities, and investigating the world wide web for information! At a time when students are using their information literacy skills to analyze the credibility of websites, we here at App Ed Review decided to dedicate this RoundUp to content-based websites, which give students access to all kinds of information, data, and knowledge. With that in mind, we searched our database of reviews and selected four high-quality websites that your students can use immediately.

Also, as a reminder, each review posted to App Ed Review offers readers an original description of the resource, 3-5 instructional ideas for using the resource in the classroom, and a comprehensive evaluation. We hope you enjoy this edition of the RoundUp and keep having students conduct research and evaluate the credulity of websites!

1. Google Arts & Culture is a one-stop shop for all your class’s culture needs. The website offers curated all-encompassing cultural experiences of videos, articles, pictures, links, and, using Google Maps’ Street View technology, 360° tours and gallery walks. Google Arts & Culture offers cultural experience collections called Daily Digest and Stories of the Day sections, (i.e. Rembrandt, Day of the Dead, Hong Kong Neon, etc.) as well as 360° destination tours of museums, monuments, and more (i.e. Dolores Olmedo Museum, Stonehenge, Great Barrier Reef). With all the media Google Arts & Culture has to offer, your students are sure to have an immersive experience! Check out our full review of Google Arts & Culture, and take your class on a virtual field trip today!
2. The PBS Learning Lab screams STEM education! With this tool, students can explore how different phenomena – forces, shapes, loads, and materials – are impacted by different variables. The features that makes this website standout are that the information is not static. Instead, students are able to interact with it and view examples of the phenomena in nature. For example, when working with shapes, students are able to click on different parts of the shapes to apply pressure. In response, the shapes bend and break as increased amounts of pressure are applied. In addition, the website shows how shapes can be reinforced to support more pressure. In addition, when working with the Force feature, the website shows real-world instances regarding what happens when too much force is applied. In all, PBS Learning Labs scored high for its design, which has implications for student engagement and learning. When teaching about engineering, this website is a must-use resource. To see why, click here.
3. Get the Math illustrates real-world, everyday scenarios where algebra is used by musicians, designers, athletes, and more! The Take the Challenge section gives students a math problem related to the video watched. Lesson plans that go along with each video are provided for teachers aiming to implement real-world algebra applications into the math classroom. Video topics are sure to grab your students’ attention with topics like Math in Videogames, Math in Fashion, Math in Special Effects, and Math in Basketball. Scoring a 7.5 in Design and a 7 overall, Get the Math will open your students’ eyes to the possibilities of algebra. Check out our instructional ideas here.
4. When studying artists, their works, and their techniques, the Louvre Museum's website is a top-notch resource. With this website, students can take virtual tours of the museum, view different masterpieces by category, and learn about the history of both the artists and their masterpieces. Indeed, a feature that makes this website standout, besides the enormous collection of art, is the highly detailed images of the artwork. Even if students are not able to get to the museum itself, the quality of the images is so fine that the details are easily noticeable. Teachers can take advantage of the fine details for instructional purposes. For example, teachers can allow students time to browse the website and view the artwork. Students can zoom in on a piece to view it in detail. Once students are inspired by the artwork, teachers can have students research the artist, piece, or style of the artwork. Teachers can also have students attempt to replicate that piece of art in addition to researching the artist and technique. In this way, the Louvre Museum website can be used as a springboard into different learning activities. To learn more about this website and how to use it, check out our review.

That’s all for this month’s Roundup.  If you would like more information about any of the resources mentioned here or that are on the App Ed Review website, please contact us at info@appedreview.com.