Online Education Sites

I am evaluating different types of online education on the internet, to decide which is the best for learning from and also to explain the good and bad qualities of these education websites. The 5 different online education sites I have chosen to evaluate are:

• BBC Bitesize
• ThinkQuest
• Teach-ICT
• Wikipedia
• Sound learning
  

On BBC Bitesize (above)I found that it was bright, colourfully coordinated and eye-catching, which is good as it draws people in. It was also written in a slightly informal way and had images of young people enjoying their learning, perfect for the target audience. On the main page there were hyperlinks to different subjects of education and interesting games to test people on their lessons. There is also search box so that people can easily find exactly what they are looking for. The information on BBC websites is known for being very reliable so you know that the information on this site can be trusted.One negative is that there is a lot on the front page, meaning that it could be quite confusing to some people. The front page also has links to other learning sites which could be helpful or of interest to readers. The ways you can learn on this site are very differed, from games, to simply reading, to doing activities and practice papers, so i believe that this is a very good online learning site.
The site above is called Sound Learning. It had a variety of different subject lessons to choose from for pre-school and primary school students. The page had an eyecatching block of colour to draw you to the important part of the page and had an introduction to the site and its purpose. However the page looked quite boring and it seemed as though the online education on this site was not free as it had several links to 'shop here' and visit the 'web-shop', which is a negative as many people would not wish to pay for online education. I would not classify this as one of my higher ranking online education sites unfortunately.
Above is a screenshot of Teach-ICT, an online education site created to teach people all factors of using ICT, whether at a basic level or higher. The site was brightly coloured and had a neat layout, which is helpful for navigation and drawing people in. Also there were quizzes, ICT news and more advertised on the front page, all things which could be of interest to help people improve their knowledge of ICT. The page does feel slightly overwhelming to look at as there are a variety of bright colours, whcih do not necessarily coordinate, however there are a variety of different ways to learn on this site so i would say that it is quite a successful site.
Thinkquest is a site used in schools. Each person has a membership and can log into their own personal account. On this account they can contact teachers and other students, can receive and send pieces of work and can view groups with information on lessons or relevant information to help them learn. I find that this website is colourful, without being too overwhelming and also that it is very neat. You can easily navigate around this site which is positive. I feel that this is a very good education site and appeals to its younger target audience, although for some it can seem slightly childish and 'past its time'.
Above is wikipeda, an online encyclopedia, used to boost peoples' knowledge of certain subjects. People type what they are looking for into the search box and wikipedia defines what the topic is. The site looks quite bland and boring but does usually show a lot of information on the topic you are searching for. However one big downside is that the information on wikipedia can be altered by any members of the site. This means that the information on this site is not always reliable and can therefore not be trusted. I would therefore not put this as one of my higher ranking online education sites.

After reviewing these 5 sites, i have come to a conclusion. These are the ranks that i have awarded these sites:

1. ThinkQuest
2. BBC Bitesize
3. Teach ICT
4. Wikipedia
5. Sound Learning.

I awarded ThinkQuest the highest ranking as it met all of the needs i beleived were needed to be the best site- it was appealing to look at, had relevant information, had activities to participate in and more. Sound Learning received my lowest ranking because it looked boring and effortless, and also because it charged a price for its services, which is a negative as people would not wish to pay and could easily research a new eduacation site on which they would not have to pay to learn.