Multimedia Evaluation Blog
Kimberly Mayberry
URL - www.webmath.com powered by Discovery Education
I
decided to review the website www.webmath.com. My daughters' use this website for help completing math
homework. The site lists help with
Math for Everyone, General Math, K-8 Math all the way to Trig. &
Calculus. There is also a tab
available for Other Stuff. The
Other Stuff tab includes Practicing Math and Handling Raw Numbers.
Users
are able to access quick help with a math problem by typing in a problem or
using the tabs the locate the area in which the user needs help.
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What to Evaluate
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Score
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Instructional Aspects
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40
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Motivational Aspects
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20
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§ Gaining and maintaining learners’ attention
§ Relating to learners’ interest and goals
§ Building on learners’ prior knowledge &
foreshadowing what the lesson is about.
§ Providing positive feedback and feeling of
accomplishment
§ Motivational strategies serve for objectives
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Web Design Aspects
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31
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§ Navigation clear and easy to access - 4 pts
§ Authorship and date clearly stated - 4 pts
§ Text follows rules of grammar, spelling and literary
composition - 5 pts
§ Use of multimedia (Text, graphic,
audio, video, animation, etc.) visually appeal - 3 pts
§ Mechanical aspects (No broken links, misplaced or
§ missing images, etc.) - 5 pts
§ Web design appropriate for objectives - 5 pts
§ Web
design appropriate for learner characteristics - 5 pts
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§ Total
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91/100
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Reflection
The
website is a great resource for help with solving math problems. There are several categories to choose from. After selecting a category, the user
can simply type in the question and webmath helps to solve the problem. It not only shows the answer, it also
shows how to solve the problem. The only problem that I have with the site is that it
provides the answer and then shows how to solve the problem I would like step by step instructions
on solving the problem first before seeing the answer. I also think that webmath could update
the website with some tutorial videos to appeal to more users. Overall, I feel like www.webmath.com is
a great tool for accessing online help with math.
This is a very cool site. So many kids have trouble with math and we parents can't always help! Especially the way they teach it now a days. I agree it needs a little updating to keep the kids' interest.
ReplyDeleteI worry that they will just copy the answer and not actually pay attention to HOW it is calculated. But that is always a concern.
I think I may have used this webpage before. I was very impressed with how comprehensive it is. It can help you with virtually any type of math you can think of. I liked how it allows you to enter your problem, and then gives you the answer along with an explanation of how the answer was reached. I think I prefer this type of approach as opposed to analyzing the instructions before hand. It just seems clearer to me this way. Good site.
ReplyDeleteI have used this before, and I agree that the answer shouldn't be given first. Also, certain concepts require a vast vocabulary background. There might be a link on words students should know to understand the viewed math concept.
ReplyDeleteAll in all this is a good program. It is quick, well built and good for students and parents needing a little help. It is not a great teaching tool If students need help from the ground up.
This website is AMAZING!!! So simple yet so effective. I tried out a couple of the jump to categories in the pull down menu but quickly got overwhelmed, so I clicked on a particular tab and then the jump to pull down menu and found myself in familiar territory. Any basic technological user can use this resource and use it efficiently.
ReplyDeleteI have a fear that students would use this website for homework as oppose to actually working out the answers themselves and double checking their answers, which was the basis for this website I'm sure.
DeleteVery cool website.! I agree with Rachel, simple and effective. However, I feel like kids would use the site to just have computer help workout answers and they just copy whatever is shown to them. They won't take the initiative to work out answers themselves.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I could have definitely used this back in high school, and my first two years in college.
One thing I liked about this website is that students have to know what the concept is in order to get help with a problem. I have to know that I am learning to multiply fraction in order to type in the problem I need help with. When I was learning math, I just learned how to solve different types of equations by memorizing formulas. I never learned why or how the numbers actually worked. I like anything that pushes kids beyond just solving the math problem in front of them.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great website. Not just for students, but also parents that are trying to help students.
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of this site. I think it is a great idea and I may need to use it as my kids get older. I think it is a better tool for a parent to use with their child to help them understand or reinforce a concept. I'm not sure if the vocabulary is very appropriate for young students, but with an adults help it would help. Once again a very interesting site.
ReplyDeleteThere is a "huge" calculation engine and programming behind this site. This is why it could answer all these questions. I agree that it is not a good idea to give out the answers first. However, I think the overall visual design of the site (or just the question database part) works fine for its purpose since it is not just for K-8 students, and the main purpose is to generate the answers to the questions.
ReplyDeleteThis a good website and very helpful. I think it would be more helpful for older students than for the younger students. I know my students have trouble remembering to carry the tens and hundreds when adding. The website doesn't show this in the example I put in.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Kimberly, this site is a good tool for students. I wish I had had something like this when I was in school. The website is user friendly. The audience is able to follow along with the website with ease. The navigational structure is very well organized and would help students be able to locate information that they were looking for. There is a lot that went into this site to develop it. I give it a A+.
ReplyDeleteBless you. My son brings home 6th grade Math and I am honestly at a loss. We used this site (thank you for your evaluation) to help us complete how to chart the least common factors yesterday. I agree the site is user friendly and we had no problem navigating to the information and examples we needed. Thank you for letting us know about this resource!!!!!
ReplyDelete