I started grad school and my first class is on Fundamentals of Educational Technology. My first week I had to take survey on Technology Applications. This week’s assignment was to pick a website that related to my weakest area on that survey which was communication and evaluate it. I picked the weather channel.
The weather channel website is more than just checking your local and national weather. You can get information about travel, traffic, health and education. For example there is an outdoor guide section to help you find activities in a certain area.
The weather channel website contains a large amount of information. Anything related to weather, you can find on there. The page loads quickly even though it has an abundance of content. This website is current and up to date because it must be. Many people, organizations, and communities depend on the real time aspect of this site. As an educator, there is a link for “The Weather Channel Kids!” and it is user friendly for the students. There is also a parent and teacher guide. If there was a weather related word you didn’t understand you could use the glossary on this site to help you easily understand the definition of that word or term. There is section on this website for pictures and videos. You can upload your own pictures dealing with weather. You can also watch other videos that people from around the world have uploaded about weather in there region.
The couple negative points about this site are their accuracy of weather forecasting and the amount of links displayed on the page. When trying to predict what the weather will do, there is no guarantee. While this is accepted as accurate there are some minor variations as to what the weather is actually going to do. There are many links on this page. This in itself can be overwhelming.
This website is great for the 21st century learner. It gives the most current and accurate information about weather. We live in a “fast food” society. We all want our information correct and we want it now. 21st century learners love the instant feedback. As opposed to looking at a picture of a hurricane in a text book, users can view intense videos of a hurricane from their home, office, or classroom. This is great for students who have never experienced weather events of this magnitude. I would recommend this site to any educator. It is a great website to use for science. It has great pictures and videos for the students. This site contains classroom safe content and links for any grade level.
