Web Site Review
Carole Laughton
Meredith College
Overview
The website Edutopia is an excellent resource for teachers to learn about innovative
collaboration strategies and techniques. Sponsored by The George Lucas Educational
Foundation, this web site incorporates six core concepts into its presentation of innovative
instructional strategies and techniques. The core concepts include integrated studies,
comprehensive assessment, teacher development, technology integration, social and emotional
learning, and project learning. All of these concepts can be directly applied to the use
collaboration within schools. In the upper right-hand corner of the website is the phrase,
"connect with people improving education," which is a fundamental concept of collaboration
since collaboration involves working alongside other teachers, parents, community members,
and other professionals. There are six major sections of this website alongside the top bar,
including core concepts, videos, blogs, community, schools that work, and support us. Within
each category, there are numerous examples of successful integrations of collaboration within
classrooms, especially within the article and blog sections. There is a plethora of current
educational resources available on this website. Individuals can create their own free account on
this website for easier navigation and to be able to access their favorites. Educators can network
with one another by creating their free professional profile. By establishing an account,
individuals can also join groups related to educational strategies and reform topics that they are
most passionate about, as well as send and receive messages from other users of the web site.
Visitors can also access most of the web site's content quickly and easily; however, one has to
have an account to post to a blog or to link with other educators. In addition, visitors and
members can sign up for the free weekly e-newsletter available from Edutopia. Technology
integration is a huge component of this web site, which is evident in its links to Facebook
(Edutopia has its own Facebook page), Twitter, You Tube, Widgets and Badges, RSS Feed, and
various Webinars. The advertisements are kept to a minimum on this site, which are only located
on the right hand column of the web site. Each of the advertisements relate to technology
integration in some manner, whether it is a free download for a technology-enhanced lesson plan
or to start learning by online classes. There are three popular links within the top section of the
web site, one of which is differentiated instruction. This current “buzz word” in education can be
greatly enhanced with the use of collaboration strategies within the classroom. Edutopia provides
helpful tips and advice to other educators, parents, administrators, and community leaders in a
relatively simple, yet in-depth and interactive manner. Edutopia offers practical, hands-on
advice, real-world examples, and a variety of contributions from other educators and
administrators. The goal of this web site is to provide innovative strategies, tips, and advice to
establish better schools in the 21st century, which is evident in its slogan to create “schools that
work.”
Authority:
Edutopia is produced by The George Lucas Educational Foundation. George Lucas had
an educational vision to create a new world of learning for students in the 21st century by
creating a web site that incorporates “leading-edge” interactive tools, resources, and strategies.
Through his foundation, Lucas has strived to inspire educators to create classrooms not only are
technologically sound, but also to instill the value of lifelong learning to their students. Edutopia
includes a web page about George Lucas and his struggles in school as a child due to not being
actively engaged. Once he became a father, he recognized the need for traditional learning
methods to evolve into more project-based learning with the incorporation of multimedia and
other digital technology. This page includes numerous videos and articles from Lucas describing
this need for classrooms to be more technologically-savvy with the current educational trends.
Through donations, the foundation has engaged in numerous research projects, most notably the
“Knowledge in Action – AP Project: Research on a Project-Based Learning Approach to AP”
during the 2008-2009 school year. Its results were published in a March 2010 article on this web
site. Dr. Milton Chen, Senior Fellow and Executive Director Emeritus of The George Lucas
Educational Foundation has numerous years of experience working in the field of education,
such as previous positions as an assistant professor in the Harvard University’s Graduate School
of Education, and Director of Research for the Sesame Street Workshop. The foundation also
contains numerous staff members, a Board of Directors, and a partnership with the National
Advisory Council, all of which work countless hours to ensure that Edutopia is accessible to all
individuals who share its same vision of creating successful students in a technologically-driven
society.
Accuracy:
Based on the reputation and credibility of George Lucas, The George Lucas Educational
Foundation, and the National Advisory Council, this web site can be deemed to be accurate.
Since its creation in the 1998, it has received numerous awards from 1998 to the present, most
notably an award in 2009 for the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Association of
Educational Publishers for the December 2008/January 2009 issues of the Edutopia magazine for
its article containing information about the “Collaboration Age.” The information found on
Edutopia is based on solid research conducted over a lengthy period of time, analyzing all
possible means of interpretation. In addition, The Foundation conducts its own research and even
provides an opportunity for Edutopia’s users to state their concerns or questions regarding the
research. The web site even contains a component called “schools that work,” which allows users
to view examples of effective schools and strategies found throughout the United States. This
section enhances the overall accuracy of the web site because these schools encompass an
extremely diverse group of learners, from all areas of the country.
Objectivity:
The objectivity of Edutopia is evident throughout its slogan to create “schools that work.”
The George Lucas Educational Foundation seeks to provide its users with ideas, strategies, and
examples of successful 21st century classrooms, in which project-based learning, collaboration,
and differentiated instruction is evident throughout its walls. The Foundation’s commitment to
incorporate research-based methods is evident throughout the various sections of the web site.
Lucas’ intent of the web site is revealed in a brief, inspiring video in which users can
interactively view his strong commitment to incorporate innovative tactics into today’s
classrooms. Edutopia’s name is taken from the word “utopia,” and he strongly advocates for the
ideal educational system within the United States, thus the combination of the words “education”
and “utopia.” The six core concepts presented on this web site are all research-based and
supported by The Foundation and the National Advisory Council, which consists of numerous
educational representatives and experts.
Currency:
Edutopia is extremely current and updated regularly. All of the top articles listed within
the “search” option were published within the last six months. The web site is constantly
updating its content since it has an option to receive comments from account users. In addition,
users can network with other educational professionals, as well as post and reply to blogs. There
is also a live polling option on the web site, with questions that change weekly. The “Spiral
Notebook” option allows users to communicate their opinions regarding the weekly poll and
other topics relevant to the poll. For example, this week’s poll asks, “Should teachers give
homework over the summer?” Web site users are encouraged to respond to poll and provide their
reasoning in the “Spiral Notebook.” In addition, visitors and users can subscribe to the free
weekly e-newsletter available through the web site.
Coverage:
Users can easily type in a word or phrase of interest using the search bar, located at the
top right corner of the web site. For example, a simple web site search using the only the word
"collaboration" revealed over 1200 results just from this web site alone. There are almost 600
articles, 90 media clips, 25 interviews, and approximately 230 blog entries on this website
referencing collaboration. If the user wanted to narrow down this category to only include the
core category of Teacher Development, it narrows down the search to 3 articles, 10 videos, and 3
blogs. The web site is a obviously a huge proponent of collaboration since it encourages
educators to network with one another through the blog option, as well as the professional profile
and personal website option under account settings. There is a vast variety of topics, current
educational “buzz words” (i.e. differentiated instruction, collaboration,), and debates discussed
and evaluated on this web site. There are several videos included on this web site that have been
viewed and referenced in college and university classroom settings, due to their innovative and
current nature.
Value:
This website holds significant value for educators, and even parents and members of the
community because of its amount of current research-based information. There are so many
vivid examples of successful integration of specific strategies in these classrooms throughout the
country. The search bar option definitely enhances its value, as well. Individuals can quickly
key-in a specific word or phrase and receive numerous results to spark their curiosity. In
addition, the six core concepts are integral to the effectiveness of the web site because it allows
individuals to narrow down their specific topic search. This web site allows for comments and
feedback through its blogging, polling, and other comment options. This web site encourages its
users to seek resources, particularly among one another, to enhance a child’s learning. This web
site caters to all educational learning styles of its users. The articles provide written, concrete,
research-specific information, whereas the videos provide an interactive and visual
representation of examples provided within the articles. The “community” option is
immeasurable to assist educators with connecting with others throughout this virtual community
to share ideas and strategies among one another.
Design and Navigability:
Edutopia is extremely easy to navigate and use. The web site’s basic color scheme of
orange and black is appealing to the eye and the fonts are easily comprehendible. The search bar
is a tremendous asset to the site and its location at the right hand corner of the web site adds to its
appeal. The links are clearly marked and users can quickly click on each of them. The six
sections along the top of the web site are all user-friendly and informative. This web site has
overall attractiveness and appeal to the educational user. The categories within each section are
organized and clearly labeled. Many of the hyperlinks within each web page are in blue for
quicker navigation. The different subtopics within the topic six sections are clearly labeled in
white font with black background for more effective readability.
Recommendation:
The George Lucas Foundation’s web site Edutopia, should be one of the top web sites
recommended to anyone within interests in education within the 21st century. It is extremely
user-friendly and allows educators to practice and view strategies to incorporate 21st century
skills, such as differentiated instruction and collaboration within the schools. Although educators
and administrators would most benefit the most from the contents of this web site, there are
several sections for community members and parents to view and provide their own feedback.
This web site can be accessed easily by all ages, from students in teacher-preparation courses to
veteran teachers and administrators. The videos included on this web site support the critical
need for innovative strategies to be used within daily lesson plans since students (and
technology) are constantly evolving. It provides numerous examples of schools throughout the
country, many of which users can find similarities to school within their communities. The topics
provided on this web site have been accurately researched through the highly respectable George
Lucas Educational Foundation and its contents are credible, accurate, and most importantly,
current. The web site strives inspire others to incorporate the six core concept of integrated
studies, comprehensive assessment, teacher development, technology integration, social and
emotional learning, and project learning into their 21st century classrooms. Edutopia truly
advocates for the creation of educational utopias within schools and their respective
communities.