CEP811: Evaluation of Learning Material in MERLOT

Hibernation is over!  I’m back to school and currently enrolled in CEP 811.  This is my initial blog post for this course  and  I need to find and evaluate a learning material from the MERLOT site that I can use at work.  While I was doing this activity, I was able to link two essential puzzle pieces together.

My task is to evaluate a resource from MERLOT and I would like to share with you Thinkfinity, the first puzzle piece.  Dr. Sandra Plair recommended this resource in my CEP 810 class while I was working on my computer science group project.   Finding it in MERLOT gives me more opportunity to really delve into it.

In terms of its quality of content, Thinkfinity offers free lesson plans, interactivity, games, teaching and learning strategies that are standard-aligned and geared toward 21st century skills.  I definitely agree that Thinkfinity has strong potential as a teaching-learning tool.   It is a great homework reference for pre-K to adult learners.  The site is meant for parents, student, and educators.  It provides engaging educational resources for different subjects, disciplines, and skill levels.  Users can access resources like worksheets and interactive materials for practice and application, listen to audio, and watch video materials for demonstration and explanation. The learning objectives are clearly explained and presented. It also focuses on professional development for specific states. 

Because of the site’s ease of use, I found the second puzzle piece. I clicked on the Professional Development link, and chose Michigan.  I was directed to Michigan eLibrary.  Eureka! This site was recommended by my CEP 811 instructor, Melissa White, for me to explore because she believes this will help in my professional effectiveness class in career development.  She offered her support if I’m interested in exploring LearnATest from http://mel.org because this would be a great resource for my adult learners with all the sample tests.   She even stressed not to forget this site because it contains great material based on the design plan that I have submitted.