Shareware
Objective: Students will be
able to access and download shareware according to specific search criteria.
Objective: Students will be able to use
and rate various shareware sites.
Introduction: Shareware has been in existence for quite some time now, yet many
people do not take advantage of its money
saving possibilities. Shareware is the
equivalent of buying software with a free trial period. If the user does not like the software, it
can easily be deleted from their computer, having wasted no money. If they do like the software, he/she can
purchase the full version with the peace of mind that they will not be wasting
money on a program that is not suitable for their needs. Most Shareware sites offer a variety of
software in various computing categories ranging from utilities and production
to games and educational software.
Activity: Using the links provided below,
discover what Shareware is, why it is in existence, and how it can benefit you.
http://www.pc-shareware.com/whatissh.htm
Association of
Shareware Professionals
http://www.asp-shareware.com/info/about-shareware.asp
http://shareware.about.com/library/weekly/aa980504.htm?PM=ss15_shareware
http://shareware.about.com/library/weekly/aa051799.htm
http://charon.assert.ee/counters/sharew.htm
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/shareware-faq/programmer/section-3.html
Your job is
to visit as many Shareware sites as you can.
You may use a search engine of your choice to find possible Shareware sites
or use the links provided below. While
you are perusing each site, note the site’s ease of use, organization, program
availability, download times, and overall usefulness of the site.
Assignment: Create a “Best of Shareware Sites” webpage. List at least 3
categories. Your categories might
include:
·
Audio/video/multimedia
·
Business
·
Design Tools
·
Education
·
Games
·
Home
·
Internet
·
Mobile/PDA
·
Productivity
·
Utilities
Each category
should showcase at least two Shareware sites that you
have determined as “the best”. Annotate
each entry with 3 or 4 sentences explaining your
choice. Your annotation should include ,at a minimum, the site’s ease of use, organization,
program availability, download times, and overall usefulness of the site. Be sure to include the URL in your citation
and the date you visited the website.
Submission: Post your page to your website, and link
it to your index page. Email your
instructor when the assignment has been posted.
Rubric:
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Annotation |
Short non-descriptive statement including 1
or 2 of the recommended criteria |
Short non-descriptive statement including 3
or 4 of the recommended criteria |
Complete descriptive statement including all
of the recommended criteria |
|
Citation |
Contains a broken or non relative link and no
date of last visit to the site |
Contains either a working link or the last
date visited |
Contains working link and current date of
last visit to the site |
|
Overall Design of Page |
Font is too small or too fancy to read,
spacing is inadequate, no graphics or background color |
Easy to read font, neatly spaced, generally
pleasing to the eye |
Easy to read font, neatly spaced, generally
very pleasing to the eye, possibly including a background color or a graphic |
Shareware websites
you may wish to use:
http://download.com.com/
http://www.tucows.com/
http://www.superfiles.com/
http://www.shareware.com/
http://www.globalshareware.com/
http://www.passtheshareware.com/
http://www.jumbo.com/