Objective:    Students will lern how to evaluate various internet sites that are designed to
                            make people buy the products on display.
 

Introduction:    One common use for the Internet today is shopping.  It allows people to take minutes
                            to complete a task that in thepast took hours.  Many of your favorite shopping places
                            now have web sites and allow you to locate and purchase items in no time.

                            Educational institutions also need to "shop" for all kinds of materials, not least of
                            which are textbooks.  Like other businesses many textbook companies now have on-line
                            sites from which purchases can be made.  Now teachers and others are freed from having
                            to spend hours looking through catalogs for the exact material they would like and can
                            get onto these sites and find material they might want to purchase.

                            As a future media specialist or a member of a department you might be responsible
                            for locating materials for purchase.  How will you evaluate the sites you find and
                            decide if they are indeed good or bad?  This activity will hopefully help with these
                            questions.

Activity:        You have just been named a media specialist or a department chairman. (Some
                            flexibility for those not in the LS program)  One of your new responsibilities is to
                            purchase materials.

                        Below are some sites that offer you this ability.  Examine them and evaluate them based
                            on the following:

                        1) visual atractiveness - how well do they draw you into the site?
 
                        2) ease of use - how easy is it to find what you need and get around the site?

                        3) explanation of offerings - how well do they list their product line?  and annotate it?

                        4) explanation of policies - ordering, returning, getting new materials, support materials

                        5) ability to address special needs your school or department might have
 

        Sites to be examined

 
                        ECampus - textbooks and books for all ages - links to many sites   
                                               http://www.epilot.com/searchresults.asp?keyword=Textbooks

 
                        Powell's - large bookstore that offers specific titles
                                                  http://www.powells.com/booksforstudents.html
 

                        The Back Pack - new and used books and related materials
                                                                http://www.thebackpack.com/
 

                        Prentice Hall - major textbook producer   http://vig.prenhall.com/search/
 

                        Textbook Publishers - site with links to all major publishers
                                                                        http://www.tier.net/scclibrary/textbks.htm
 

                        Harcort - major textbook publisher     http://store.harcourt.com/
 

                        K12 Books - used or surplus books     http://k12books.com/
 

                        Holt, Rinehart and Winston - major textbook publisher     http://www.hrw.com/
 

                        MH Learning Center - McGraw Hill site, major textbook publisher
                                                                     publisherhttp://www.mhlearningstore.com/teacher/index.html
 

                        McDougal Littell - Houghton Mifflin textbook
                                                                http://www.mcdougallittell.com/teach.cfm
 
 

                        How to sell:  This is a site you might want to examine because it gives advice to companies about how to sell
                                        educational materials to schools.  If you know the tricks of the trade you might be better able to
                                        evaluate the materials for sale.
                                        http://www.sellingtoschools.com/interviews/sfivecoat.html
 
 

Assignment:    In 250 words explain which of the sites listed above you thought best fulfilled
                                your needs and why.  If you found another site please cite it and answer the
                                same question.

                                Create a list of guidelines your department or school should follow when
                                seeking out sites that would be used to make purchases for the school or the
                                department.
 
 

Rubric:

score	1	2	3
paragraph	general arguments that lack any support, never mention web sites specifically, poor grammar	arguments are made with minimum of support, cite is mentioned briefly, adequate grammar	well supported arguments with plenty of specific support drawing from the site and others to prove point, well written grammatically
guidelines	guidelines are sketchy and general - follow only basic county guidelines	guidelines have been developed with the school itself in mind but fail to address variety of needs within the school population	guidelines covers issues that the whole school will have to consider plus those that may be for specific departments only - addresses a variety of needs such as various populations within school or those with special needs