Educational Technology Usage Within a Classroom: Educator Perspective
The Global Goals is an interactive website that aims to teach others the importance of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The website is organized so that viewers can interact with articles and videos. On the home page of the website, there is an interactive wheel that circles through each of the development goals. Clicking on a section of the wheel takes the user to a new webpage that explains the parameters of that specific goal. Overall, the website itself is designed with the right colors that are aesthetically pleasing and engaging.
Additionally, another interesting component of the website is the Be Hope section (this is at the start of the home page). The Be Hope section directs you to a webpage featuring downloadable interactive lessons suitable for classroom use. It also leads you to a world map, highlighting where various schools have implemented global goals lessons to impact their community positively. Given the website’s interactivity, the best age range is middle to late elementary school and beyond. The content range of the material would work well for late elementary school to middle school. For example, the interactive wheel, which gives a brief explanation of each developmental goal, is best for the younger demographics (to have a better understanding of the premise), but sections of the website where there are articles are better suited for the middle school students.
Usefulness of a School Library.
The information on the website is quite interactive, which aligns well with the goals of a library. It allows students to click on most sections of the webpage to learn more information. Additionally, the library is not limited to humanities-based subjects; thus, this works well in the library because it is an interdisciplinary website that discusses topics that can be used to explore themes in most subjects. For example, an article on climate change can be used in a science class, while an article on human rights can be used in a social studies or English class. Additionally, the articles within the website are labeled by numbers; these numbers indicate which global goal the article relates to. This particular feature can be helpful in a library setting if students are researching related topics or want to know the specific content of the articles before engaging with the material.
Implications
While there is nothing inherently wrong with the website, I do wish there were a clear section dedicated to educators. Some links on the main page are described as if they are written for educators, as they state information about the lesson plans. While this information is present, the rest of the information on the home page is links and information for students. Ideally, if there were a section in the sidebar that identified resources for teachers, the website would be more digestible for educators.
Accessibility
I had no issues with accessibility. The website is clear, engaging, and interactive. Every clickable aspect of the website directs the user to an interactive page that provides more information on specific topics. There were sections where users could download information, and each time the process to download was straightforward and did not have any restrictions. Another plus is that the user did not have to make an account to navigate the platform, which always helps with navigating a website for the first time.
Overall
Global Goals is a website for any age group, but especially students in late elementary school to middle school. Most of the websites content is articles or interactive pages. The articles presented are transferable to any subject, as they cover a wide range of topics. Global Goals is a website I am excited I now know and to show others.