Educational Technology Usage Within a Classroom: Educator Perspective
Better explained, it is a website covering many mathematical topics (mainly secondary, so middle and high school). When users open the website immediately, they will see tabs: articles, cheat sheets, colorized topics, and calculus.
For an educator in the class thinking about approaching a topic or gathering more information about a concept, the article section would be of the best use. It has many options for educators or students to explore issues in essay and article form, explaining matters through user-friendly language (the jargon is whitty and understandable). Some articles include videos and pictures, but those two features depend more on the concept being taught (they are not consistent for every article). The next tab, the cheat sheet, is precisely what it sounds like. It is divided into many subjects correlating to math (from business to programming to algebra) that the user can explore. However, most information leads back to the same resources in the article section. Colorized topics (my favorite component) have color-coded equations and math concepts, highlighting each idea’s key components. This section is helpful in a learning environment as it scaffolds the information and makes it more accessible. The last topic, calculus, allows the user to open up more articles, webinars, and videos explaining the topic. The website is helpful in a STEM class; anything with a math-related topic can be found on this site, and it is beneficial when reviewing a topic or studying it.
Usefulness in a School Library
Better Explained is useful in a school library; the information is free, and an account is not needed to search through the available concepts. It is a good tool to use in the library setting. For example, if a librarian is collaborating with a math teacher about a research project on math equations, Better Explained can be used as a tool for students to explore. The site is helpful, and it is useful for both students and educators (or whoever else is interested) because, again, most of the site is free, so anybody can access and learn from the information.
Implications
There are some overall implications with the design of the website. The website isn’t the most engaging; the goal of the website is to entice students to learn and explore math-related concepts. Yet, there is not much that is engaging about the actual information. There are some attempts at engagement through images to depict an idea, but those are few and far between. Many of the topics are just written in article format. They are not much different than reading a transcript of a lecture. While this certainly has benefits for a motivated student looking for a specific answer to a question, most students using the site would click off after seeing the lesson version of the information in an article format. For a student studying, it is easier to search for a video of a person going through an example problem than reading about it. However, with that being said, the colorized topics section is quite helpful and engaging, and I wish the site reflected that colorized topics consistently throughout. I wish the website’s creators included more images, memes, cartoons, videos, etc, to engage the audience.
Accessibly
Overall, the website is accessible. You don’t have to make an account; the user can click on information that interests them, and for the most part, the website is easy to navigate. However, there are some features that you have to pay for. When you open the website, one of the first images is an advertisement for purchasing math textbooks. While there is nothing inherently wrong with selling their work, from an accessible and library standpoint, it creates a less inviting site because not everyone can afford those applications.
Overall
Overall, Better Explained has many advantages for math-related topics; it can break down information and has many articles that explain topics. However, I wish the site was accessible to all people engaging with the information and that concepts were presented in a more creative form. Still, Better Explained is another practical website that can be used in a school library and a school.