{"id":1247,"date":"2008-06-19T08:30:38","date_gmt":"2008-06-19T00:30:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.intmath.com\/blog\/?p=1247"},"modified":"2019-07-07T14:42:00","modified_gmt":"2019-07-07T06:42:00","slug":"review-of-top-math-sites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intmath.com\/blog\/learn-math\/review-of-top-math-sites-1247","title":{"rendered":"Review of Top Math Sites"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.homeschool.com\/\">HomeSchool.com<\/a> recently released their <a href=\"http:\/\/www.homeschool.com\/articles\/top100-2008\/default.asp\">Homeschool.com's Top 100 Educational Web Sites of 2008<\/a>. There were <strong>7 math sites<\/strong> included in the Top 100.<\/p>\n<p>What makes a Top Math Web Site? To find out, I've had a closer look at the 7 sites that were selected by Homeschool.com.<\/p>\n<p>The following comparison of the sites (in the table, below) considers several factors:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What is the <strong>Content?<\/strong> This is vital for any visitor, of course. <\/li>\n<li>What <strong>Grade levels<\/strong> is the site aimed at?<\/li>\n<li>Is there  <strong> real-world context for the math <\/strong>or is it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intmath.com\/blog\/learn-math\/math-has-to-be-meaningful-or-why-do-it-951\">math for math's sake<\/a>?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Who<\/strong> is behind the site?  In some cases no name or address can be found. <\/li>\n<li>What does the site <strong>sell<\/strong>? <\/li>\n<li>What are the <strong>top keywords<\/strong> for the site's home page? (This helps search engines to determine what the  site is about. Determined using SEO Tools - Keyword Density, mostly using 3-word phrases)<\/li>\n<li>Does the site  have <strong>valid HTML<\/strong> (if it doesn't, there is a good chance that the site will not display properly on different browsers, different operating systems, and on mobile devices. Determined using <a href=\"http:\/\/validator.w3.org\/\">W3C's HTML Validator<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>Does the site have <strong>valid CSS<\/strong> (same reasons as above - if the CSS is bad, the site can look terrible, or not work at all. Determined using <a href=\"http:\/\/jigsaw.w3.org\/css-validator\/\">W3Cs CSS Validator<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>How <strong>popular<\/strong> is the site?    This one is tricky, since there are different ways to measure it. I have included <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/PageRank\">Google's PageRank<\/a> score (high is good - it means Google knows that many other sites link to the site; maximum is 10), <a href=\"http:\/\/www.alexa.com\/\">Alexa Rank<\/a> (lowest is best - this is supposed to be the site's popularity rank, but is skewed due to its non-representative sample), <a href=\"http:\/\/www.compete.com\/\">Compete Rank<\/a> (same concept as Alexa; lowest is best) <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The original list of math sites on Homeschool.com did not appear to be in any particular order. I have <strong>ranked the sites<\/strong>, based on what I believe to be important in a math Website, which is as follows:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Quality of content<\/strong> and <strong>context for the math <\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Value to <strong>students<\/strong> (which I regard as having greater importance than a site's value to teachers, or parents in the case of homeschooling, since we are trying to develop in our students some self-learning skills and life-long learning skills) <\/li>\n<li><strong>Web standards<\/strong> (how well is the site designed? Is it future-proof?) <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Of course, I have kept in mind the <strong>needs of home-schoolers<\/strong> in my comparison.<\/p>\n<p>At the bottom of the table, I have included a <a href=\"#intmathComparison\">similar analysis<\/a> of my own site, Interactive Mathematics, for comparison. (It was not included in Homeschool.com's list)<\/p>\n<p>I hope you find the following information useful.<\/p>\n<p>[Information as at June 2008.]<\/p>\n<h2>1.&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/mathforum.org\/dr.math\/\">Ask Dr. Math<\/a><\/h2>\n<table class=\"postTable\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Content<\/th>\n<td>Elementary School<br \/>\n        Middle School<br \/>\n        High School<br \/>\n        College &amp; Beyond<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Grade Level<\/th>\n<td>K to 15+<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Real-world Context<\/th>\n<td>Possibly, depends on the student's question<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Who<\/th>\n<td>Originally Swarthmore College, now 300 volunteer 'Doctors' from all over the world<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Sells<\/th>\n<td>Dr Math books<\/p>\n<p>        Tutor.com<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Top 5 Keywords<\/th>\n<td>the math forum<br \/>\n        ask dr math<br \/>\n        algebra dr math<br \/>\n        dr math explains<br \/>\n        explains algebra dr<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Valid HTML<\/th>\n<td>No (14 errors)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Valid CSS<\/th>\n<td>Yes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Page Rank<\/th>\n<td>8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Alexa<\/th>\n<td>11000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Compete<\/th>\n<td>3000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Comments<\/th>\n<td>Searchable database of questions with solutions.&nbsp;<br \/>\n        Students are directed to Tutor.com if they &quot;can't wait&quot; for an answer.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2>2.&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.purplemath.com\/\">Purple Math<\/a><\/h2>\n<table class=\"postTable\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Content<\/th>\n<td>Good explanations on a wide range of topics:<br \/>\n        Preliminary Topics<br \/>\n        Beginning Algebra<br \/>\n        Intermediate Algebra<br \/>\n        Advanced Algebra<br \/>\n        Solving Word Problems<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Grade Level<\/th>\n<td>5 to 12<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Real-world Context<\/th>\n<td>Some - in the word problems<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Who<\/th>\n<td>Elizabeth Stapel<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Sells<\/th>\n<td>CD of whole site for sale at nominal $10.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Top 5 Keywords<\/th>\n<td>lessons are written<br \/>\n        student in mind<br \/>\n        pointing out common<br \/>\n        help you find<br \/>\n        written with the<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Valid HTML<\/th>\n<td>No (11 errors)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Valid CSS<\/th>\n<td>Yes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Page Rank<\/th>\n<td>6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Alexa<\/th>\n<td>26000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Compete<\/th>\n<td>8000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Comments<\/th>\n<td>Very slowpage load time&nbsp;for several pages on the site.<\/p>\n<p>        I tried again at different times of the day over a few days and page loads over 1 minute were common.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2>3.&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mathgoodies.com\/\">Math Goodies<\/a><\/h2>\n<table class=\"postTable\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Content<\/th>\n<td>Easy to understand lessons on:<br \/>\n        Perimeter &amp; Area of Polygons<br \/>\n        Circumference &amp; Area of Circles<br \/>\n        Number Theory<br \/>\n        Decimals<br \/>\n        More On Decimals<br \/>\n        Understanding Percent<br \/>\n        Percent Applications<br \/>\n        Integers<br \/>\n        Probability<br \/>\n        Topics in Pre-Algebra<br \/>\n        Data and Graphs<br \/>\n        Introduction to Statistics<br \/>\n        Symbolic Logic<br \/>\n        &nbsp;<br \/>\n        Includes worksheets and puzzles<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Grade Level<\/th>\n<td>4 to 8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Real-world Context<\/th>\n<td>Limited (eg Statistics section)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Who<\/th>\n<td>Gisele Glosser<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Sells<\/th>\n<td>CD of whole site - around US$50.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Top 5 Keywords<\/th>\n<td>help since 1998<br \/>\n        our free newsletter<br \/>\n        goodies interactive math<br \/>\n        interactive math help<br \/>\n        math goodies interactive<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Valid HTML<\/th>\n<td>No (15 errors)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Valid CSS<\/th>\n<td>Yes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Page Rank<\/th>\n<td>6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Alexa<\/th>\n<td>47000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Compete<\/th>\n<td>11000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Comments<\/th>\n<td>Has a popular newsletter.<\/p>\n<p>        Lessons are in HTML format and open in any browser. Most of the content is on the CD, not on the site.<br \/>\n        Interactivity is limited to javascript-based numerical questions and Java-based crossword puzzles.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2>4.&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mathplayground.com\/\">Math Playground<\/a><\/h2>\n<table class=\"postTable\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Content<\/th>\n<td>&quot;Play with numbers and give your brain a workout&quot;. Fun atmosphere.<br \/>\n        Topics:<br \/>\n        Math games<br \/>\n        Word problems<br \/>\n        Logic puzzles<br \/>\n        Math videos<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Grade Level<\/th>\n<td>K-8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Real-world Context<\/th>\n<td>No<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Who<\/th>\n<td>&quot;...teachers who are passionionate about math and technology&quot;<br \/>\n        No names given, no address given<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Sells<\/th>\n<td>Advertising<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Top 5 Keywords<\/th>\n<td>welcome to math<br \/>\n        middle school students<br \/>\n        elementary and middle games math<br \/>\n        site for elementary math games<br \/>\n        math word problems<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Valid HTML<\/th>\n<td>No (22 errors)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Valid CSS<\/th>\n<td>Yes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Page Rank<\/th>\n<td>6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Alexa<\/th>\n<td>116000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Compete<\/th>\n<td>18000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Comments<\/th>\n<td>Some good activities - but where do you input your function in the function example?<br \/>\n        Claims to be a &quot;safe site&quot;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2>5.&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/themathworksheetSite.com\/\">The Math Worksheet Site<\/a><\/h2>\n<table class=\"postTable\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Content<\/th>\n<td>Worksheets on:<br \/>\n        Addition<br \/>\n        Subtraction<br \/>\n        Multiplication<br \/>\n        Division<br \/>\n        Mixed Problems<br \/>\n        Fractions<br \/>\n        Measurement<br \/>\n        Graphing<br \/>\n        Telling Time<br \/>\n        One Hundred Chart<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Grade Level<\/th>\n<td>K to 6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Real-world Context<\/th>\n<td>No<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Who<\/th>\n<td>Scott Bryce<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Sells<\/th>\n<td>Subscriptions for a greater variety of worksheets than the free version<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Top 5 Keywords<\/th>\n<td>math worksheet site<br \/>\n        the math worksheet<br \/>\n        single digit horizontal<br \/>\n        5 minute drill<br \/>\n        digit horizontal single<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Valid HTML<\/th>\n<td>Yes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Valid CSS<\/th>\n<td>No (1 error, 19 warnings)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Page Rank<\/th>\n<td>6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Alexa<\/th>\n<td>240000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Compete<\/th>\n<td>47000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Comments<\/th>\n<td>User is able to create printable worksheets (PDF) after choosing certain parameters.<\/p>\n<p>        Can this promote drill and kill?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2>6.&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.webmath.com\/\">Web Math<\/a><\/h2>\n<table class=\"postTable\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Content<\/th>\n<td>Has an online algebra solver. No content as such. Solver is optimised for:<br \/>\n        General Math<br \/>\n        K-8 Math<br \/>\n        Algebra<br \/>\n        Plots &amp; Geometry<br \/>\n        Trig. &amp; Calculus<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Grade Level<\/th>\n<td>K to 12<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Real-world Context<\/th>\n<td>No<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Who<\/th>\n<td>None given<br \/>\n        No address given<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Sells<\/th>\n<td>Advertising<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Top 5 Keywords<\/th>\n<td>help you solve your math problem<br \/>\n        lines the equation<br \/>\n        data analysis finding<br \/>\n        numbers number line<br \/>\n        convert to a<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Valid HTML<\/th>\n<td>No (4 errors)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Valid CSS<\/th>\n<td>No (3 errors, 23 warnings)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Page Rank<\/th>\n<td>6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Alexa<\/th>\n<td>50000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Compete<\/th>\n<td>15000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Comments<\/th>\n<td>Solver can deliver unsatisfactory results. For example, it will spend several lines to multiply 5 by&nbsp;a.<\/p>\n<p>        Also, how well do these solvers help students to learn?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2>7.&nbsp;<!--a href=\"http:\/\/www.ccs3.lanl.gov\/mega-math\/welcome.html\"-->Mega- Mathematics<\/h2>\n<p>(It seems this has disappeared.)<\/p>\n<table class=\"postTable\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Content<\/th>\n<td>Difficult to determine from the home page. The topics in the graphic are:<br \/>\n        The Most Colorful Math of All<br \/>\n        Welcome to the Hotel Infinity<br \/>\n        Games on Graphs<br \/>\n        A Usual Day at Unusual School<br \/>\n        Untangling the Mathematics of Knots<br \/>\n        Algorithms and Ice Cream for All<br \/>\n        Machines the Eat Your Words<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Grade Level<\/th>\n<td>Appears to be for teachers - Contains lesson plans (that are devoid of objectives, context, year level, etc)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Real-world Context<\/th>\n<td>Difficult to determine - doesn't appear to have<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Who<\/th>\n<td>&quot;A project of the Computer Research and Applications Group at Los Alamos National Laboratory;<\/p>\n<p>        classroom teachers, mathematicians, students in education and computer science, elementary school and high school students, school administrators, computer scientists, parents...&quot;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Sells<\/th>\n<td>Nil - government site<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Top 5 Keywords<\/th>\n<td>this is mega<br \/>\n        is mega mathematics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Valid HTML<\/th>\n<td>No (4 errors)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Valid CSS<\/th>\n<td>Yes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Page Rank<\/th>\n<td>6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Alexa<\/th>\n<td>26000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Compete<\/th>\n<td>14000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Comments<\/th>\n<td>Home page has unattractive image map for navigation.<br \/>\n        Site appears stuck in a 1995 time-warp.<br \/>\n        Takes a lot of digging to find anything - navigation is poor.<br \/>\n        Purpose and audience is unclear.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/www.intmath.com\/\">Interactive Mathematics<\/a><\/h2>\n<table class=\"postTable\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Content<\/th>\n<td>Algebra<br \/>\n        Money<br \/>\n        Trigonometry<br \/>\n        Graphs<br \/>\n        Complex<br \/>\n        Probability<br \/>\n        Differentiation<br \/>\n        Integration<br \/>\n        Higher Calculus<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Grade Level<\/th>\n<td>8 to early college<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Real-world Context<\/th>\n<td>Yes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Who<\/th>\n<td>Murray Bourne<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Sells<\/th>\n<td>Advertising<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Top 5 Keywords<\/th>\n<td>play with it<br \/>\n        math while you<br \/>\n        interactive mathematics math<br \/>\n        interactive mathematics learn<br \/>\n        mathematics learn math<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Valid HTML<\/th>\n<td>Yes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Valid CSS<\/th>\n<td>Yes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Page Rank<\/th>\n<td>5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Alexa<\/th>\n<td>91000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Compete<\/th>\n<td>83000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>Comments<\/th>\n<td>Interactive games and exploratory activities to enhance math lessons.<br \/>\n        Has a popular blog and a newsletter.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p class=\"alt\">See the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intmath.com\/blog\/learn-math\/review-of-top-math-sites-1247#comments\" id=\"comms\">5 Comments<\/a> below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here's a review of some \"top math sites\" as chosen by Homeschool.com.<\/p>\n<p>Some of them don't really pass muster.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":""},"categories":[102],"tags":[127],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intmath.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intmath.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intmath.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intmath.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intmath.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1247"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.intmath.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12039,"href":"https:\/\/www.intmath.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1247\/revisions\/12039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intmath.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intmath.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intmath.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}