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Michael's
Favorite Sites
for Free U.S. Genealogy Lessons |
Key to Headings and Lesson Components
Objectives: An overview of the information the lesson will cover.
Text: Printed instruction, as opposed to
audio and images only.
Bullet Lists: A series of
instructions set off with small icons or bullets. Bullet lists break up
the monotony of paragraphs, accent key points, and enable the reader to
scan for information.
Audio: Sound, as in a voice-over. The sound must be instructive to be
counted here. It can't be just midi music in the background.
Aesthetic Graphics: Images whose purpose is to spice up the lesson's
layout or design, not to instruct. Example: icons.
Instructive Graphics: Images whose purpose is to teach. Example: a
sample of a census image showing the information one can glean from a
census.
Animation/Video: Moving graphics. To see
a non-genealogy site that shows what can be done with
instructive animation, see http://www.becominghuman.org.
(DSL or faster Internet connections only.)
Case Studies: Examples of how
information from the lesson was put to use in researching a family.
Chat or Discussion: A forum by
which students can post messages, questions, and answers to help each
other with the lessons.
Questions/Assignments: A series of questions the reader can answer to test his/her
understanding of the lesson.
Answers: Solutions to the questions or assignments.
Interactivity: Fields which prompt the reader to enter data before the
lesson continues. Interactivity tests the reader's comprehension during each stage of the lesson, assuring that the reader understands each
step.
Note: The ratings in the table above
are based on a survey of several lessons of each site. Ratings are based
on averages. If, for instance, I look at ten lessons on a site and six of
them have bullets, this chart will show that the site has bullets. If,
however, only two of the ten lessons have bullets, the table will say the
site lacks bullets. This way, each site is rated for what most of its
lessons have.
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