PowerMyLearning.com
© 2013 Computers For Youth
This is a free online searchable database of web-based resources, located at http://powermylearning.com. It targets four age groups: grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and high school and is easy to search. Each entry is aligned to common core standards and is described with promotional-sounding language. The idea is to carve up the web so that it is easier to help children play with ideas that they might encounter over the course of a typical school curriculum. It is easy to rate an activity from one to five stars using one of three perspectives, and you can see how many people have provided a rating. Many of the activities are presented in frames within the site, which can sometimes make it confusing to get back to the first screen. As of March 2013 there were over 2000 entries. There is no direct advertising (other than the forced name harvesting), but there can be ads within the frames. When you visit a NatGeo activity, for example, you are exposed to all sorts of National Geographic services and information. You are forced to register after you do your first search. So you might see an activity you like but you can't get to it until you register with your name, age and email. Funding sources include the Gates and Crown foundations. The site is managed by CFY (Computers for Youth), a New York non-profit.
Windows, Mac OSX, Internet Site
Teaches: an online database of ideas for parents, teachers and children