The Best Education Web Sites and Applications Named

Market Wire, October, 2004

More than 40 of the best and most innovative K-12 and Higher Education Web sites and online applications have been named by the Center for Digital Education in its 2004 Best of the Web (BOW) contest and Digital Education Achievement Awards (DEAA) program.

In its third year, the BOW evaluates Higher Education, K-12 state and K-12 district Web sites on their innovation, Web-based delivery of public services, efficiency, economy, and functionality for improved student and faculty access. The inaugural DEAA grades state district and school online applications and projects based on enhanced interactions, transactions and/or services.

"The review process this year was a difficult, but exciting project," said Marina Leight, director of the Center. "It's clear that the Web world in education has come of age and that it's no longer a question of static versus functionality. The defining features are more subtle and have to do with who the Web site is serving and how. Of primary importance in the education sector is how is it serving the student?"

The top BOW winners in the Higher Education Web site category are:

1st Place (tie): Lehigh University, Pennsylvania (www.lehigh.edu)
1st Place (tie): North Shore Community College
(http://pipeline.northshore.edu), Massachusetts
2nd Place: North Orange County Community College, California
(www.sce.cc.ca.us)
3rd Place: University of Texas at Dallas, Texas (www.utdallas.edu)
4th Place: College of DuPage, Illinois (www.cod.edu)
5th Place: Excelsior College, New York (www.excelsior.edu)

Bruce Taggart, Ph.D., vice provost of library and technology services at Lehigh University, said his office has invested years of work into getting its Web and portal implementation strategy to where it is today.

"We are very pleased and excited to receive this national recognition for our overall Lehigh University Web strategy, which focuses on our external Web page for visitors and prospective students, the internal Web page for the campus community, and the new development, which is the MyLehigh portal intranet that allows for personalization of a wide variety of university information resources and communication," Taggart explained.

Top BOW winners in the K-12 local/district Web site category are:

1st Place: Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland
(www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org)
2nd Place (tie): Plano ISD, Texas (www.pisd.edu)
2nd Place (tie): District of Columbia Education Center, Washington, DC
(http://educationcenter.dc.gov)
3rd Place: Pasadena Unified School District, California (www.pusd.us)
4th Place: Richmond Public Schools, Virginia (www.richmond.k12.va.us)
5th Place: Fairfax County Public Schools Virginia (www.fcps.edu)

The Montgomery County Public Schools Web site is a vital source of information for students, staff, parents, and the community, according to school officials.

"Our talented Web team has done an excellent job of designing and maintaining a site that provides easy access to the full range of important school system topics, including the capability to communicate emergency messages," said Dr. Jerry Weast, superintendent of schools.

A special award is presented to eBrigade of Chicago Public Schools (http://ebrigade.cps.k12.il.us), which is designed to drive support for technology initiatives in education.

Top BOW winners in the K-12 state Web site category are:

1st Place: California Department of Education (www.cde.ca.gov)
2nd Place: Indiana Accountability System, Indiana Dept. of Education
(www.doe.state.in.us/asap)
3rd Place: CTAP Online, Center for Distributed Learning, Butte County
Office of Education, Calif. (www.ctaponline.org)

The California Department of Education's Web site offers a full suite of services and features that are easily accessible for everyone, including sections on curriculum and instruction, testing and accountability, finance and grants, data and statistics, academic performance index, specialized programs, and much more.

"We worked diligently to create a full-service, highly-accessible Web site containing relevant and up-to-date information for students, parents, teachers, and administrators," said Jack O'Connell, superintendent of the California Department of Education. "The result is a user-friendly Web site that allows our schools and the public to better help students succeed."

DIGITAL EDUCATION ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS (DEAA)

Winners in the DEAA Student-Focused Application category are:

California Distance Learning Website, Sacramento County Office of Education
(www.cdlponline.org)
Florida State University-School of Information Studies User Services,
Tallahassee, Fla. (www.lis.fsu.edu/userservices)
Mr. Terry Smith's 4th Grade Website, Eugene Field School, Hannibal, Mo.
(http://home.dstream.net/~tksmith/)
Professor Mark Hudelson's Website, Palomar College, San Marcos, Calif.
(http://daphne.palomar.edu/mhudelson)
Honorable mention: Center for Shakespeare Studies, University of Texas at
Austin, (www.en.utexas.edu/programs/shakespeare/index.html)

Winners in the DEAA Teacher-Focused Application (Higher Education) category are: