Virtual Foliage is an exceptional collection of plant pictures with links to image sets, course pages, and teaching tools for botany, systematics, mycology, and vegetation of Wisconsin. Within this site, users will find over 6,000 high-quality pictures that can be used in a number of plant and plant-related courses. Most of the pictures are targeted for a survey of the plant kingdom and related species, although there are excellent links to fungi and very good images of over 100 woody genera. There are also images of microscopic and staining techniques which can be hard to find, but useful for those teaching courses where results don't always turn out as expected. The most useful part of this overall site is within the Links to Course Pages. Lecture outlines, along with links to images, are provided to facilitate courses in General Botany, Plant Systematics, and Dendrology. The link to General Botany is particularly useful because it provides detailed lecture outlines, in .pdf format, for teaching the course.
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
(5) (5) = 5
Exceptionally good images
Clearly laid out, and well organized; particularly within Links to Course Pages
Very complete for courses in General Botany; additional images may be needed for Plant Systematics
Accurate
Labels are provided as part of course pages
Concerns:
none
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
(5) (5) = 5
Exceptional use of images in Course Pages
Great potential to supplement teaching material
Direct links to images provides flexibility
Builds knowledge
Possible to develop learning assignments
Images lend themselves to creation of quiz material
Concerns:
none
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
(4.75) (4.7) = 4.7
Appropriately searchable as data base using scientific name, common name, or course progression
Easy to navigate (occasional missing links)
Well organized sites as overall data base and as course (separate sub-links)
No major bugs
Concerns:
Links download fast, although some images take a little longer to download
Some defective links
Creative Commons:
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