Peer Review

NoodleTools

Material Detail page

Reviewed:: Feb 18, 2006 by Teacher Education

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:: Suite of interactive tools to assist students and professionals for online
research. Web-based tool allows K-20 students to create and edit MLA or APA
resource lists. Assists users to include appropriate format and punctuation.
Assist younger students to develop the skills they will need for creating
bibliographies and citing resources. Starts with Basic tools and expands to more
advanced as student progress.
* Some free basic tools available for use; subscription service available with
more robust tools for colleges, libraries, schools, teachers, and individual
students at $60/year currently.
Type of Material:: Reference Material:
NoodleBib 6 - subscription service for publishing polished resource lists

NoodleBib Express - free; quick way to create 1 or 2 citations not complete
resource list

NoodleBib MLA Starter - for students grades 1-5 to introduce basics of citing a
source

Noodle Knowledge BAse -- answer to hundreds of questions on how to cite a source

NoodleQuest - wizard to assist with internet searches

NoodleTeach - Web projects by Debbie Abilock
Recommended Uses:: *assist online research
*assist creating citations using APA and MLA
*generate, edit, publish works cited or references list
*produce polished source list for import into Word
Technical Requirements:: NoodleBib has been tested on Mac and WinNT/2000/XP platforms running:
Netscape Navigator versions 7.x and higher
Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 6.x and higher (5.x on Mac)
Opera versions 8.x and higher
Mozilla Firefox version 1.0 and higher
Safari version 1.3 and higher.
While NoodleBib will work on other platforms, and with other browsers and
browser versions, they do not support these alternative configurations.
NoodleBib
was designed with a simple, clean interface, so running it over slower
connections should work well.
You must have both cookies and JavaScript enabled in your browser. If one of
these features is disabled, you won't be able to use the program
Identify Major Learning Goals:: *Assist students with research and organization of resources.
*Introduce young to the basics of citing resources
*Provide students flexiblity with building skills as they advance in research
skills
*Create correctly formatted bibliographic entries
Target Student Population:: elementary, middle, high school, college and graduate students conducting
research
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: None, other than basic technical skills such as keyboarding, operating a
computer. Begins with basics and continues through advanced MLA and APA

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:: This useful tool creates bibliographic entries in two formats: MLA and APA. It
currently reflects the most recent stylesheet for each. It includes a 41-page
pdf user guide.
Concerns:: It may not be appropriate for younger students; we were unable to access the MLA
starter once an account was created; unclear how to do so. Website may be a bit

complicated for younger students to navigate; very dense information.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:: This is not a teaching tool per se, but it is a useful add-on to any course that
requires writing. Extensive support helps researchers with weaker
formatting/researching skills. It provides step-by-step methodology for
creating citations/bibiographies.
Concerns:: The site does not teach proper format, it only creates the entries. The
reviewers cannot verify use for younger student, i.e. grades 1-5 - beginners.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:: It is relatively easy to get "up and running" quickly for both students and
faculty.
Concerns:: Reviewers were unable to access the program for younger students so we cannot be
sure of the ease of use for that section.

Other Issues and Comments:: Cost is reasonable:

Subscriptions are available in all shapes and sizes to meet your requirements.
Individual/Family subscriptions allow individual students (and their families)
or professionals to use NoodleBib. $4.00 for 3 months, $6.00 for 6 months (25%
discount), or $8.00 for a full year (50% discount).

Teacher/Classroom subscriptions (for individual teachers in a school that
doesn't subscribe) allow students in all classes that you teach to share a
common username and password. $60.00 for one year.

School/District/Consortial/Statewide subscriptions are available for any size
organization.
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