Ohio state university WebGarden provides a search database for natural flora as well as ornamental flowers and shrubs. The information is presented in a standard webpage format with hyperlinks available for in depth searches.
WebGarden is designed to give users access to a wide variety of information dealing with plants, pests, and diseases.
Type of Material:
The data in this site is accessed mostly through database searches. Images and videos are available. A long list of FAQ’s are available.
Standard webpage with searchable keywords that provide insight into specific plant and pest species.
Recommended Uses:
This is a great database for casual to experienced gardeners and wildlife enthusiasts. Could also be used as a learning tool in botany classes.
Provides a wealth of horticulture-related content.
Technical Requirements:
Basic web browser navigation. Videos are require either Quicktime (Version 4 or above) or Windows Media Player (Verson 7 or above).
Adobe Acrobat is required for some elements.
Identify Major Learning Goals:
The user will be able to identify plants in both a domesticated setting as well as plants found in the wild. The website also gives access to tools that will help in diagnosing problems with domesticated plants such as symptoms of pathogens and sign of pests.
There are no specifically stated learning goals. Site is more of an information repository.
Target Student Population:
Would probably be most useful for late undergraduate or graduate level students looking for specific information about one plant, disease or horticulture issue.
The target audience would be general ed college students with a special interest for people who are interested in botany.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
There should be at least some understanding of what is being searched. There was no free roaming ability.
Good background in botany and horticulture. Experience with extracting data using web queries and searches.
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
The information is accurate and provides a good basic background about the material.
The information is accurate
Color usage is logical
When results from a video, FAQ’s, or PlantFacts search are returned, there is a lot of useful information
Concerns:
Forbes Directory link is broken
Plant Facts: Searching for photos of fruit and vegetables using the common name and “apple” produced no results, “pear” leads to pearl onion, and corn leads to acorn squash
Plant Facts: Trying to use the Insect and Disease search leads to “page not found” as does Turf images
Searching the videos for “fertilizer” came back with zero results “Perennial” produced good results, but “annual” did not
Pocket Gardener link is broken
The collection is incomplete and many of the materials are under construction
The collection could use a browsing capability
The collection would benefit from more guidance
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
The learning experience is interesting
Most of the pictures and videos are in color
Material is engaging and interesting
This is a good searchable database
This site has a lot of good potential, but it needs to be updated and maintained
Concerns:
The starting point could be more clear
The database could use a word bank to guide the user when first getting started
A more robust search function or switching to a browse system rather than a search function would be helpful
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
Information is easy to understand
Site is fast
Easy to navigate to major sections of the site
Good data and information are buried within this site, it is just not easy to access or find
Concerns:
Too many broken links
Need a more robust search engine/function
Needs to be redesigned for easier navigation and use
There are several broken links at this site
The initial Flash animation fails to load
Other Issues and Comments:
None.
Creative Commons:
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