NSTA Website

Ray E. Etheridge, Western Washington University, IT 544, 4/21/10

Welcome to my second post as a blogger. As part of this assignment we need to post weekly about websites we visit and activities undertaken in our exploration of teaching and technology. This week I also had to do a review of the NSTA(National Science Teachers Association) Website for my Science Education class and so I figures two birds, one stone. So without further adieu here is my review of the NSTA website.

Reference: National Science Teachers Association, (2010, April 21), Retrieved April 21, 2019 from the NSTA website: http://www.nsta.org/

NSTA Review

In looking in on the NSTA (National Science Teachers Association) I was first interested in what type of benefits it offered and the costs associated with membership. Fortunately finding this, much like navigating the rest of the site proved to be very easy. The information was clearly and neatly presented in the second tab from the left under Member Services. The information, far to lengthy to present in detail here centered on the many benefits of membership, mostly centered on educational tools, search tools, publications and professional development. Examples of such included a conference finding tool, search tools to help you find state standards-which I found far more helpful and easy to use than the state sites themselves-and various links and resources for members such as links to science websites and online activities, many of which were free to use.
Next, I thought it very nice to see the goals and ideal of the organization clearly spelled out under their guiding principles section. These goals are 1) Model excellence; 2) Champion science literacy; 3) Value scientific excellence; 4) Embrace diversity, equity, and respect; 5) Enhance teaching and learning through research; 6) Collaborate with partners; and finally 7) Exemplify a dynamic professional organization. Combined with their Green Initiative program and links to the very helpful Science Matters™ website and the National Science Education Standards clearly spell out that the site is intended to act as an enabling tool for teachers, students and parents so as to achieve the scientific goals foreseen for success in the future. Of particular noteworthy mention is that of the promulgation of Science education in each and every grade of elementary education, a topic that I personally feel great importance needs to be placed.
In the end however what impressed and interested me the most were the many hands on tools and activities that I can use as a new teacher to develop my own classes and activities. The SciGuides, WebSeminars, SciPacks and many helpful, and often free, links in the Publications and Products section is was drew most of my attention. Any tools that enable me to enable my students is clearly of great importance and interest. Overall I was pleased with the website but did wish that they had included a list of links to other sides, rather than just to products that could be searched directly. While they had many clear links to their own or related sites, such as the John Glenn Science Initiative page I was hoping for a more expansive sets of links to other sites, however, this is but a minor issue for what is otherwise a very helpful, easy to navigate and informative site. I will be joining the NSTA shortly and that, perhaps, is the best recommendation I can offer.

Well, I hope this was helpful. As you can see I rather liked the site and plan on joining it. Now I have to review the journals and see which ones I want to activate with my membership. Of course money is always tight but I need to stay current with the state of education! So we shall see. Stay turned for more next week!
Mr. E.