Friday, 24 August 2012

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What is Best Education Sites?

We’ve gathered a panel of specialists from the fields of graphic design, web development, and college counseling to analyze the state of the academic web space in 2011. We set out to answer one question: Are schools doing the best job they can of reaching out to students through edu websites?

Welcome

At Best Education Sites, we believe that many of our colleges and universities are failing their students in one crucial way - by not providing them with a rich and easy learning experience on their educational sites. As the world of web design progresses at a dizzying pace, education websites seem to be lost in the past, unable or unwilling to keep up. Anyone who has visited edu sites has probably had the experience: clunky user interface, incomprehensible navigation, ugly design, and no content of any real use for students. We are well aware of this situation, and that is why we decided to create this project of ranking the best educational websites: to try to help fix it.
Our 2011 report on the state of the academic web space, in particular educational websites for students, was compiled by our team of over 2,000 web specialists for the single purpose of assessing where we stand, as a nation of colleges and universities, right now. Rating each school’s educational website in terms of design, content, and usability, our experts have sought to create a full and thorough picture of what each educational site has to offer, and what it lacks. We‘ve also looked at schools’ use (or misuse) of social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter. Although we believe that, by and large, schools, through their learning websites, are inadequately supplying their students with a web experience of quality, we also want to acknowledge those that have done a stellar job at creating some of the best educational sites for students. This is how we give the best sites their proper due.
BestEdSites is intended for anyone who has ever become frustrated by the education website of a college or university, and for everyone who thinks that our schools can - and should - do better. Best Education Sites is also for anyone interested in web design and higher education, and how the two seemingly disparate fields of interest interact in profoundly important ways. Most of all, Best Education Sites is for students. Today’s college students are engaged with an online world in a way that no other generation ever has before. Our schools must step up to the challenge of meeting them there by providing them with the best education websites possible. And we will try to help them do just that.
Click here for a list of educational websites and educational links including the best educational websites for kids, the top educational websites for teachers, the top language arts educational sites for kids and the best websites for students regarding math and science.

making a good website is hard

If you represent a college or university, we would love to help you with yours. Contact us today for free professional guidance from our experts

Meet our lead experts

Representing four fields central to the project of educational web design, our experts lead the teams of analysts that grade each site. A rich web experience requires that three elements - design, content, and usability - exist in a perfect synergy on the page. Our experts are the ones who have the final word on whether or not any given school’s website has achieved this.

Jonathan S.

Web Development Expert


Having a standards compliant optimized website gives freedom for users to use your application in the way that it was intended to be used without any extra garbage... and always keep in mind KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid).

Chris K.

UI Expert


With any websites, It's important for designers to create an intuitive experience for users who are searching for valuable information. Users should be able to easily navigate throughout the site and find the right information they need.

Katrina M.

Design Expert


Design is something colleges and schools seem to overlook with their websites. Websites are often the first impressions for students so it's important for schools to give them the right first look!

Alli O.

Admissions Advisor Expert


A website with great content should give students the right base knowledge and idea as to what a certain school can offer. Schools should strive to provide comprehensive, accurate, and helpful content to best prepare students for a new chapter in life.

Exploring the academic web space

Choose from the filters to the right to start browsing through the home pages of thousands of colleges and universities.

Color Usage

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4d80de 324bce 7f3cd6 a93378 c04842 c76234 cc9a24 e3d22a d1d041 80b246
3e6bbf 283aaa 692fb0 8b2a63 a5352e a94e23 a57d1a c6b623 b6b431 689638
2d559e 1e2885 502086 6c1f4c 882316 893812 7d5b0e a9971b 949321 507a2a
1c3e81 141660 36125f 4c1536 6d0f02 6c2202 513904 8b7c13 797611 395c19
ffffff e7e7e7 cfcfcf b7b7b7 9d9d9d 828282 686868 494949 272727 000000

Font Usage

Social Presence

YouTube

Subject & Location

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We're here to help

Do you represent a college or university that is trying to make its education site more effective? Improving the online experience of college students on learning websites is our central goal, and we would be happy to help you out. Contact us using the form to the right.
Creating an informative, easy-to-use, and beautiful educational website is difficult. For institutions trying to serve the individual needs of thousands or tens of thousands of students, the task becomes incredibly complex. Many schools simply don’t have enough resources to dedicate to the project of educational site development. We understand that you may be trying your best to provide a rich experience for your students, and we appreciate that. But sometimes we all need some outside help to get us where we would like to be.
Our team consists of experts in the fields of graphic design, user experience design, web development, and even college counseling, so we provide well-rounded, informed, comprehensive guidance. We are dedicated to improving the academic web space, in particular educational web sites, in any and every way we can. Helping schools directly is one of the most effective ways we can achieve that. So fill out the form below, give us a sense of how we can help you improve your education website, and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. Thank you for reaching out to us.

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