CTAP Online ranks 3rd in the K-12 state Web site category among the Best of the Web in a national review of K-12 and higher education web sites. The Best of the Web contest is sponsored by the Center for Digital Education, a national research and advisory institute on education technology. CTAP Online has recieved the award for our "rich content, resources, and user friendly features". The judges noted that our portal "is rich with resources with a lesson-plan builder, standards databases, and discussion forums, along with training, online courses and mentor and administrator workshops".

The Best Education Web Sites and Applications Named

Rhonda Wilson, October 2004

More than 40 of the best and most innovative K-12 and Higher Education Web sites and online applications have been named by the Center for Digital Education in its 2004 Best of the Web (BOW) contest and Digital Education Achievement Awards (DEAA) program.

In its third year, the BOW evaluates Higher Education, K-12 state and K-12 local district Web sites on their innovation, Web-based delivery of public services, efficiency, economy, and functionality for improved student and faculty access. The inaugural DEAA grades state district and school online applications and projects based on enhanced interactions, transactions and/or services.

"The review process this year was a difficult, but exciting project," said Marina Leight, director of the Center. "It's clear that the Web world in education has come of age and that it's no longer a question of static versus functionality. The defining features are more subtle and have to do with who the Web site is serving and how. Of primary importance in the education sector is how is it serving the student?"

The top BOW winners in the Higher Education Web site category are:

• 1st Place (tie): Lehigh University, Pennsylvania
• 1st Place (tie): North Shore Community College, Massachusetts
• 2nd Place: North Orange County Community College, California
• 3rd Place: University of Texas at Dallas, Texas
• 4th Place: College of DuPage, Illinois
• 5th Place: Excelsior College, New York

Top BOW winners in the K-12 local/district Web site category are:

• 1st Place: Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland
• 2nd Place (tie): Plano ISD, Texas
• 2nd Place (tie): District of Columbia Education Center, Washington, DC
• 3rd Place: Pasadena Unified School District, California
• 4th Place: Richmond Public Schools, Virginia
• 5th Place: Fairfax County Public Schools, Virginia

Top BOW winners in the K-12 state Web site category are:

• 1st Place: California Department of Education
• 2nd Place: Indiana Accountability System, Indiana Dept. of Education
• 3rd Place: CTAP Online, Center for Distributed Learning, Butte County Office of Education, Calif.