Free, Free, Free

Educators are very funny. In general, we love free things. I think it comes from trying to do so much with so few resources. So when I saw the word FREE I was eager to investigate the educator resource sites:
http://www.edutopia.org/
http://www.thejournal.com/
http://www.techlearning.com/

Overall, the sites were rather similar in their webpage formats, topic selections, and reading flow. After review, I could see how any of the sites could be a useful tool for finding information regarding current technology and news in schools, especially because they support access to archived issues. The only aspect I found disappointing was they were covered with advertisements. I found the advertisements very distracting and sometimes could not easily navigate what would actually link to just information.
My favorite of the three was Edutopia. I liked it because it was very easy to navigate and a variety of related resources were available at the push of a button. I am a busy person and finding time to read through an entire article is often difficult so I especially liked the quick related video clips. I was also pleased that it was sponsored by the George Lucas Foundation and therefore lacked the annoying advertisements. I decided to subscribe. I guess only time will tell if my initial impression was correct.