Website Evaluations

Class today was focused on surfing the Web as teachers and elementary school students, looking for specific sites to evaluate using web site evaluation forms.

The first task was to find an elementary school web site. At first I was frustrated because, as often happens when I try to log on as a parent of students in this district, the Cache County School District web sites were down and unavailable. I used the web site for Ellis Elementary School, the first school I thought of here in Cache Valley that is in Logan's district . . . and it worked! The site is standard as far as home page with school address and contact info, staff directory, lunch menu, community and PTA council notes, and calendar. It also had links to several sites like Discovery Kids.com, FunBrain.com, and their own Ellis Elementary library. I really like the FAQ page that explained why school start time is 8:00 a.m. instead of 9:00, what being a Title I school means, and statistics about average teaching experience and various additional degrees/endorsements are held by teachers on staff. The web evaluation form I used for this site, from www.bv229.k12.ks.us, didn't really fit well with this site: it basically wants to know what links are tied to this site. The other questions were about accuracy and currency but didn't seem to be major focuses of the web site I chose.

Next I was to find a lesson plan site as a teacher. I found www.atozteacherstuff.com that has all kinds of lesson plans by grade level and subject, as well as other tools like word wall words and wordsearch worksheet creation. It is packed with advertising and pop-ups, but I really liked some of the lesson plans I read. It was easy to navigate and have hundreds of directory listings for thematic units, printables, other teacher tips on attention-getters, homework, etc. I used the evaulation form "Critical Evaluation of a Web Site Elementary School Level" from school.discoveryeducation.com and I really liked this as a rubric for elementary students. It has large space for write-ins, has easy-to-read parts (how does it look? what did you learn?) with yes/no blanks, and, my favorite part, a summary that asks to use the other parts to write a summary paragraph determining whether this site was helpful or not, and why.

The next job was to find an informational web site that gives basic information about an elementary level topic, so I looked for something a child would like. I googled "volcanoes" and found from the list the web site "www.learner.org/interactives/volcanoes" that would also help with developing my group's lesson plan II assignment we are developing for this course. I loved this site as a teacher and as a student: the introduction and detailed pages were written on a child's level and explained well the scientific principles involved in a way that made sense. The opening was exciting: famous volcanoes, dates, and how many people perished in eruptions, and the question: "can we predict volcanic eruptions?" The links to videos were cool: I got to see in color video lava flowing from volcanoes in Hawaii. I liked the navigation buttons at the bottom of the screen and the related resources links. This site is awesome for teaching science and other subjects (found on the "interactives" ribbon at the top of the page). I used the Midlink Magazine web page evaluation form for this site: it has a 0-4 rating system for areas of navigation/presentation, content, appropriateness, scope/validity, and a rubric using the points (excellent, good, fair, poor) as well as a space for comments. I really liked this evaluation form because it offered detailed questions to look for and an easy way to see how multiple web sites would measure up.

The final task was to find an interactive web site that students can use to practice a specific skill written on an elementary level. I googled "interactive elementary science" and found several great sites listed on the T4.jordan.k12.ut.us site. I chose "www.renaissanceconnection.org" for middle school-aged students (and teachers) and really had fun playing with the quizzes on various art innovations, various artists, and history using famous Renaissance art from the Allentown Art Museum. The site is developed to enhance the Pennsylvania curriculum but would be a great addition to a study of history with 37 artwork images all in one place. Fun quiz games! I used the web evaluation from www.cyberguide that has areas for first look, info providers, info currency, info quality, and further info; the final rating question asks to rate this site as "very useful for my needs," "worth bookmarking for future reference," and "not worth coming back to." This form was set up with columns of Yes, No, or N/A. This form was written using a little more advanced language compared to the others, so I would probably use those for students before I would use this one.

What evaluation form did I like best? The Midlink Magazine evaluation form was user-friendly and a strong tool for rating several sites. Students as well as teachers could understand and use this form while visiting web sites.
What evaluation form did I like least? The www.bv229.k12.ks.us evaluation form, I felt, was not as easy to use and could have been formatted better. The dialogue boxes indicate to me that this form may be like the on-line survey I created last week and offers space to make notes, but it lacks the detailed evaluation prompts the others have.
What hidden secrets did I find by using evaluation forms? Current, clear, verifiable information is the goal, but sometimes it is difficult to easily identify on the website when the information was updated last and how it can be verified. Advertisements signal to me that I should be wary of the motivation of the website: can I trust it is the best information out there on the web or just posted by the company with a large budget for online advertising.
What is the value of this web site evaluation process? I noticed how important navigation tools are on a web site and how helpful it is to provide trusted resource sites that will back-up the information I post.
What times would I not use a formal site evaluation form? I got so caught up in playing the games on the interactive sites that I wasn't so concerned about the information provided, BUT I should have been. If the information was not accurate, a student may accept that misinformation over correct information presented in class or in the textbook. I probably wouldn't use a formal evaluation form as I visited these interactive lesson sites and sites like the elementary school's site (assuming I can trust a credible author posted the information on it). Having thought about the questions provided on the evaluation forms, though, I think I will consider them mentally as I search sites for my future students.