The ABC's of Web Site Evaluation...an article by Classroom Connect

When I was a first year teacher, I remember giving my students an assignment to research a social problem on the web. I told them to use Yahoo as a search engine and very quickly was overwhelmed with problems. Some sites were inappropriate and others were very biased. I realized that somehow my students would have to evaluate a website first, then use the information on it for their research. I have pinpointed some things from this article that should be discussed and taught to every student before they use the Internet as their research tool. I have also made these indicators easy to use and easy to describe as they are for seventh and eighth graders.

• Can move from page to page easily:

  It is important that students won't have to waste time waiting for pages to load. If a page takes a long time, it can frustrate the students or lead to off-task behaviors. The article recommends that if a page contains large graphics, make sure that the page resides in a cache or use a web page storage system such as WebWhacker or WebBuddy. It is also important that a site does not frustrate it's users with players or plug-ins, or not navigable on certain web browsers.

• Good use of graphics and color:

  The graphics in a web page should aid students while also be eye-catching. Graphics should explain or promote, giving visual learners a greater understanding of a process. Also, for visually impaired learners, there should be text alternatives for the graphics software to read.

• Additional resource links are included:

  Students need to understand that some sites are just a "sampler of links" and will take them to separate sites that need to be evaluated as well. Sites that are not "samplers" should have a wealth of knowledge with further pertinent information that can be found.

• Information is useful:

  In order for the information to be useful, the student must haveclear objectives as to what they are trying to find. Several online research models are available for students to form a research question, plan a search strategy, gather information and publish results.

• Rich content and will likely be revisited:

  Students should regularly visit sites to get up to date information. The students should be able to tell what information is clearly needed for their research and what information has no relevancy to their topic. If a site has rich content, the student should be able to visit the site for more information, if they have further questions.

• How this web site compares in content to similar web sites:

  Web sites within the same topic should have information that supports each other. If a student finds information that doesn't match, they should further investigate the sites for bias or fallacies.

• All links work and have been kept current:

  If links don't work on a web site, it may mean that the site is outdated or not verifiable. Students should work with sites that contain many opportunities for outside information.

• Contact person is stated with their e-mail address:

  This allows us to look at the author's authority. It also may provide more information about the author's other works and their scholarship.

• States the name of the host school or institution:

  This also allows us to look at the author's authority and at whether there may be biased information from groups for sponsoring the page.

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