Web Review - Evaluation Rubric

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PowerPoint Presented at SACS - December 1998. (3.5mb)

Rubric for Evaluating Web Sites

People evaluate web sites differently, depending upon their reasons for using them. For example, a web designer would look at the graphics, the page design, the use of new technology, etc. A programmer looking for an answer to a question will evaluate a site based on whether it has the information he happens to be looking for. A child looking for an interactive, shoot'em up game to play over the Internet will be evaluating sites with a different set of criteria. As educators, we have a different set of standards that a web site must meet to be educationally valid for use within the classroom.

Below you will find the rubric that I use to evaluate web sites.

	Not Well	A Little Below Average	Above Average	Very Well
1. Does it help me meet the Standards or Objectives I am teaching?	______	______	______	______
2. Does it allow for two- way interaction?	______	______	______	______
3. Is it visually appealing for students?	______	______	______	______
4. Is it easy to navigate?	______	______	______	______
5. Is it fast to load?	______	______	______	______
6. Are there ways for students to publish their work? Will it lend itself to some outcome?	______	______	______	______
7. Is the web site connection reliable?	______	______	______	______
8.Is the information verifiable? Is the information reliable and consistent?	______	______	______	______
9.Is the material fact or opinion without substantiation?	______	______	______	______
10.Could this Standard or Objective be met better using some other medium?	______	______	______	______

Brian McGee
brianmcgee@att.net
Date Last Modified: 12/2/98

1. Does it help me meet the Standards or Objectives I am teaching?

One of the primary goals for any educator is to help his/her students reach or surpass the standards or objectives. This should be of primary importance when deciding to use web resources or not.

2. Does it allow two-way interaction?

Static displays are pretty, but so are colorful books. Computers and the Internet lend themselves to two-way communication. Hands-on activities and manipulatives have been proven to be a great way to teach a wide variety of concepts. Watch for web sites that allow the students to interact in some way. It could be drawing, writing, clicking, or chatting. Whatever it is, see if the web site offers something for students to actually DO.

3. Is it visually appealing for students?

Textbooks have shown us that the media does not have to be dull and boring to be effective. Students will enjoy themselves and be more willing to put forth additional effort if the activities and pages seem appealing.

4. Is it easy to navigate?

Some sites have a lot of good information, but they need to be easy to navigate or you risk wasting too much time getting around in a site. Look for consistent navigation tools. If approrpriate, can you search the site?

5. Is it fast to load?

Let's be honest here; you cannot wait for two minutes to get each page to load. The students will find other things to occupy their time with. If your connection is a problem, there are ways around this. See the comment below.

6. Are there ways for students to publish their work? Will it lend itself to some outcome?

Computers lend themselves to publishing. Students can publish or print out materials that have been word processed or drawn. They can publish them to school Intranets or with new easy-to-use databases, publish them to the web. Just having students come into the lab and "surf" or browse to see what they can find is not a good idea. Try to construct lessons and pick sites that lend themselves to some form of outcome.

7. Is the web site connection reliable?

If you have a T-1 coming into your lab, you are probably okay unless the site is iffy. If your internet connect is not that fast or reliable, consider using a program like "Web Whacker" to download web sites to your own computers. An even easier way is to set up a proxy server that caches a copy of a web site so that other students that use it get it from the locally cached copy rather than having to go out to the Internet to get copies of all the pictures and pages.

8.Is the information verifiable? Is the information reliable and consistent?

It should be possible to verify facts within a good web site. Information should usually be consistent with what is already known on the topic. If the information consists of ground-breaking new material, it should be well documented.

9.Is the material fact or opinion without substantiation?

Opinion is not necessarily bad; however, there are web sites that can confuse students. They seem to present factual information, but it is not substantiated, or it is really statements of someone's opinion.

10.Could this Standard or Objective be met better using some other medium?

Web resources are only one of many ways to reach curriculum objectives. For many students, it is very motivational to use the Internet, but only use it if it is the best way to cover those objectives.

1. Does it help me meet the Standards or Objectives I am teaching?	One of the primary goals for any educator is to help his/her students reach or surpass the standards or objectives. This should be of primary importance when deciding to use web resources or not.
2. Does it allow two-way interaction?	Static displays are pretty, but so are colorful books. Computers and the Internet lend themselves to two-way communication. Hands-on activities and manipulatives have been proven to be a great way to teach a wide variety of concepts. Watch for web sites that allow the students to interact in some way. It could be drawing, writing, clicking, or chatting. Whatever it is, see if the web site offers something for students to actually DO.
3. Is it visually appealing for students?	Textbooks have shown us that the media does not have to be dull and boring to be effective. Students will enjoy themselves and be more willing to put forth additional effort if the activities and pages seem appealing.
4. Is it easy to navigate?	Some sites have a lot of good information, but they need to be easy to navigate or you risk wasting too much time getting around in a site. Look for consistent navigation tools. If approrpriate, can you search the site?
5. Is it fast to load?	Let's be honest here; you cannot wait for two minutes to get each page to load. The students will find other things to occupy their time with. If your connection is a problem, there are ways around this. See the comment below.
6. Are there ways for students to publish their work? Will it lend itself to some outcome?	Computers lend themselves to publishing. Students can publish or print out materials that have been word processed or drawn. They can publish them to school Intranets or with new easy-to-use databases, publish them to the web. Just having students come into the lab and "surf" or browse to see what they can find is not a good idea. Try to construct lessons and pick sites that lend themselves to some form of outcome.
7. Is the web site connection reliable?	If you have a T-1 coming into your lab, you are probably okay unless the site is iffy. If your internet connect is not that fast or reliable, consider using a program like "Web Whacker" to download web sites to your own computers. An even easier way is to set up a proxy server that caches a copy of a web site so that other students that use it get it from the locally cached copy rather than having to go out to the Internet to get copies of all the pictures and pages.
8.Is the information verifiable? Is the information reliable and consistent?	It should be possible to verify facts within a good web site. Information should usually be consistent with what is already known on the topic. If the information consists of ground-breaking new material, it should be well documented.
9.Is the material fact or opinion without substantiation?	Opinion is not necessarily bad; however, there are web sites that can confuse students. They seem to present factual information, but it is not substantiated, or it is really statements of someone's opinion.
10.Could this Standard or Objective be met better using some other medium?	Web resources are only one of many ways to reach curriculum objectives. For many students, it is very motivational to use the Internet, but only use it if it is the best way to cover those objectives.