TechEdOnline Student Resources-Evaluating Web Pages

Evaluating Web Pages

Scenario

You need to conduct research for a language arts report. Your teacher has asked you to write a persuasive essay on whether schools give too much homework. You know that a persuassive essay is based on your opinion, but that you also need to include facts to support your opinion.

Where do you start? How do you choose a web site? Through this activity you will look at how to evaluate or grade web pages for use in school projects.

Task

You will work in groups of 4 to evaluate web pages listed in the resources section. Each member of the group will be looking at the same web page, but from a different point of view or job. The jobs are listed below. Each web page will be ranked based on your point of view. Everyone will discuss their evaluations at the conclusion of the assignment. As a class we will compare each groups evaluations.

Jobs

Content specialist:	Authority/Credibility specialist:
Does the site cover the topic completely? Accurately? Can you understand what is being said? Is it too hard or too easy? What is unique about this site? Does it offer something others do not? Do the links provide more useful information? Can you tell: the date the information was created? the publication date? the date the material was last revised? Would you get better information in a book? an encyclopedia? Would you include this site in your bibliography?	Who is responsible for this site? Who sponsors it? What are his/her credentials (job/education)? Have the authors of the site cited their own sources? What is the domain name? Does it end in .com, .gov, .edu, .org, .net? Is it a personal page? Is that a meaningful clue in evaluating the site? (You can't always judge a web page by its suffix. Some commercial sites provide solid information. Some university sites offer less-than-serious personal pages to graduate students.) Would you include this site in your bibliography?
Bias/purpose specialist:	Usability/design specialist:
Why was this site created? (to persuade, inform, explain, sell, promote, other?) Is it a personal, commercial, government or organization site? Is there any bias? Is only one side of the argument presented? Is it trying to persuade you or change your opinion? Is the bias useful to you in some way? Can you distinguish facts from opinion? Would you include this site in your bibliography?	Is the site easy to navigate (user-friendly)? Is there a well-labeled contents area? Do all the design elements (graphics, art, buttons, etc.) enhance the message of the site? Is there consistency in the basic formats of each page? Are there any errors in spelling or grammar? Do the pages appear clean, uncluttered? Do the links on the site work? Would you include this site in your bibliography?

Resources

Each member of the group will be responsible for completing an evaluation sheet for the web pages provided. Use the questions for each job to help you evaluate the web pages.

Each member of the group should complete their evaluation sheet from the point of view of their job. They should rank each page 1-5, with 1 being the best and 5 being the worst.

How Important is Homework
Down With Homework!
As Homework Grows, So Do Arguments Against It
The Homework Burden
Homework

Assessment/ Rubric

You will be evaluated on your group participation, completed organizer and group discussion.

Based on a lesson by Joyce Valenza
Web Address: http://mciunix.mciu.k12.pa.us/~spjvweb/evalwebstu.html