Assignment #5: Evaluating online Teaching Resources (20 points)
Due in week 12 (Submit via Turnitin by midnight before class)
PURPOSE
The most persistent comment I hear from teachers about finding on-line resources for themselves and/or their students is that it takes so much time, that it seems to be "hit or miss" and they are not completely sure how to evaluate the quality of what they find. The search strategies you have learned in this course (or knew before) should help address the first two concerns: taking too much time and feeling like it is "hit or miss". This assignment is meant to address the third concern for you and for your students: how to evaluate the quality.
For this assignment, you will be finding three websites (and formally evaluating two of them) that seem to be useful to you as a teacher. You will also find two websites (and formally evaluate one of them) that you would use with your students and, in turn, design a process for your students to evaluate this website. This will be done within the context of a particular curricular area addressing specific learning outcomes for a specific grade level. Use the Integrated Resource Packages (IRPs) on the B.C. Ministry of Education's Website,
Kathy Schrock (you may recognize her
name because of her well-known site for teachers-- http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/) suggests five W's to begin the evaluation of a website:
- Who wrote the pages and are they an expert in the field?
- What does the author say is the purpose of the website?
- When was the site created, updated, lasted worked on?
- Where does the information come from?
- Why is the information useful for my purpose?
The five W's are a good starting place. We expand on them in this assignment.
WHAT YOU SHOULD DO
- First read Kathy Schrock's 3 page article entitled, The ABCs of WebSite Evaluation. You can download the article as a PDF file or read it on-line Scroll down a bit on the page this link takes you to and you will find the article. Read the 2002 version. You are sure to pick up some points you had not thought of before.
- Using the Prescribed Learning Outcomes on the B.C. Ministry of Education's web site. Choose a grade level, area of the curriculum, and set of outcomes to focus on. Clearly identify which learning outcome(s) you are adressessing and provide the URL.
- (10 points) Find three websites that provide teacher resources related to the learning outcomes you have chosen. These websites should be for your use as a teacher, not for the use of your students. Evaluate these three websites using the criteria listed below for "Teacher Resource Websites". Choose the two (of the three) that are of the highest quality according to your evaluation. Submit the evaluation information for those two websites. (If you want to add additional evaluation criteria to that provided, please feel free to do so).
If you are addressing secondary school curricular areas, you might be interested in checking out two "Learning Object Repositories". The unique thing about these is that the resources included have undergone a review process:
- (5 points) Find two websites appropriate for your students that are related to the learning outcomes you have chosen. Evaluate these two websites using the criteria listed below for "Student Use Websites". Choose the one (of the two) that is of the highest quality according to your evaluation. Submit the evaluation information for this website. (If you want to add additional evaluation criteria to that provided, please feel free to do so).
- (5 points) Finally, develop some criteria that your students could use to evaluate the website you have chosen for them (#4 above). Be sure that what you design is both age appropriate and appropriate to the particular website being evaluated. Remember the purpose of getting your students to evaluate your selected website must tie into a prescribed learning outcome.
You can find examples of criteria meant for different aged students to evaluate different types of websites at:
If you decide to use parts of these examples, be sure you cite
the source.
EVALUATION OF THE ASSIGNMENT
So, there are three parts to this assignment that should be submitted:
- Evaluation of two teacher resource websites
- Evaluation of a website for student use
- Evaluation criteria to be used by your students to evaluate the website you have chosen for student use
Each evaluation (3 in total) should not exceed 2 pages. You can format these as questionnaires. The evaluation criteria you design for your students should be in questionnaire form and not exceed 2 pages. Submit your work to Turnitin in one file (.rtf or Word doc) with each evaluation clearly indicated.
Each part of the assignment will be graded holistically based on the following criteria:
- Clarity: (For the website evaluations) Can I understand why you rated the websites as you did? Have you given sufficient evidence for your ratings on each criteria and in the narrative evaluation. (For the criteria developed for students) Are the criteria age appropriate (both in terms of wording and conceptual level) and appropriate to the type of website to be evaluated? Do the criteria address the major aspects of website evaluation covered by Kathy Schrock in her article, The ABC's of Website Evaluation (keeping in mind what is appropriate for the age group you are addressing).
- Fit with prescribed curriculum outcomes: Have you clearly stated which of the precribed learning outcomes you are adressing? Are the websites you have evaluated and the student criteria you have developed clearly related to the learning outcomes you have identified?
Evaluation Criteria for Teacher Resource Websites
(Note: Do not answer simply YES/NO to the questions: provide a brief example as appropriate. We will discuss this further in class)
URLs of the three Websites you considered: _______________________________________
URLs of the two Websites you formally evaluated:__________________________________________
I. Authority:
Who produces this web site?
What are the author's credentials and affiliation?
When was the web site created and lastly updated?
Is there a reputable organization that stays behind this web site?
Are there obvious organizational and author biases?
II. Scope
Is the purpose of the website clearly indicated?
What kind of information is included - factual or opinion?
Does the site contain new and original information or does it simply link to other online resources?
III. Format and Presentation and Accessibility
Is the target audience clearly indicated?
Are the included links useful and relevant to the web site's purpose? Do they work?
Does the site have it's own search engine? Is it easily searchable?
Is this a fee-based site? Can nonmembers have access to part of the site for free?
Do you have to register a name or a password before using the site?
IV. Narrative Evaluation
Looking at all of the data you have collected through the above questions, explain why or why not this site is valid for your purpose. Be sure you base your narrative on the above criteria and include any other aspects you consider important.
The original checklist for evaluating web resources was created by the University of Southern Maine. Modifications were made by Irina Tzoneva on December 4, 2002 and by Cheryl Amundsen on June 27, 2003.
Evaluation Criteria for Student Use Websites
- URLs of the two Websites you considered: ___________________________________
URL of the Website you formally evaluated: __________________________________________
I. Authority:
Who produces this web site?
What are the author's credentials and affiliation?
When was the web site created and lastly updated?
Is the information current? (if that is important)
Is there a reputable organization that stays behind this web site?
Are there obvious organizational and author biases?
II. Scope:
Is the purpose of the website clearly indicated?
What kind of information is included - factual or opinion?
Does the site contain new and original information or does it simply links to other online resources?
III. Format and Presentation:
Is the title of the page indicative of the content?
Is the target audience clearly indicated?
Are the included links useful and relevant to the web site's purpose? Do they work?
Is the information easy to get to?
What kind of materials does the web site use, e.g. graphics, audio files, movie clips, etc.? Are they used appropriately or do they distract from the content?
IV. Accessibility:
Would it have been easier to get the information somewhere else?
Does the site have it's own search engine? Is it easily searchable?
Is the web site easily located?
Is this a fee-based site? Can nonmembers have access to part of the site for free?
Do you have to register a name a password before using the site?
IV. Narrative Evaluation:
Looking at all of the data you have collected through the above questions, explain why this site is or is not valid for your purpose. Be sure you base your narrative on the above criteria and include any other aspects you consider important.
The original checklist for evaluating web resources was created by the University of Southern Maine. Modifications were made by Irina Tzoneva on December 4, 2002 and by Cheryl Amundsen on June 27, 2003.
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