Module 2: Evaluating sites

Can you trust Internet sites?

M2 Task 3 - Which sites can you trust?
Evaluation criteria
M2 Task 4 - Thinking about evaluation criteria
M2 Task 5 - Essential evaluation criteria
Assessing a site
M2 Task 6 - Assessing sites
M2 Task 7 - Site tour and quiz
More information on evaluating websites

Can you trust Internet sites? The short answer is that some sites cannot be trusted at all, many would need very careful and sceptical scrutiny and some carry good reliable material. You must evaluate every site before using it. Anybody with access to the technology can publish anything on the Internet. Misinformation can be a big problem for teachers and students.

For one humorous example of misinformation look at The Ova Prima Foundation (http://www.ovaprima.org)

M2 Task 3 - Which sites can you trust?

Visit the following three sites.

Kennedy Center ArtsEdge
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/

MoMa.org
http://www.moma.org

The World's Women On-line!
http://wwol.inre.asu.edu/

When visiting each site, use the provided proforma to make notes on things that you think will help determine your evaluation of the site. Then decide if the site can be trusted and justify the conclusion you reach.

Print out the table for Task 3 (M2 Task 3 Proforma).

Evaluation criteria

The range of resources you use in your Visual Arts classroom probably include print-based materials. What qualities do you look for in these materials?

M2 Task 4 - Thinking about evaluation criteria

List the criteria that must be satisfied for print-based materials you incorporate into your curriculum. Use the table provided. In the second column of the table, identify which of the same criteria you would expect to apply to an Internet site. Are there any additional criteria of importance in this case? (Use this table again for Tasks 5 and 6.)

Print out the table for Task 4 (M2 Task 4 Proforma) to list evaluation criteria.

Here are some suggestions for criteria that could be used (M2 Task 4 Suggestions).

M2 Task 5 - Essential evaluation criteria

A short, helpful article dealing with evaluation of web resources, Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources by Esther Grassian, can be found at: http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/help/critical/

Read the article and check your own list of web criteria from Task 4 against its suggestions.

Compare the ideas in this article with those you will find in Evaluating Internet-Based Information: A Goals-Based Approach by David Warlick (http://www.landmark-project.com/index.php). Go to Web Tools and click on Net Evaluation and Collection. This will take you to an online evaluation form, underneath the form is the link to Evaluating Internet Information: A Goals-Based Approach.

Add any additional criteria to the table you compiled in completing Task 4.

How do Visual Arts learning goals fit in with these criteria?

Here is a list of suggested criteria to compare with your own thoughts (M2 Task 5 Suggestions).

Assessing a site

Attempts have been made to evaluate sites using a numerical scoring system. This practice is not recommended because it can obscure unacceptable attributes. No matter how accessible or user friendly a site may be, for example, nothing can compensate for inaccurate information if that information is the reason for students visiting the site. Each Internet site must be assessed on its value and its individual merits. A site might have a great deal of merit according to the quality of information that it contains, but it may be of little value if this information cannot be readily applied to your particular teaching and learning context.

There are a number of clues that give an early indication of some attributes of a site. One of these is found in the URL or website address.

Here are some hints on using a URL (website address) to help you assess a site.

M2 Task 6 - Assessing sites

Return to two other Internet sites you investigated in Module 1 Task 1 (or two other sites of your choice) and evaluate each site according to the evaluation criteria you completed in Task 4 and Task 5 of this module.

For each site, write a note for a colleague in which you explain:

why you do or do not recommend the site;
how you believe the site could be used in the classroom, and at what levels;
ways in which the site could meet Visual Arts curriculum requirements particular to your State or Territory.

Add any extra criteria you may have thought of during this process to the table from Task 4 and Task 5.

You can print out a table of these questions (M2 Task 6 Proforma).

M2 Task 7 - Site tour and quiz

Take a short site tour with questions (M2 Task 7 Questions) to check out your recall to this point. Follow the instructions. Windows users can switch between the site tour page and Yahoo! by using the taskbar or Alt-Tab. Macintosh users can do the same by using the Window menu. You can print out the guide (M2 Task 7 Questions) if you find it easier to work with a hard copy.

Here are some responses to compare to your own (M2 Task 7 Suggestions).

More information on evaluating websites

The evaluation of Internet sites is a vast topic. If you are interested in pursuing it, you could follow some of the links collated by Alastair Smith in a section of the WWW Virtual Library concerned with the topic (http://www.vuw.ac.nz/~agsmith/evaln/evaln.htm).


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