Web site evaluations

Today in class we had the opportunity to go and explore some educational websites we found to be personally interesting and to complete some evaluations about those websites. I will say that initially I thought that this activity would be kind of a waste of time but after taking the different surveys I can see their merit.

1. What form(s) did you like/dislike? Why?
The form I personally liked the most was the Midlink Magazine Web Page Evaluation form. I felt that this evaluation form covered all important materials one should pay attention to in looking at a website. I also like how it is split into categories so as to illustrate to the user what areas a particular website might be strong or weak in. The form I liked the least was the form found on http://www.bv229.k12.ks.us/bvn_lmc/web_site_evaluation_form2.htm. This form in my opinion was too vague with its questions and really didn't do much to help the reader identify if the website being evaluated was a good website or bad website. (It creates a conclusion based on opinion rather than identification.)

2. Were there any hidden secrets about a website you discovered by using an evaluation form?
As I started to look at the websites more in depth I discovered that many of them never site where they got their information or even if their information is up to date. I also discovered that a lot of websites had organizations cited rather than personal authors. I think that these thing are important for a user to recognize because they may be looking at information that is out of date and is no longer valid or they may be looking at material posted by an author that might have some alterior motives.

3. What is the value of using a web site evaluation process?
I believe the value of website evaluations is that it gets the user to look at a website in greater detail and identify if that website is truly valid. I think that in order to make sure you are teaching the right stuff you had better be getting that stuff from a legitimate website and website evaluations help you identify those websites.

4. Are there times you would/would not use a formal evaluation
I think if I was just surfing the web I would not really worry about filling out any forms on a website because I am just having fun. However, if I had the responsibility to teach a classroom full of twenty five kids I would defiantly want to fill out a form to identify websites that were valid. I would want to do this for two reasons. First I would want to make sure I was teaching the correct information to my kids. Second, would be to be able to show administrators and parents, if concerned, where I was getting my material and that it was truly valid.
Overall this activity taught me to make sure I take a closer look at the details when I am looking at any website to determine if it is valid or not.