Web Site Evaluation - Health Classes
Basic Web Searching - Guessing Uniform Resource Locators
Accessibility - Is it a site with staying power? Will it be there tomorrow when your teacher checks your citations? Does it load easily and quickly? You may think you have found the most incredible site on the legalization of marijuana but it takes ten minutes to load. Average time a teenager will wait for a site is seven seconds.
Once you are at the site, do all the links work? Many sites have link rot and while they look good from the beginning page, they have many things not accessible within. For example: Golden Gate Tunnel
Can you navigate through the site easily? Many sites are very confusing and therefore difficult to use. Think about the sites you like best. Part of what you like is probably that you can cruise through them easily. Is it worth the time it takes to figure it out if you can't? Sometimes the answer is determined by how badly you need the information and if you can obtain it elsewhere. Check this out: The Truth
Accuracy - Anyone, repeat, anyone can create a web page. Does that make the person an expert in his field? Can you trust what he is saying? The Internet is an incredible source for information but you need to be sure of your sources. How will you know if a site is good if you don't know a lot about the subject? Your teachers may make web pages with links to good sites they have found or you may use the curriculum links from the RC page. You need to be careful to check your facts against several sources to assure you have the most accurate information.
Determine the author of the web site. If you are looking statistics on drunken driving by persons under 18 on the Illinois Secretary of State web site, you can be fairly sure of the accuracy of the information. If you are looking at Assistant Principal Noverini's web site on cultivating potatoes in Tibet, can you be sure of his accuracy? What makes him an expert on potatoes? On Tibet? If you were to find five other web sites that stated the same information, you may be able to rely on it. May be because there are many web sites out there that spout a particular bent but might not be accurate. Many sites claim that women are not as smart as men yet studies have proven this "fact" to be false. These sites are trying to influence rather than educate. If you find this info on five sites, is it accurate? Are there places you can look and be sure of accuracy? What do you think of this one: The American Civil War or Mars and this one: Cancer
Just because something is on the web doesn't make it true or accurate. Remember, ANYONE can post to the web. Your teachers would never let you use just one book for a report so don't rely on one web site no matter how accurate you think the information to be. Find several sources, print and on the web, then compare and contrast. Who is this guy? A Short Introduction to the Study of Holocaust Revisionism
Figure out when the web site was updated. You may find a date created but not an
update. Many times you can force a web browser to give you that information but clicking on
the URL and replacing it with
javascript:alert(document.lastModified) Highlight and copy this now and try it on the
next few web sites.
Appropriate - Can you understand the information, is it on your level? When
you are trying to decide if a site is appropriate, ask yourself a few questions. Who is the
intended audience? If you need to know the names of how many students underwent random drug
testing last year, do you need to read a professor of legal studies' paper on the topic or could
you try a government statistics site? Is the site on your intellectual level? Does it
use pictures appropriately to help with concepts when needed? Is it information you can use
or does it talk down to you? And, does it provide information on the topic you thought it was
supposed to be about? Gene awaits you at:
Cloning
Appealing - Not does it look fantastic and glitzy, though that's ok, is it well
planned and easy to follow? How many broken links are there? Is it easy on the
eyes? Is there too much text, not enough pictures? Are you likely to lose
interest? If the site is easy to read, colorful, full of graphics, and fun, you will find it
more appealing and you will be more willing to use it. Text-only sites aren't necessarily
bad, it's just that few of you will struggle through them if you have an alternative. Much of
what is true under accessibility is true here as well. Mediocre sites may have fantastic
information but if you find link rot, poor navigation and poor design, you won't stay to discover
the good information. Ready?
Bug Ugly
and
A Catcher's Page
The key to evaluation to is be able to QUICKLY assess the four A's so that you can earn some
A's of your own.
Accessibility
Accuracy
Appropriate
Appealing
Remember to find sites that appeal to you, have accurate information, are appropriate to your learning level and are accessible. This should become second nature with practice. (These four principals come from the Yahooligans web site on evaluation).
Let's practice.
| Case Analysis of a Historic Killer Tornado Event | Mankato, MN | Martin Luther King |
The following web sites are more examples for you to peruse to determine which category is a problem.
| Funky Shoes | ||
| McWhortle Enterprises, Inc. | ||