A Reflection on Website Evaluation

Today in class, we selected a website and evaluated it for reliability and usability. Specifically, we were searching to see if these websites would be appropriate tools to use in the future in our classrooms. To start, it was important that we identified the purpose of the site. Purpose can be divided into nine categories: interactive stimulation, primary source, project site, reference, tutorial, teacher utility, web-quest, game, or other. Obviously each category represents a type of website that serves a very difference purpose from the others. For example, primary source sites can let you examine original documents, while game sites most likely have multitudes of games that can coincide with school curriculum. It is necessary to consider if the site is for a teacher or the student and how navigable it is. Also, the reliability is very important. Professional websites like Discovery are reliable, yet there are many sites on the web that are out of date, bias, or just incorrect. It is a bonus if the website is accessible to use without having to incur any extra expense. Often times, you will have to create a user ID for the website, especially for game sites and teacher utility sites, that keep track of specific users. I will definitely consider these points when working to find appropriate websites that my both my students and I can use in the future.

Here are a few websites with tips and tricks to discern between the unreliable and reliable: 

http://journalism.about.com/od/reporting/a/Eight-Ways-To-Tell-If-A-Website-Is-Reliable.htm
http://mason.gmu.edu/~montecin/web-eval-sites.htm