Nov 07 2009
Site evaluation
Web site evaluation
It is evident that simply looking at a site just for the name of the site or going through a list of sites one may find in a search will not necessarily help students or teachers find quality sites. In looking at the three Martin Luther King Jr. examples, my assumption of what I should find in the first was completely wrong. The suffix .org is not a guarantee that the site is authentically educational, correct, or even legitimate. Second, just using some of the tools for evaluation leave the first site lacking in authenticity, reliability, and objectivity.
The second site clearly intends on using King’s legacy to do more work and more importantly, sell books, tapes, and DVD’s. It may contain very good information about King, but it is developing workshops and leadership conferences.
The third site is the best of the three for students and teachers to look for information about King’s life, his writings and speeches, and commentary from his contemporaries. Lesson plans are available. It appears that the articles are written form authorities who knew King or people who have studied him and his legacy. The information’s reliability is documented and referenced throughout the site. Much of what is archived on this site is King’s own words.
The site I plan on using with my music students is http://listeningadventures.carnegiehall.org/ypgto/index.aspx
It is an adventure about musical instruments based on Benjamin Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. The web site provides an overview of the entire orchestra with all of the instruments. Information provided includes instrument families (why they are grouped in the family to begin with), how the instruments are played, their range, how they fit in the family, and how those instruments play together. Then the students can go through the adventure and see if the knowledge they have is enough to help them find all the clues and make their way through the adventure. Along the way, they can reference the ‘manual’ to help them make educated guesses. The musical examples are from Britten’s work.
Web site evaluations can help students learn how to test the veracity of a site. Giving students the scaffolding to learn this evaluation process will ultimately help them take charge of their own learning.
I like how you are always consistent. I agree with what you explained and I like the resource that you would use with your students.