Web Site Evaluation:
| Name: Ima Sample | Date: 11/14/0X |
| Web Site: Education World (http://www.education-world.com/) | |
| Description: Briefly describe the web site. Is the site intended for students or teachers? What kind of information is presented? | |
| This is a very extensive site for educators and administrators at all levels of education. There are all types of information including lesson plans, articles on education, virtual tours of schools and quotes and jokes of the day. | |
| Appropriate Content: Are the materials worthwhile and valuable? How well does the web site cover the subject matter? What is the subject area and implied target audience? What types of things will the teacher gain or student learn from the site? Is the content, the language and instructional approach clear and at the appropriate level? What evidence is there that information is accurate and credible? | |
| The information included in this website would be helpful to teachers of all subjects and ages. Despite its vast content the website has some very specific information. If, however, an educator were looking for information that was very specific to their field Education World would be just a first step in the process. Teachers could find valuable information on lesson plans and links to other informative websites. The website also deals with contemporary issues in education and has some fun interactive features as well. Some examples are: “5 tips on dealing with shy students”, “How to distinguish information and misinformation of the web” and “25 ideas for better book reports”. This website is probably more geared toward the elementary school teacher but because of its general content on education and educational policy and practices it would appeal to secondary educators as well. The website is free and includes a variety of submissions from educators across the nation. Education World, however, is a branch of EDmin.com which sells teaching supplies and materials so it does have a bias toward that company and also sponsors a number of advertisements. | |
| Design: Are appropriate design features employed by the web site? Is information easy to find, read and use? Can the user easily navigate from one part of the site to another? Would it be accessible to users with disabilities? `Give examples. | |
| The website is a little busy and at times the site is hard to navigate. There is such a vast amount of information on the website that it can be overwhelming wit the many different links and hot buttons along with eye catching and sometimes distracting advertisements. Although it is nice to see such a large amount of information, it does make for confusing browsing. In general the site would not be accessible to people with disabilities (see below). | |
| Accessibility: Would the web site allow a person with a disability to fully access it? For example, is information presented and organized in a way that can be used by persons with visual disabilities and devices they may use? | |
| Colors used for background and lettering contrast nicely making for easy reading. Overall though I think that this site would be very confusing to a person with visual impairments. Some of the menu choices and navigational buttons are based on pictures with no ALT tags displaying textual interpretations. Persons with disabilities depending on screen readers to read text out loud would have a difficult time understanding all information presented on screen. At the very bottom of the page there is a link to a “Site Guide” that displays all choices in a more textual format but it is a very, very long page. Having all of the page read out loud would take a long time; breaking up the page into smaller chunks would be more useful. | |
| Overall evaluation: What is your general impression of the site? Is the web free of broken links and images? Would another medium be better for the same information (e.g. would a book or video work better)? Is the web site effective? Summarize and give an honest recommendation regarding this site. Describe how it may be used in your classroom. | |
| Overall I think this is a pretty good website and would be valuable to teachers looking for ideas and classroom materials Although it is sponsored by a corporation I think that the information is relatively unbiased and definitely informative. I can see myself using this website as a tool in my own classroom. It is a little hard to navigate but that is due that the vast amount of information. Overall, a very useful and extensive site for educators and administrators with a few organizational problems. | |