WEBSITE EVALUATION

Evaluating information I find before using it as source material is important when doing research on the Internet. Unlike most articles published in reputable journals and books, many websites do not undergo a rigorous review process. It is therefore imperative to evaluate any information I intend to use from the Internet. Evaluating web pages skill fully requires me to do two things at once:

Train my eye and fingers to employ a series of techniques that help me quickly find what you need to know about web pages; -Skim reading

Train my mind to think critically, even suspiciously, by asking a series of questions that will help me decide how much a web page is to be trusted. - To cultivate the habit of healthy scepticism, of questioning everything I find with critical thinking.

 To help me do this skilfully, I have come up with an acronym AAOCC (Authority, Accuracy, Objectivity, Currency, and Coverage) coupled with the FIVE Ws which will help me remember what to look out for while evaluating websites.

Why? –Authority

What?-Accuracy

Where?-Objectivity

When?-Currency

Why? –coverage

There are plenty of websites that support the teaching and learning of The English Language skills making it imperative for one to subject them to the evaluative criteria.

The following websites which I recommend underwent this rigorous process.

For summary writing:

This is a good resource for the teacher

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/p-as_docs/PoetryandProse.pdf

This site is excellent for the teacher and student

http://academics.smcvt.edu/cbauer-ramazani/AEP/EN104/summary.htm

http://web.uvic.ca/~sdoyle/E302/Notes/HowtoWriteSummary.html

With a digital library, weekly writing practice, online writing and peer reviews, Common Core assignments, and multimedia lessons available, this site is a fully-featured tool for teaching and learning that can be a big help in the classroom.

 http://www.studysync.com/our-product/what-is-studysync/

As a resource for the student

http://courses.durhamtech.edu/perkins/sumact.html

https://depts.washington.edu/owrc/Handouts/How%20to%20Write%20a%20Summary.pdf

This video presents a comprehensive look at the difference between prose and poetry

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyMwhrTXZDE

An excellent site for lesson plans categorized by grade and levels and subjects

http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/4050?ref=search

This site provides interactive reading activities suitable for learners at all levels

http://www.readtheory.org/

This Site Is Excellent For Digitally Evaluating Written Work

http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/technology/

Excellent site for the evaluation of web pages.

www.schrockguide.net/critical-evaluation.html

I have also learnt more about web sites, their creation and what defines them. I have translated my understanding into a glossary of Website Terms which I find useful.

Browser- a software program that allows you to view and access the text and picture resources on Internet Websites (i.e. Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Internet Explorer).

Domain the name which identifies each Internet site – the domain name points to only one machine/server on the Internet (i.e. www.gov.on.ca) download to transfer files or data from another computer to your own.

Error 404 an error that is displayed in a browser when trying to access a page on a server that is not available.

HTML Hypertext Mark-up Language – the tagging language used to create hypertext documents for use on the World Wide Web (WWW) hypertext text, image, or other object that can be tagged to become a "link" (as in a chain) to retrieve another computer file (another Web page, image, sound file, or other document) on the Internet.

IP Address/Number Internet Protocol – a unique number consisting of 4 parts separated by dots (195.156.27.4) A machine needs an IP number to be on the Internet.

LAN Local Area Network – a computer network that is limited to a specific area, usually within a building.

ISP Internet Service Provider – a company or organization that provides access to the Internet and its resources, usually for a fee.

Netiquette manners/rules for interaction with other users of the Internet.

Search engine a computer program on the Internet that allows you to find information/resources on the Internet website a location on the WWW with information, pictures etc – accessible using a Web browser.

 URL Uniform Resource Locator - the address for a website – this address is made up of the domain name and sometimes directory/folder names and page/resource names (e.g. www.gov.on.ca/documents/index.htm).

 WAN Wide Area Network – a network that covers a larger (geographic) area.

With any resource, remember to ask who created it, when they created it, and why  they created it.