In this assignment you will evaluate web sites as well as
web-based lessons using resources available at the ED's
Oasis web site (now a part of Classroom Connect)
and/or the Blue
Web'N site developed by Pacific Bell and Kathy Schrock's Guide
for Educators--The
Schrockguide Award List. The goal of the assignment is: (a) to
get you to explore a variety of educational web sites, and (b) to
help you become aware of features of well-designed instructional web
sites and lesson plans for web-based learning.
Your completed assignment should be word processed and passed into the WebCT Drop Box as an html file. Please title the file Eval.YourLastName.
To begin, spend some time looking over each of the above sites and see what kinds of resources are available. It is suggested that you bookmark sites that you think might prove useful in the future. (See Adding and Managing Bookmarks for an overview of how to do this with Netscape or "Collecting Favorite Pages" in Internet Explorer's Help menu.)
a. Website Evaluations: Each of the following sites contain collections of educational Web sites.
Take some time to check out some of the sites in the subject area of your choice. Note that ED's Oasis distinguishes between three types of student sites: interactive, resource, and supplemental. Eventually, after you've found sites of interest that look good, choose two to evaluate, at least one of which is an interactive site, and the other either interactive or a resource.
For each of the two sites, use ED's
Oasis Online Web Site Evaluation for Educators. (Note: If you
complete the evaluation online, you would submit it to ED's Oasis,
not to me!) Then conduct your evaluation jotting down your ratings
along with brief comments that clarify and support them. Enter your
ratings in a word processor file along with comments that support
your views. Also, be sure answer the questions in the dialog boxes,
including the "final comments" at the bottom of the form.
Please label your evaluation items clearly, using the same numbers
as the form to identify the topics being addressed. (20 points
each; 40 points).
b. Web-based lesson plan evaluation: There are numerous lesson plans available for web-based teaching. Explore the following sites that contain collections of lesson plans:
Get a sense of how each of the sites are organized and try to find
a lesson plan that might you might find useful. When you've found
some that appear promising, use the
lesson plan scoring rubric and evaluate two of the lesson plans.
As above, write down the name of the site and its URL, and then list
each of the Elements listed on the form (i.e., Curriculum and
Standards, Student-Centeredness, etc.). Then list your numeric
rating, along with comments to clarify your ratings. (10 points for
each lesson plan; 20 points total).
Then, with each lesson plan evaluation write a paragraph (or a
detailed list ) about (1) what is commendable, and (2) what needs
improvement. (10 points for each lesson plan; 20 points total).
c. Critique the evaluation forms that we used in this exercise: (1) ED's Oasis Online Web Site Evaluation for Educators form; and (2) the lesson plan evaluation rubric. Write one paragraph for each form (or use list format) in which you address the form's strengths and weaknesses. Does the form address the "right" questions? Does it include enough detail? Too much detail? Is it easy to use? (7 points each; 14 points),
Then in another paragraph, tell which form you think best addressed critical issues of web-based teaching and learning. Support your answer.(6 points)
d. Home Page Links : Create links on your WebCT home page
to a minimum of two sites that you evaluated in this assignment that
you think others would find of value. (You can create links to all
four if you think all four sites are worth sharing with the class.)
(10 points)
Then, in the footer section of the home page, write 1-2 sentences per
site that inform your classmates about the strengths of the sites
that you chose (10 points).