• Aim
• Rationale
• Subject Matter
• Audience
• Learning Objectives
• Materials
• Instructional Plan
• Self Assessment
• Evaluation
• Authors

Aim:  The purpose of the assessment module to to provide WIT Basic and WIT participants with guidelines and tools to assess their own web based projects and evaluate other web sites.

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Rationale:  The critical evaluation of web sites is essential when using these sites to plan lessons and activities for children's use.

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Subject Matter:  Criteria, developed by the  American Library Association, is presented for use in evaluating web sites.   Two rubrics that cover page presentation and WIT curriculum components for projects and lessons developed by participants are presented for self and peer assessment.

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Audience:  Participants in WIT Basic and WIT

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Learning Objectives:

•  Participants will evaluate web sites and identify which are appropriate for children's use.
•  Participants will assign a rubric score to each evaluated web site.
•  Participants in WIT will use a rubric to self and peer assess web projects.
•  Participants in WIT Basic will use a rubric to self and peer assess a web lesson.

Materials:

• Computer resources - computer with internet access, printer
• Time - the time varies depending on the component of the module used.  1 - 3 hours (depends on the number of sites evaluated and time alloted for discussion) is necessary for the Critical Evaluation of Web Sites.  It is expected that the use of the project and lesson plan assessment will be on-going throughout WIT and WIT Basic.
• Links for the module are:

1. Assessment of Education Web Sites Home
2. Critical Evaluation of Web Sites
3. Wit Web Curriculum Project Assessment
4. Wit Web Lesson Plan Assessment
5. Web Evaluation Checklist
6. Web Site Rubric and Tracking Form
7. Evaluation of Rubrics (give feedback to the authors)

The Instructional Plan for this module has 3 components:

• Wit Web Curriculum Project Assessment (WIT participants)
• WIT Web Lesson Plan Assessment (WIT Basic participants)
• Critical Evaluation of Web Sites (WIT and WIT Basic participants)

Wit Web Curriculum Project Assessment - It is recommended that participants in WIT have access to the Wit Web Curriculum Project Assessment from the beginning of WIT.  Take the time to discuss the Questions for Reflection section thoroughly.  Review the directions for use of the rubric and the rubric components.  If participants are working in a group, encourage them to both self and peer assess their project.  There is also a column available for the mentor's use to assess projects created by homeroom participants.  Assessment by mentors is optional!  We consider this assessment a working draft and encourage feedback from both mentors and participants.  See Evaluation at the bottom of this page for further information.

WIT Web Lesson Plan Assessment - It is recommended that participants in WIT Basic review the criteria presented in the WIT Web Lesson Plan Assessment when they are assigned to develop a web lesson.  Encourage participants to self,  peer, and group assess their lesson.   Assessment by mentors is optional!  We consider this assessment a working draft and encourage feedback from both mentors and particpants.  See Evaluation at the bottom of this page for further information.

Critical Evaluation of Web Sites  - Participants will discuss criteria that will assist in  evaluating web sites, review a checklist of these criteria, evaluate web sites using the check list, and then assign a rubric score to each web site.

Activity 1 - Ask participants to form small groups of 3 or 4.  Review and discuss the criteria listed.  Ask the groups to identify any criteria that they consider mandatory for a children's web site.  Are there any criteria that should be added to the existing list?

After about 15 minutes of discussion, bring the whole group together to share findings.

Activity 2 -  Participants may work independently or in partnerships to explore several of the web sites listed. WARNING:   Some of the sites may contain controversial material.  One of the sites is bogus:   http://147.129.1.10/library/research/AIDSFACTS.htm. They are to determine which site they would like to evaluate using the criteria reviewed in Activity 1.  Download and copy enough Web Evaluation Checklists so that participants can each make written notes about the site they chose to evaluate.  This activity may take up to an hour.  Those participants who finish early may choose to evaluate another site.    Call attention to the Notes that follow the directions for Activity 2.  (Every site does not need to meet every one of these criteria to be a great site, but the more of them a site does meet, the more likely it is to be a worthwhile place to spend time. The content on the Web changes faster than anything we have ever seen in our culture.  Therefore, in any recommended list of Web sites, the recommendations apply only to the primary sites that are listed, not to every site linked from the primary sites.)

Activity 3 -  Once particpants have evaluated one or more web sites using the given criteria, discuss scoring the entire site using a rubric.  This will enable partipants to compile a complete listing of web sites evaluated in their homeroom.   The following rubric uses a  1 - 5 point scale:

     1 - Superior      2 - Well done      3 - Helpful, functional      4 - Would rarely use      5 - Would not recommend under any circumstance

Participants count the number of Yes and No responses (there are a total of 38 questions).    A total of 38 Yes responses is a perfect score and would result in a rating of 1 or superior.   Form small groups and decide how the remainder of the rubric will be awarded.  Remember to pay attention to the mandatory  questions, if any, that were identified previously. The rubric may be applied differently depending on the various groups, however, during the whole group discussion that follows, attempt to arrive at a consensus among the particpants for the awarding of the rubric scores.  (For example:  A rating of "1" or "Superior" could be awarded to 35 - 38 points, a "2" or "Well done" to 31 - 34 points; a "3" or "Helpful, functional" to 28 - 31; and so on).   Make the point that, ideally, each participant, after reviewing and discussing the given criteria, should arrive at the same rubric score for the same web site.   Allow plenty of time for discussion during this part of the activity!   It is possible that the participants will vary widely on their ratings - developing and using rubrics effectively takes lots of practice and collaboration.  It is a skill that will improve with use.

Download enough copies of the Web Site Rubric and Tracking Form  to provide a pencil/paper record of the web sites evaluated by particpants in their homeroom OR  participants may click "edit page" , fill out the form online, and publish to their directory for a permanent copy of their homeroom's web site evaluations.

We encourage feedback from both participants and mentors as to how helpful the criteria, checklist, and rubric are in the process of evaluating web sites for children's use.  See Evaluation at the bottom of this page for further information.

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Self Assessment:  Self assessment is an integral part of the the WIT Web Curriculum Project Assesment and the WIT Web Lesson Plan Assessment.  Participants are asked to utilize the assessment tools provided for their project or lesson as well as their peers' projects and lessons.

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Evaluation: The assessment tools in this module are in the working draft stage.  As the rubrics and web evaluation checklists are put to use, both mentors and participants are asked to give feedback about the process to the authors.  The authors will then make revisions according to the feedback.  Click here for the feedback form.

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Authors:

• Ellen Dairyko
• Michelle Warden
• Christie Thomas
• Heather Meunier
• Frada Boxer (advisor)