On this page you will find resources for the workshop activity 'evaluating information'.
| Introduction | What to do |
| List of sites to be evaluated | Evaluation pro-forma (.doc file to download) |
| Further information on evaluating resources | Links to sources of evaluated resources |
Introduction
The activity below is designed to help you evaluate web-based resources for use in your classroom. In it, you are asked to evaluate the content and style of the information on some Internet sites and then compare your evaluations with those of others.
What to do
Your task is to evaluate two of the sites on the 'Links' page (on a topic that interests you) using the attached pro-forma which you can download as a Word document. (My suggestion for use is that you open it on your machine, fill it in on-line and then print). You should then be prepared to discuss both your evaluations and how the evaluation form might be adapted to make it more valuable in evaluating science-specific sites.
Further information on evaluating resources
For on-line tutorials on evaluating web pages you could go to a number of sites, including those by Mantex and the Social Science Information Gateway. While these are not science-specific they do set out sensible questions to ask of a site.
Colorado University has produced a useful introduction to a typography of web pages. This considers the different purposes (e.g. advocacy, informational) for which web pages are written and provides a guide to recognising these. This could be very useful were your students to be searching the net for information on topical issues - e.g. the environment or .
Links to sources of evaluated resources
Web sites:
the Association for Science Education
has a review
of websites related to science education.
Commercial and other
multimedia software:
the National Grid for Learning (on
which you could register)
has a software review database
(maintained by Becta)
for curriculum subjects
the TEEM project also maintains
reviews of commercial multimedia software.
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This page is maintained by Tim Brosnan. Please send any comments to: t.brosnan@ioe.ac.uk. - Last updated on 22nd May 2002