Background

Evaluation of educational web sites is a subject area that has not had a lot of published research. With the enormous amount of information and web sites available on the Internet, teachers may feel overwhelmed when it comes to evaluating web sites. There are many general web sites that outline basic standards for evaluating Internet information; however, as teachers, we believe that an educational web site and its information need to be given a specific set of criteria for evaluation.

Criteria are defined as consisting of characterizing marks or traits, standards on which a decision or judgment may be based, identifying indications and/or a basis of discrimination (Encarta Reference, 2001). In using the word criteria, we are referring of the standards that help us, as teachers, to determine whether an educational web site is valuable. Thus, the use of the word criteria is necessary to accurately judge educational web sites. Our criteria will be a concise guideline of identifiers that will enable viewers to critically examine educational web sites.

Teachers need to be meticulous in their evaluation of web sites because they will be passing on web site information to impressionable young minds. Anyone is capable of publishing educational materials on the Internet (Media Awareness Network, 2000). But, there is one resounding difference between educational materials published on the Internet and educational materials found in more traditional sources such as journals and textbooks. Materials found in journals and textbooks have been meticulously scrutinized for credibility and accuracy. But, Internet resources are often not subject to such scrutiny.

Educators also rely on the educational web site to work technically in the classroom. Misinformation and technical difficulties can cause a great deal of distress for not only the students but for the teachers as well. For this reason, Content, Credibility, and Currency are the major issues educators should focus on when examining educational web sites. Design and Accessibility/Usability the major issues educators should focus on when examining the technical aspects of educational web sites.

Many of the criteria outlined in other sites (Kapoun, 1998; Edwards, 1998; Jacobson & Cohen, 1996) can be included when evaluating educational web sites; however, we must look at these criteria in a different way. We must screen the criteria as educators first and foremost. Our only priority in determining whether the criteria fit, is whether they promote education and learning.

We relied a great deal on our own expertise as teachers and on the information provided on the Internet because there has been very little actual research done in the area of educational web site evaluation. According to Trochim "There is a remarkable absence of studies that examine how Web Sites are conceptualized, developed, and implemented, or that look at the effects of their use. In the haste to construct the World Wide Web we have simply not had the time to evaluate and reflect on how this technology is being accomplished and the effects it is having on the way we live, perform in our jobs, and interact with our environment" (1996, p.1). Furthermore, because this paper will be a study of online information as an educational resource, we felt that using Internet references was very relevant and necessary. Even though the information provided by this paper could be useful in evaluating any type of web site, its specific purpose will be the evaluation of the content and technical aspects of online educational resources. The following definitions and criteria will give you a basic checklist to evaluate educational web sites. We encourage you to use our ideas or modify them to fit your particular needs. The criteria will help you separate the informative, accurate and well-designed educational web sites from the uninformative, inaccurate and poorly designed educational web sites.

For our purposes, the term technical aspects will refer to the processes that control a person's ability to access content. Presenting information appropriately and accurately in an easy to navigate manner is the key to successful information transfer/retrieval over the Internet.