Evaluating Websites

For our 1st practical work, we were asked to to choose a set of criteria and apply these criteria to evaluate two websites per group: one that can be used as a resource for the teacher as a materials designer and another one that presents digital resources that can be directly used in the classroom. I would like to give you some information about this topic.
I remember that when I was at secondary school we had to search information about certain topics and the first thing we did was to type the words in Google. The first result that came up was the one we chose. Sometimes, the site you choose is not the best or has incorrect information. It even happened to one of my friends once, that she included information in a practical work that was not true. Of course, she didn't know the information was fake. She didn't pass the practical work because of that.

Here are some useful criteria proposed by The University of Lesley on Evaluating Websites. Each of these criteria provides you with questions you can use to evaluate websites. 

• Purpose
• Authority
• Objectivity
• Appropriateness
• Currency
• Responsibility
• Clarity
• Accessibility

I think it is very important for us teachers to make students aware of the fact that some information posted on the internet is not reliable and that there are some sources more reliable than others. The most important thing we have to do is to check if the information we are giving to our students is true or not.  

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