Website Evaluation AssignmentEDP 601Fall 2012Katie Burkhart, Cong Cong, Su Jin, & Lauren Smallwood

WebsitesAll literacy-based websitesRanging from Early Childhood, to

Young Adult, to Multicultural/Multilingual College Students

www.starfall.com (Early Childhood)

http://www.educationworld.com/ (Young Adult)

http://www.duke.edu/web/eis/ International students

www.starfall.comEarly Childhood based (free to

public)◦Preschool-2nd Grade◦ELLs◦Special Education◦Home Schooled

Content Area (Phonemic Awareness)◦Letter Identification & Knowledge◦Emergent Reading

AudiencePreschoolKindergarten1st grade2nd gradeEnglish Language developingHome schooled

CreditabilityDeveloped by a husband and

wife◦Husband struggled with literacy as a

childWife has professional educational

experienceHusband has a PhD in PhysicsJoined with a group of educators

to create websiteLacks biographies of educators

AccuracyWritten in proper English,

following all grammatical, conventional English language rules

Pronunciation is also correct◦In young child’s voice

Aligned with current expectations of students

CoverageContent is aligned with state

standards for the intended age groups

Starting with phonemic awareness to emergent reading

CurrencyDeveloped in 2002Added Kindergarten Reading and

Language Arts Curriculum in 2009

Compatible with various internet services

Aesthetic/Visual AppealKid friendlyFree of adsPrimary colors

◦Aides in comprehensionHome page is rather basic

NavigationHome page clearly states

intended content areas‘Home Page’ button present on

all links within website◦Rather small

Possibly a good thing?

AccessibilityVarious internet servicesAble to bookmark pageAble to create shortcut to

desktop

http://www.educationworld.com/Includes:

- original content- lesson plans, practical information for educators- information on how to integrate technology in the

classroom- articles written by education experts- Web site reviews- special features and columns- employment listings.

Is a Free resource for Educators

AudienceTeachers of all genre, No specific grade level listed Has nifty ideas for lessons It’s more the teacher perusing the

internet for interesting things to do in their classrooms.

Able to look at the specific courses but not grade level.

It’s written by teachers for teachers.

AccuracyThe information is only as

accurate as the educator that posts the information.

The information is completely the opinion of the author.

Coverageit is implied as to what the is

“teacher’s best friend.” the website covers a little bit of everything there are some really good topics and there are some duds but to find the good ones you have sift through all the other stuff. The website has links to other websites that could be helpful.

Aesthetics Appeal The website is a aesthetically

pleasing purple. They use a sliding bar to draw

your attention to specific topics. Use of clip art to enhance the

pages.

NavigationThe navigation is meandering. Have to look around and explore

the website when you click on something you don’t know exactly what you’re going to get.

I clicked on a link and was presented with a hodgepodge of articles.

Frequently you’re more than three clicks away, sometimes more like 6-8

http://www.duke.edu/web/eis/Shared by duke UniversityRank top in GoogleUseful tools for second language

learners

Audience

international students

Coveragesupport the academic life of

international studentsoral communication and

academic writing both are basic and useful skills

Aesthetic Appealdark blue background, the whole

website looks clearly and identifiable

three major link set using different color

Accuracyprofessional introduction about

the online tests and courseslinks about authorized

documents and basic requirement

updated in a timely manner

Navigationlink of three major programsa list of users’ original

nationalities; occupy spaces.access about graduate schools; not available for users who outside Duke. no website map