By now you are familiar with what to look at and look for on a Web site. You are also now aware of various criteria for evaluating Web sites such as:

• the University of Wisconsin's "10 C's" (Content, Credibility, Critical Thinking, Copyright, Citations, Continuity, Censorship, Connectivity, Comparability, Context)
• Yahooligans' "Four A’s" (Accessible, Accurate, Appropriate, Appealing)
• Or your own list of criteria

To make evaluating Web sites more efficient, several tools are available such as rubrics, surveys, and checklists to assess a site’s quality. While trying out the following resources and tools, think about how a Web evaluation survey, rubric, or checklist may be used by your students when using the Internet.

Surveys, Rubrics, & Checklists

UC Berkeley offers a resource titled, Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask. This five step process can serve as a checklist while providing tricks to help you critically evaluate a Web site. There is also an activity available to help you practice your skill at evaluating Web sites.

Kathy Schrock provides three different Critical Evaluation Surveys to meet the needs of students at the Elementary, Middle, and Secondary levels. The surveys are available online as well as in PDF so that they can be easily printed.

A third resource for evaluating Web sites is from CyberBee. CyberBee has two WWW CyberGuides, one for evaluating content and the other for Web site design. CyberBee also offers a "Website Investigator" that young students can use for evaluating Web sites.

Finally, Owens Library at Northwest Missouri State University offers a short checklist for Evaluating Websites: PART of the Research Process with four criteria including purpose, authority, reliability, and timeliness.

While many Web site evaluation tools encourage reflection while completing the survey or checklist, other Internet-based tools provide results based on your input. Evaluating Web sites is especially important when looking for certain kinds of information such as health or medical information. Health Summit Working Group created the Information Quality (IQ) Tool to evaluate the quality of health and medical Web sites. This online survey takes the data you enter to create a "Summary of responses" with percentages showing the question weight, score, and explanation. What are other ways that students can "check" a Web site evaluation survey or checklist?

Create Your Own Evaluation Tool

Now that you are familiar with the criteria that you and your students will use for evaluating various Web sites and you have seen examples of tools and resources that are available for easy Web site evaluation, the next step is to create your own tool that will help you and your students in the evaluation process. Begin by considering your audience or the age and skill level of your students. Next, think about whether you would like your students to use a survey (typically Yes/No format), a checklist, or a rubric. Also, think about how the evaluation tool can be "checked" to provide feedback on a Web site.

You may consider creating a Web Page Evaluation Comparison Worksheet for your students to use as a guide for comparing two Web sites that focus on the same topic. This activity will help your students to see how Web sites differ and why some are better than others. You may use this activity as a template for creating a checklist or survey appropriate for your students. Remember to also provide a way for students to check their survey or checklist. Students may also work in pairs to evaluate Web sites and discuss their results together. This may also be done with a rubric. Use the following rubric as a template for creating a Web Site Evaluation Rubric for your students.