Rubric for Classmate's Webquest

Here is the web address I used for my rubric:

https://sites.google.com/site/shellsilversteinwebquest/home 

Criteria	Accomplished (3)	Developing (2)	Beginning (1)	Score & Comments
Introduction	Engagingly describes a compelling question or problem.	A question or problem is described.	The purpose of the WebQuest is unclear.	2  I would have gone into a little more detail on the introduction.
Task	Task is doable and engaging, and is connected to learning in the real world. It elicits thinking that goes beyond rote comprehension.	The task is doable and elicits higher order thinking but is not relevant to students lives.	Task requires simply comprehending or retelling of information found on web pages and answering factual questions.	3 The task is stately clearly.
Process Checklist	Every step is clearly stated. Most students would know exactly where they are at each step of the process and know what to do next.	Some directions are given, but there is missing information. Students might be confused.	Every step is clearly stated. Most students would know exactly where they are at each step of the process and know what to do next.	3 However, the task is written in the form where the teacher would be reading it.
Resources	There is a clear and meaningful connection between all the resources and the information needed for students to accomplish the task.	There is some connection between the resources and the information needed for students to accomplish the task. Some resources don't add anything new.	Resources provided are not sufficient for students to accomplish the task.	3 Good examples of resources.
Formative Assessment	Webquest begins with a formative assessment that assess student understanding of content outlined in CSO.	Formative assessment comes close in assessing student understanding of content outlined in CSO.	Formative assessment does not directly assess student understanding of content outlined in CSO.	3 Good job on the webquest. I think students would have fun with this lesson.
Evaluation	Criteria for success are clearly stated in the form of a rubric. Criteria include qualitative as well as quantitative descriptors.	Criteria for success are clearly stated in the form of a rubric. Criteria include qualitative as well as quantitative descriptors.	Criteria for success are not described.	3 This is a successful webquest!
Visual Appeal	Appropriate and thematic graphic elements are used to make visual connections that contribute to the understanding of concepts, ideas and relationships.	Graphic elements sometimes, but not always, contribute to the understanding of concepts, ideas and relationships.	Color is garish and/or typographic variations are overused and legibility suffers. Background interferes with the readability.	3 Good use of illustrations from the author’s books. I like the color scheme.
Navigation	Navigation is seamless. It is always clear to the learner what all the pieces are and how to get to them.	There are a few places where the learner can get lost and not know where to go next.	There are more than 5 broken links, misplaced or missing images, badly sized tables, misspellings and/or grammatical errors.	3 Navigation seems relatively simple.

Web Quest Evaluation

I was the technophile.

WebQuest	Strengths	Weaknesses
Gorillas	Bright colors, good web sources, links in different color.	I would have like to see more interactive links. Maybe finding a webcam that observes some gorillas, or have sound bits through out the website. There was no standards on the teacher page. There was also not of interaction for the students. If they were going to use this site, they would have to use paper and pencil to write things down.
Shakespeare	Fascinating links, bright colors, encouraging students to use powerpoint to combine information they found; standards visible on the teacher page, good variation of pictures	I would have liked to see maybe a few examples of students work on the teacher page.
Earthquake	The strengths on this website is that there are plenty of links for the students to use for research and such.	I would have liked to have seen maybe a program on the website where the students could see a video of building structures and/or a program they could use to make a visual model of their building.
Foreign Country	The students get involved in researching a country, collaborating the information, and putting that information into a powerpoint. It also helps the students work on their persuasive voice, because they are playing the role of “travel agent”.	I think the way the web quest is set up, it gives the illusion that this would not be a great group exercise. However, with some thought, they could divide the information categories amongst their peers.
Waves & Sound	I liked this website a lot. I think there is a variety of pictures and a good setup.	I would like to see a change in the color scheme. I think if there some bright colors mixed it, it would help the kids focus on the task.

Wikipedia in the classroom?

Last week, my instructional tech class had a lesson on Wikipedia. With the information that has been presented about this online encyclopedia, I am still on the fence about allowing students to use Wikipedia. Even though there are ways to make sure this site is credible, there is still a chance that students could possibly end up with false information.

If I were to use Wikipedia in the classroom, I would show them how to make sure information is credible. I would not suggest to them to use it as research.

Wiki... WHAT?

a. What is Wikipedia?
Wikipedia is a multilingual, Web-based encyclopedia project, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profi organization.

b. How would you answer the question posed in this piece “How reliable can a source be when anyone can edit it?”?
Many people have different views on how reliable a source is when anyone can edit it. The person looking for the specific information should always cross reference the information.

c. Who do the creators of Wikipedia place their trust in when it comes to weeding out misinformation?
The owners of Wikipedia put their trust in the "wisdom of crowds," believing that by having many people watching what appears there, errors and vandalism will be weeded out, sooner than later.

d. Why did founder Larry Sanger leave Wikipedia?
Larry Sanger left Wikipedia because he believed that experts of these many topics should have more authority.
e. What would abuse or vandalism look like on a Wikipedia page?
Abuse of vandalism on Wikipedia would look like false information.

f. What do the statistics quoted in the third paragraph of this piece reveal?
With Wikipedia publishing their 2,000,000th article and being translated in 280 languages, it shows that Wikipedia is one of the fastest growing and most popular forms of research in the world.

g. Why do you think Wikipedia is so successful?
I think Wikipedia is so successful because of it's wide range of topics and the fact that it is in so many languages. It allows for more people to use it to look up many different things.

h. Why might Wikipedia’s creators not want to accept advertising?
They don't want to clutter up the website with ads.

i. How does Wikiscanner help increase the reliability of Wikipedia entries?
It allows the workers of Wikipedia to check the IP addresses of anonymous editors of the site to make sure they are credible sources.

Dog Island... not real!

Dog island

View more presentations from Erin McDaniel.

The Dog Island.... Is it true?

We are doing an activity where we have to evaluate a website and see if it is a credible website. I chose to evaluate the website on "Dog Island".

Name of page: Dog Island Free Forever
Address/URL: http://thedogisland.com/
Date Accessed: April 1, 2011
How did you find the page: My teacher had a list of websites for us to choose.
What is the domain: .com
Do you feel the domain type helps add or lessen the page's crediblity? I feel the .com domain lessens the credibility because since it is a .com domain that means anyone could have created this website.

There appears to be no author on the main page of the website, but I did however find a name Soong Lee, who is the director of Import.

There is a contact Dog Island page on the website, with some pretty crazy email addresses.
I don't know how I feel about the author being qualified to present the information on the website. From reading the bios of the different people assoicated with the website, I don't think they have very much experience or training with dogs.

From the information that has been presented and the fact that the same information changes throughout the website, I don't think this is a very credible website.

Results from Survey

Here is the results from the classroom survey!