Tuesday 25 August 2009

re Autonomy and Evaluation

I'd like to share my initial thought when I saw the list Alex posted. I'll try and comment in more detail at a later time.
In all honesty, the points Alex makes do make a lot of sense to me, but when I look at a website, my criteria for evaluating it (i.e. guessing if it could be of any use to students or myself) are much more limited. Maybe they shouldn't, but what I look for in a website is whether it is user-friendly or not. By that I mean whether the features make sense to me or not, whether it is challenging or inviting to use the website. Now that is in terms of usability/accessiblity. If I don't find my way around, I would not really expect my students to do so.
Another important point of course is the content. Are there any mistakes? Are the comments (given there is a discussion board) sensible/accurate? What type of activities does it allow for? Is it the old gap-fill or is there more to it? Are there any explanations or solely language exercises? Is there an option for exchange (e.g. forum/discussion board)? Would I like using this website? Why/why not? Do I think the activities are simply good - why/why not?
I hope this makes sense, as I am only issuing another list of possible criteria. What I am trying to say is that it seems to me that my evaluation of learning-related web content is a quite more subjective than Alex's approach. I don't think that makes mine a bad approach, but it is certainly worth a thought coming from another angle next time I find a new, or visit an old, website.
There, my first impulse.

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