Guidelines for Reviewing Websites

Here are some great guidelines for reviewing websites from Gorski, P. (2001). Multicultural Education and the Internet: Intersections and Integrations. Boston, MA: McGraw Hill as posted at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. Your position papers should be one page of smart single-spaced writing free of typos. When you evaluate websites choose from some of the themes listed below and try to apply some of the questions that are most relevant to the website you have chosen. These questions are nicely phrased because they should prompt you to give a critical evaluation of the website.

Themes	Questions
Relevance and Appropriateness	Is the site's content relevant to your needs? Is the Web medium appropriate and necessary for you needs? Is the target age group clearly indicated and consistent with the age range of your students? Are the mission and the scope of the site clearly indicated and relevant to your purposes? Are graphic images appropriate for your student's age group? Is the content timely and updated reasonably often?
Credibility	Is the author of the site clearly indicated? Is the author's experience in the content area sufficient? Is the site author and/or sponsor a known entity? Is there evidence of quality control? Is the site or site author affiliated with an identified educational organization?
Bias Identification	Does the site include a statement about the author or sponsoring organization that helps identify potential bias? Is the site authored or sponsored by some person or organization with a known position regarding the content? If not, is their position clearly stated? Is the primary purpose of the site commercial, and if so, how might this interest be informing content? Does the site include forums for users to discuss its content and present divergent perspectives?
Accuracy	Does the site contain obvious content errors or omissions? If information on the site is time-sensitive, is it routinely updated to incorporate new and follow-up information? Does the site provide or invite diverse perspectives, or does it rely on a tightly defined single view for understanding its topic? Are sources within the site clearly cited?
Accessibility	Is the site free of coding bugs? Does the site load reasonably fast? Is the author or sponsoring organization accessible to answer your questions, or your students, via email or online from? Is contact information provided for the sponsoring organization? Does the site take into consideration the differently-abled students
Navigability	Is the site organization intuitive? Is the necessity of scrolling kept to a minimum? Is navigation simple and obvious? Are navigation bars provided to allow us to jump to different places within the site?
Multiculturalism	Does the site use a variety of media and to effectively engage students with varying learning styles? Does the site encourage interaction between author and user or among users? Does the site encourage participation and users through intercultural interactive or collaborative opportunities? Does the site invite critical examination of divergent perspectives through interactive forums or online evaluation instruments? Does the site provide voice to other perspectives through links or other connections? Is the site free of material that may be oppressive to one or more groups of students?