Running Head: Website Evaluation Rubric

A Website Evaluation Rubric

A rather helpful exercise for teachers
By Prof. Jonathan Acua Solano
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Twitter: @jonacuso
Post 181

How often do we recommend a website to a colleague or student to visit and

practice class content on it? This could be usual or not that often depending on your
teaching environment. But what has happened to me a couple times is that my partners
report that the content of the webpage I thought was good was not that extraordinary
and that it included lots of mistakes and that pictures were not exactly convenient.
Though, -I must confess-, it never occurred to me to sit down and write a kind of website

evaluation rubric, it was in a technology course dealing with virtual environments with
Prof. Fressy Aguilar at Universidad Latina in Costa Rica that all participants were
requested to create such rubric to help ourselves to differentiate good sites from those
that are not exactly that accurate.
In order to produce a website evaluation rubric, Prof. Aguilar provided us with
three guides to assess the content of material for educational purposes. On the one hand
course participants had to review A Framework for Evaluating the Quality of Multimedia

Learning Resources (Leacock & Nesbit, 2007), and on the other hand, we were also
provided with Evaluation and Selection of Learning Resources: A Guide (Prince Edward
Island Department of Education, 2008) and Evaluating, Selecting and Acquiring Learning

Website Evaluation Rubric

Resources: A Guide (ERAC Educational Resource Acquisition Consortium, 2008). These

three documents are fully connected to the evaluation of resources for education, but not
exclusively linked to evaluating the content of webpages. These guides lead you through
the evaluation of resources in all fields, from written ones to electronically produced ones.
What seems to be the problem with these guides? None! However, these guides
are not necessarily attached to the evaluation of websites where educators can download
material for their language learners, content students, and so on. These sites actually
deal with all sorts of materials that may include flashcards to PDF documents that can be
downloaded from the web as ready-made handouts for pupils. So when instructors
encounter these kinds of guides produced by individuals or by companies that help
teachers to get a better understanding of how to evaluate educational resources in
general terms, it is unavoidable to start thinking that perhaps the production of ones
rubrics to assess webpage content is a necessity.
How can these website evaluation rubrics be produced? To start with, it is
mandatory to have clearly in ones mind what it is that one is looking for in a website:
handouts?, flashcards?, online interactive practices?, lesson plans to deal with a given
topic?, etc. Having these things precisely identified, one can start creating an evaluation
rubric with the criteria one considers the most relevant for what is needed. It is up to the
rubric creator to use an analytic or holistic one. Whatever suits one best is ideal.
There is no such thing as the perfect rubric, but the more it can be elaborated and
precise, the better. Criteria need to be fully detailed and highly wrought; this thorough
elaboration of descriptors can help the rubric user to really find fulfilling results when it
comes to look for the perfect website to obtain material for ones class or lesson. It is
indeed fundamental that teachers review the quality of material that is downloaded from
educational webpages. That is, it is no just to see the layout of the website, but also
the content that is shared to verify that is accurate and suitable for ones needs.

Designed by Prof. Jonathan Acua

Website Evaluation Rubric

3
Sample Website Evaluation Rubric

Websites Name
URL http:
Type of Material in site

Points Obtained

Final Grade

Date of Assessment
Dear teacher, the following rubric was created to help you decide whether webpages or materials that you find online are suitable
for your teaching purposes or not. Carefully read it. And then apply it to a webpage that you find and that you believe can be
helpful for your teaching.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Appropriate support materials are provided on the Website that can

contribute to achieve lesson learning objectives and tasks.
Instructions are clear and easy to follow.
Visual design of materials is interesting and easy to navigate. It
enhances the appropriate use of materials by both students and
teachers as well.
A variety type of materials are used to support and represent
different areas of language study. The illustrations used on the
Website are used to fully represent the content of material.
The material found in website uses effective typographic design in
the main body of text, captions, indices, diagrams, and the like.
Information is well labeled and easy to spot.
Layout of Webpage is logical and consistent. The material is wellorganized, consistent, and predictable fashion. Individual subpages
are laid out in logical, uncluttered fashion.
Users can easily employ the resource. Teachers can easily and
clearly identify the pace and difficulty levels. Prerequisites are
identified. Instructions on tasks are provided, too.
Resources found in the website are suitable for a wide range of
learning/teaching styles. Materials found in webpage are flexible in
their in-class/blended learning application.
The resources found on webpage promote student engagement.
The resources incorporate aids to make it accessible for learners.
They incorporate hierarchical thinking.
The suggested methodology found on website and its resources
promotes active learning. Critical thinking, research skills, problem
solving, and/or group decision-making are present.
Materials displayed or found on website are well-organized and
structured. Information is presented logically and suited to the
subject and objectives underlying it.

Always

Usually

Sometimes

Often

Never

Areas to Work on to Make Materials Better for your Purposes

Include your observations here.

Teachers Comments

Designed by Prof. Jonathan Acua

Website Evaluation Rubric

Sample Website Evaluation Rubric Tryout with TES

Click picture to see the video presentation

References
ERAC Educational Resource Acquisition Consortium. (2008). Evaluating, Selecting and
Acquiring Learning Resources: A Guide. ERAC.
Leacock, T., & Nesbit, J. (2007). A Framework for Evaluating the Quality of Multimedia
Learning Resources. Educational Technology & Society, (2)(10), 44.59.
Prince Edward Island Department of Education. (2008). Evaluation and Selection of
Learning Resources: A Guide. Charlottetown: Prince Edward Island.

Designed by Prof. Jonathan Acua