|
PAGE 1 |
DOCUMENT User Responses to Recommended Sites |
VERSION 1 |
Version 1.0
Project Number: LB-5604/C
Workpackage 01/D1.3
Confidentiality: Internal
Number of pages:
Date: 7th. December 1999
Co-ordinator: Author:
Ian Everall, Diane
Dixon,
Public Library Services Manager Dublin Corporation
Public Libraries,
Walsall Public Libraries, Cumberland
House,
Lichfield Street, Fenian
Street,
Walsall, Dublin
2,
West Midlands, WS1 1TR, Ireland.
United Kingdom
PAGE
2 |
DOCUMENT User Responses to Recommended Sites |
VERSION 1 |
Introduction P.
3
Evaluation sheet P.
3
Commencement of evaluation process P. 3
Pilot phase, Dublin P.
4
Pilot phase, Walsall P.
5
Qualitative evaluation P.
7
Total number of evaluations P.10
Review / evaluation P.11
Conclusion P.11
Appendices:
1)
Children’s evaluation sheet
2)
Adult evaluation sheet
3)
Portuguese version of the evaluation sheet
PAGE
3 |
DOCUMENT Users Responses to Recommended Sites |
VERSION 1 |
Users responses to
recommended web sites
The catalogue of web sites for the Hercule project was developed over a number of months during 1999. The education curriculum topics of the three partner countries, England, Portugal and Ireland were examined and the areas of education and the environment were identified as common to all partners and fitting in well with the project profile. The catalogue was broken down into the following eight sections:
1)
General environmental web sites
2)
Irish environmental web sites
3)
Irish education web sites
4)
English environmental web sites
5)
English education web site
6)
Portuguese environmental web sites
7)
Portuguese education web sites
8)
General education / information web sites
These sections allow ease of access to the catalogue,
and make web sites identifiable for users of the catalogue. The catalogue was
posted on the HERCULE web site in October and is now available to everyone for
use.
It was decided that
the most appropriate time to evaluate the sites was with the children during
term time when they were visiting the library with their class and working on
the project. A draft evaluation form was produced and sent to the librarians to
assess and pilot. A number of the questions were identified as not being
“child-friendly” due to the format used. This was revised and a final
evaluation sheet produced with fewer questions and a using simpler form of
wording. The typeface was also changed to make the evaluations sheet look more
“user friendly”.
Commencement of Evaluation Process
During the half term break
in October, children in Ballyfermot Library, Dublin evaluated a number of
sites. They were given a list of sites to choose from and wrote a number of
comments about each site. In early November, children in Darlaston Library,
Walsall engaged in a process of early evaluation. The responses and evaluations
received from the two partners formed the core for a list of 12 sites that were
then circulated to the three partner libraries with requests for evaluation
from children, teachers and librarians.
|
PAGE 4 |
DOCUMENT Users Responses to
Recommended Web sites |
VERSION 1 |
The sites chosen represent
all the sections in the catalogue and covered the partner countries. Two
evaluation sheets were produced one for the children and one for the teachers
and librarians. The questions and language differed slightly on the evaluation
sheets. A target of 70 – 100 evaluation sheets was set between the three
partners, with children, teachers and librarians evaluating the chosen sites.
A total of 111 evaluations
have been received, thus exceeding the target. This response is intended to
form a base from which on-going evaluations of the web-sites listed in the
catalogue will commence. It is proposed that the evaluations of the web sites
will be posted on the Hercule site.
Children in
Ballyfermot Library evaluated a number of sites during mid-term break at the
end of October. These were randomly selected by the librarians and therefore
the concentration was on Irish sites and general education / environmental
sites. The children were given a sheet, listing the web names and addresses and
asking the following questions:
“Visit
these web-sites and tell us what you think about them. Do you like the
pictures? Are they fun? Would they help you with your homework? Would you visit
any of these web-sites again and if so why?”
Amazon Interactive http://www.eduweb.com/amazon.html
Ask Jeeves for Kids http://www.ajkids.com
Dublin Zoo http://www.dublinzoo.ie
E-aquarium, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Online http://www.mbayaq.org
Earth Savers http://www.nwf.org/kids
Family Education http://familyeducation.com
Fota Wildlife Park http://www.fotawildlife.ie
The Globe Program http://www.globe.gov
Internet Kids Notebook http://ireland-now.com/kidsonly
National School Geography http://www.topstudy.com/tutor.htm
Wild Ireland http://www.wildireland.ie
The Wild Ones http://www.thewildones.org
10 children filled
in comments about the sites. These children were between the ages of 8 – 11
years. Due to the design of the sheet the comments are very general. Of the
sites evaluated by the children the comments ranged as follows:
Ask
Jeeves for Kids – 4
children looked at this site
– Comments:
“excellent” / “used it to ask a question” / “very good”
Dublin
Zoo 4
children looked at this site
– Comments: “difficult to use” (need flash downloads),
“liked the pictures of the orangutanges” /
“I give it marks 8 out of 10”
|
PAGE 5 |
DOCUMENT Users Responses to Recommended Sites |
VERSION 1 |
E-aquarium,
the Monterey Bay Aquarium 5
children looked at this site
– Comments: “brilliant” / “very good”/ “lots of
information on the weather etc” / “the animals were harmless”
Family
Education – 2 children looked at this site
– Comments: “very good”
Fota
Wildlife Park - 1 child
looked at this site but did not comment
Internet
Kids Notebook 1 child looked at this site
- Comment: “very good”
Wild
Ireland – 3 children looked at this site
– Comments: “good for information on animals” / “helps
with homework”
The
Wild Ones 4
children looked a this site
– Comments “I like it because it teaches me” / “it is
interesting” / “very good”
The children of T.P. Riley
School, Bloxwich evaluated a number of web sites on 10th. November.
The children are aged 11 & 12 years. They used the project evaluation
sheet, but looked at a wider range of web sites. The sites evaluated are:
Amigos de la Tierra (Friends of the Earth) http://www.tierra.org
Earth Savers http://www.nwf.org/kids/
Eduweb http://www.eduweb.co.uk
The Jason Project http://www.jasonproject.org
Lisbon Zoo http://www.zoolisboa.com
Planet Ark http://www.planetark.com
Walsall Council http://walsall.gov.uk
Walsall Local History http://www.walsall.gov.uk/cultural_services/lhc/cstm
Comments on the sites visited:
Amigos
de la Tierra – 1 child looked at this site, comments
Q. Would you use it for your homework? “Yes, because
it gives you information”
Q. What is the best thing about the site? “You can
learn how to talk Spanish”
Q. Would you look at the site again? “Yes, because it
is interesting”
|
PAGE 6 |
DOCUMENT Users Responses to
Recommended Web sites |
VERSION 1 |
Earth
Savers – 2 children looked at this site, comment
Q. What is the best things about the site? “The
pictures”
Q. Would you visit the site again? “No, because it has
got too much writing”
Q. Would you look at the site again? “Yes, it looks good”
Lisbon
Zoo – 2 children looked at this site, comment
Q. What is the best thing about the site? “There’s
pictures”
Planet
Ark – 1 child looked at this site, comments
Q. What is the best thing about the site? “Pictures”
Q. Would you look at the site again? “Yes, because it
was very good to look at”
Q. Would you use the site for homework? “Yes, because of the explorer”
Q. What is the best thing about the site? “Because its has leisure and
sports”
Q. Would you look at the site again? “Yes, because of the games”
Walsall
Local History – 2 children looked at this site, comment:
Q. Would you look at the site again? “No, the site is
boring”
The
Wild Ones – 2 children looked at this site, comments:
Q. What is the best thing about the site? “Pictures
and information”
PAGE
7 |
DOCUMENT
Users Responses to Recommended Sites |
VERSION
1 |
In Ballyfermot Library, 36 evaluations of the selected web sites were carried out by 16 children, 3 librarians and 1 teacher in Ballyfermot Library, The children also evaluated some sites that were not on the specific list.
United
Kingdom
In Darlaston Library, 21 evaluations of the selected web sites were carried out by 27 children from T.P. Riley School and the Darlaston Community School. The children were aged 11 – 12 years.
A total of 111 evaluations of 12 selected web sites were carried out by 58 people in the three partner countries. The sites evaluated are the following:
Good starting point for general information. Easy to use. Suitable for
basic factual information.
|
PAGE 8 |
DOCUMENT Users Responses to Recommended Sites |
VERSION 1 |
Ask Jeeves for Kids (cont.)
For more in-depth coverage, other sites would
be better.
-
Good links to appropriate sites / best thing about the site is the
format of asking questions.
-
Information is a bit small to read
Children’s comments
Q. – Would you use it for homework? Yes, because you can ask questions
/ to get questions answered / it is packed with information, you just ask a
question and it gives you an answer.
Q. – What is the best thing about the site? You can ask lots of
questions (this was also the reason given why they would use the site again)/
the way it is laid out / it has games
Q. – Would you use the site again?
Yes it was funny / I like doing it / it’s good to look at
-
nice and pleasant / useful information
-
Interesting site, very complete information on this subject. Easy to
navigate – useful for tourist
Information
Children’s comments
Q. Would you use it for your homework? Yes, for homework on water
Q. What is the best thing about the site? The content
Q. Would you use the site again? Yes, for water information
E- aquarium, The Monterey
Bay Aquarium comments by librarians
-
interesting kids zone
-
best thing about the site is the careers guide and glossary
-
good information, well laid out, attractive
-
as well as information on the aquarium and its exhibits, there’s detailed
information on all the species and also the scientists involved in the project
(who can be e-mailed) A very impressive and professional site.
Lisboa Zoo comments by librarians
-
nice and pleasant / contains all the information about animals and zoos
-
very good links to other sites
-
not much on the site in English, but good links to English language
sites
-
would not look at the site again unless wanted to access links (Irish
reviewer)
-
very dull site. Only basic information on animals and history of the zoo.
No English version available
-
attractive and well done, good colour and easy to navigate
Children’s comment
- The best thing about the
site is the pictures of the animals and the zoo’s history
|
PAGE 9 |
DOCUMENT Users Responses to Recommended Sites |
VERSION 1 |
Portugal’s History
- lack of English version do
not make it useful for those outside Portugal (Irish librarian)
- It is interesting and
educational, attractive and very well done (Portuguese librarian)
Scoil Net comments by librarians
-
good stuff for kids and teens
- the site is improving
gradually – very good source for education links
- It is fundamental to know
some of the history
Vasco de Gama Aquarium comments
-
useful information
-
(Irish children would not use it again because of the lack of English)
Walsall Local History comments by librarians
-
important information about Walsall’s history
-
the site is very clearly laid-out and a good example of a local history
site. The information is very specific to the area though and only of interest
to local historians
Children’s comments
Q. Would you use it for homework? Yes, for history
Wild Ireland comments by librarians / teachers
-
very complete information / very useful for project work
-
good to know more about Ireland’s wildlife
-
best thing about the site is the screen savers and specific information
on species
Children’s comments
- The information is too
small to read
Q.
What is the best thing about the site? the pictures, that go with the
writing (reason given why they would use it again)
|
PAGE 10 |
DOCUMENT Users Responses to Recommended Sites |
VERSION 1 |
The Wild Ones comments by librarians
-
relevant information about wildlife
-
very detailed information presented in a very easy to follow way,
geared to children
Children’s comments
Q. What is the best thing about the site? The site is very educational
/ good / “very cool” / it’s about animals / the links to other sites are good
and easy to open
World Wildlife Fund comments by librarians
- lack of information to help
children with their curriculum
-
easy to locate information on environment, endangered species etc.
-
too much information for one visit, so would need to use again
Q. What is the best thing about the site? “The pictures of animals /
it’s clever / it’s up to date / interesting and tells you a lot”
- Interesting from
statistical studies and comparisons
- Useful if
no other up to date source of information is available. Most of the information
was from one book – “CIA World Factfinder 1998”, would prefer other sources to
be used.
Ask Jeeves for Kids 18
British Waterways 5
E-Aquarium, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Online 6
Lisbon Zoo 10
Portugal’s history 8
Scoil Net 5
Vasco da Gama Aquarium 8
Walsall Local History 5
Wild Ireland 14
The Wild Ones 12
World Wildlife Fund 16
Your Nation 4
____
TOTAL
NUMBER OF EVALUATIONS 111
|
PAGE 11 |
DOCUMENT User Responses to Recommended Sites |
VERSION 1 |
Review / Evaluation
Overall people were
happy with the links from the chosen sites to other sites. They felt that they
were relevant to the subject and easy to identify. The sites loaded quickly,
were clearly laid out and easy to navigate around. Most of the type face styles
and backgrounds were clear and so the site was easy to read and the majority of
sites include sound / graphics or video content
It is intended to post evaluations on the Hercule web site and to grade the sites with some form of star rating. One librarian commented that the children enjoyed being asked their opinions of the sites and it helped them feel part of the project. The most popular sites were the ones with animal and geographical content. The children tended to stay with these sites longer than other sites. They do not like long passages of text and this showed up in some of the comments. Plenty of movement on the screen also helps to keep the children’s attention, and this is seen in good graphics and illustrations. Many of the children commented on the pictures displayed on the various web sites. The children were quick to point out if they felt a site was boring. Unfortunately due to the language difference, the Irish and English children paid less attention to the Portuguese sites because they could not understand them. However, these sites were reviewed constructively by the librarians and commented upon.
The review and evaluation
process will be on going and this will help to build up a comprehensive data
base on the various sites listed in the Hercule catalogue.
General Conclusions
Overall the learning
experiences for consortium members related to the recommendation of involving
users in evaluations and taking account of their views in determining future
content for the catalogue.
In an ongoing context, the value of piloting the questionnaire as it applied to children is al