The Web has become an essential part in the lives of individuals on a global scale. The Web provides information, data, and unprecedented international communicative powers. Because there is so much information available and the information may appear to be fairly anonymous, it is necessary to evaluate what one finds on the Web. How can Web users believe all the information that is available on it? Is the information authoritative, reliable, and trustworthy? And, from the reverse perspective, how can Web developers or providers make Web users confident about the information on the Web?There currently is no research-based Web site evaluation instrument aimed at evaluating school district Web sites. In addition, the problem of this study is to respond to the expressed need of the East Central Indiana School Study Council (ECISSC) school corporations' superintendents for a set of guidelines for developing their Web sites and to develop an evaluation tool for assessing the Web site's effectiveness.The researcher specifically examines the degree of quality of the Web sites using the researcher-developed checklist containing 137 items divided among 10 categories: authority, accuracy, objectivity, currency, coverage and intended audience, interaction and transaction features, navigational aids, non-text features, professional development, and recruitment features. Of the 10 Web evaluation categories, navigational aids (50.42%), accuracy (42.06%), and authority (41.8%) are the highest rated components. ECISSC Web contents receiving the lowest ratings include recruitment and retention features (6.74%), interaction and transaction features (8.70%), currency (8.95%), and professional development (9.33%).The findings of this study provide specific guidance to individual school corporations to retain quality Web site components and to further the development and refinement of specific elements in each of the 10 identified Web assessment categories. Individual school corporations and ECISSC school corporations' profiles are presented to assist school officials in their efforts to improve school Web site designs and contents. The 10 Web evaluation categories and 137-checklist items can be used to assess and improve school Web site and can increase their effectiveness and efficiency to promote enhanced school-community relations and understanding among stakeholders. / Department of Educational Leadership
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/179618 |
| Date | January 2003 |
| Creators | Pi, Seungho |
| Contributors | McKinney, Joseph R. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | ix, 183 leaves : ill. ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
| Coverage | n-us-in |
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