Monday, October 8, 2007

Web Site Evaluation #2

Essentials of a Web Site

Before starting my search for a great Web site, I wondered what actually makes for a great Web site. So, I started my research the way I start every research today, online. I started on a Web site I frequent often called, Web Reference and asked; what makes a great Web site? I was linked to an article by Andrew B. King titled, What Makes a Great Web Site? Besides having the basics, such as being responsive most users using a 56 kbps modem, well-organized, attractive, and easy to read, I found out that there are several essential traits to a great Web site. (www.Webreference.com, 2007)

According to King, a Web site should:
  • Contain original content that is credible, well edited, valuable, and timely. Therefore, the Web site content should be updated regularly.
  • Be customized to meet the needs of the users. King referred to this as “one-to-one Web sites, where the information is custom-tailored to the user's preferences.
  • Have interactivity. Interactivity is good because it engages the user and makes the site memorable.

Processing all these essential characteristics is what makes a person want to stop and stay a while, and return, making for a great Web site. (King, 2007)

Searching For a Web Site

To find a great Web site to evaluate and use to develop a lesson plan, I used two search engines: MSN Live Search and Google. On these search engines, I used a search technique described in this reading assignment: The Four NETS. (Doge, 2005)

  1. N: Start Narrow

  2. E: Use Exact phrases

  3. T: Trim the URL

  4. S: Seek Similar pages

I was looking for an easy CALL, Computer-Assisted Language Learning Web site that provided lessons for learning Farsi. The first search engine I tried was MSN Live Search. Using the first and second NETS, narrow and exact phrase, I entered the phrase “English to Farsi” into the search field. I received 28,594,218 results! So using the tried to be more exact, therefore narrowing down my results, so I entered “Easy Farsi Lessons” into the search field and received 104, 737 results. The great thing about narrowing down your list and using exact phrases is that you waste less time searching through pages of Web sites that are not what you really want. By being more specific, the results went from over 3 million to about 1 hundred thousand.



The first Web site I opened was www.easypersian.com. Bingo! This was the exact type of Web site I really was looking for. There are well over 100 Farsi lessons, including audio clips, writing instructions, and more. However, before I was satisfied with my search, I went to the Google search engine and inputted the words: English-Farsi and Farsi-English dictionary into the search field. I received only 16,600 results. I noticed that some of the same Web sites appeared on both the MSN and the Google search. I tried the Web site AriaDic.com, which was great for translating an English word into Farsi, but after a little more research noticed this site would not give me the proper pronunciation of a word in Farsi, only English. After looking at a few more Web sites, I decided to go back to www.easypersian.com to use for this project.


Evaluating a Web Site

Now that I had a Web site to evaluate, I used several resources to evaluate the Web site, such as the Essential Web Site Traits noted above, the Checklist for Evaluating Web Sites, and other Web site evaluation questions provided in the reading assignment. While evaluating the Web site for essentials traits, I also looked for items such as authority, accuracy, purpose, currency, design, organization, and ease of use.

Location and Name:

Essentials Traits:

  • Original content: Yes, however, not being familiar with other types of language learning Web sites, I think this Web site has original content. This site was very impressive in the way it shows the user how to write a letter in Farsi. Farsi is a difficult language to write. It shows the user how to write both small and larger case letters using Flash.
  • Customized: Yes, the Web site is customized to the user. There are 140 lessons. The learner can go directly to the level or type of lesson they need.
  • Interactivity: Yes, the Web site is very interactive. The learner can click to see the word in Farsi, how to write a letter, and hear a correct pronunciation.

Authority and Accuracy:

  • The author of the Web site - Hassen H
  • Part of the URL that gave clues about authorship: Since the Web site ends with “.com”, I assume it is for commercial use for a company.
  • Author’s Qualifications: There is a note from the author on the contact page stating: “Years of experience in teaching…”

Purpose and Content:

  • The purpose of the Web page or site: Educational - According to the Web site, “Easy Persian is a totally free source for you if you are looking for comprehensive online lessons to learn Persian or Farsi as spoken in Iran. It also helps you write in Farsi with step-by-step instructions.”
  • The purpose in my own words: It is an extensive bank of Farsi lessons for any level, from beginners to advanced learners. However, I think this Web site is designed for adults.
  • The content: Lessons for learning Farsi
  • Balanced, objectives, and factual information: Yes, the information found on the lessons is factual, however, there are links to Hassen’s blog and link to a religious page.
  • Contact Information : easypersian@hotmail.com
  • In what ways is the software or Web site interesting to the target audience? Easy-to-follow and broken into small sections where the user can go directly to the lesson they need.
  • What are the language goals for this software or Web site useful/effective? The goal of this Web site is to teach a person to read, speak, and write in Persian /Farsi. Yes, it is effective in the way it starts from scratch and slowly builds to an advance level. It goes beyond memorizing, to engaging the learner to interactive with the text.
  • Practice, Assessment, Feedback, if yes give examples: Yes, there are useful drills, samples, links, and links to books for each lesson. There is also a translation page.
  • External Documents: What external documents (some guides) does the software or Web site include? There is a link to a Persian converter. Are they effective? Yes, this program converts Persian/Farsi text written in the following transliteration scheme to the Persian script. It translates English to Persian and Persian to English.

Currency:

  • Date last revised, modified or updated: The actual Web site does not state last revision date, however, the Copyright states 2007, therefore, I assume the site is current. In addition, there is a link to a blog where the last entry date was June 28, 2007. There also links to chats and the news.
  • Importance of currency to the type of information available on this Web site: Not very, this type of information is timeless. The language itself does not change. However, it is important to keep the links current.
  • Maintenance: The Web site appears to be well maintained.
  • Broken links (Error 404 messages): No, I have not found any broken links.

Design, Organization, and Ease of Use:

  • Overall appearance: The Web site is well designed and organized. The links to all 140 lessons are in numerical order.
  • Easy to read and navigate - The layout is organized, not to busy, and easy to read. There are no extras, such as graphics, etc, just helpful text, and audio clips.

Strengths and Weaknesses:

  • What are the strengths of this software or Web site? The strength of the Web site is that there is a wealth of information available to the user, yet it is not over whelming to the beginner. The information is provided as requested by the user, not the Web site.
  • How can this software or Web site be improved? Even though there is a link to a converter, I think the site could include one within the site, where the user can use it on each lesson. It should also allow the user to speak and receive feedback on each lesson.

References:

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