The World Wide Web offers a great wealth of information from all over the world, as well as the opportunity for people to express themselves and exchange ideas. This makes it a potentially great place to accomplish research on many topics. However, because so much information is available, and because that information can appear to be fairly “anonymous”, it is necessary to develop skills to evaluate what you find. You need to cultivate the habit of healthy skepticism, of questioning everything you find with critical thinking. The Internet epitomizes the concept of Caveat lector: Let the reader beware. The burden is on you - the reader - to establish the validity, authorship, timeliness, and integrity of what you find.
The following websites offer excellent advice on how to evaluate web sources.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html
and http://www.library.ubc.ca/home/evaluating/
Using what you have learnt about web evaluation, I would like you to evaluate some of the websites on my homepage at http://www.netvibes.com/lucyhow#GPand share your evaluation with the others here. Please write a review of at least one website.
You may choose to work on this on your own or with one other person. Please include both names should you work with a partner.
The website that I am evaluating is the "http://online-classroom-security.suite101.com/article.cfm/implementing_effective_classroom_internet_saftey". The name of the webpage is "Implementing effective classroom internet safety:Keeping students safe while online needs teac-" by Tammy Andrew,who is affiliated to Suite101.com Media Inc,which allows free lance writers and journalists to publish their articles for millions of people to read and comment on.The website is run and created by Suite101.com Media Inc. There are also articles by the website on what the organisation's aim is and how they are going to achieve their aims. Based on these informations, these shows that this website is more or less rather accurate, as it would be read and commented on by millions of people around the world, who would have pointed out any mistakes in the writer's article. The author has the copyright to this article,meaning that this article could not be edited by anyone other than the author herself, and this article can only be commented on by readers. Furthermore,this article also contains URL links to websites of other organisations which could serve as an even detailed evaluation of the author's points. Based on these, the article appears to be quite accurate as it could be backed up by other sources of information. The article was created on the 30th April 2009, meaning that this article was created recently,and that it would be up-to-date.However,there is no indication that the material is updated frquently to ensure the currency of the content. Based on these,the article could be relevant for now,but it might lose its relevance as time passes. This article contains some advertisements,but these advertisements are not related to the article in any way,thus the aim of this article is clearly not to influence people to buy products.This article is presented factually without any bias.It is clear and forthcoming about its view on the subject, and no inflammatory or provocative language is used in the article.Hence the author is clear about spreading her message to other people than for other purposes. However,this article's coverage of the subject is not very broad,but the author makes up for this by providing the URL links to other websites which are more specialized in this subject. This article's primary purpose is to increase awareness of internet safety for students,and the article also states some tips and URL links to further educate people on the needs for internet safety for students. In conclusion,this article is quite accurate with the author having a clear objective and purpose.However,it could only be of relevance in a short time period,and its coverage of the subject is rather general and not very specific. I conclude that this article is only rather useful as a reliable source if information in the short run,and that it should serve as a starting point for more detailed research on the subject.
ReplyDeleteAlmost forget to put my name. My name is Ong Wei Hong of 0924.
ReplyDeleteThe website I am evaluating is http://www.freerice.com. This website provides volcabulary learning and with it, free rice alledgely donated to people when they get a question correct. From the website, United Nations World Food Program supports this website in providing the rice. And, to support that this is actually a fact, the UN website has stated in its archives that "Effective initiatives included “Freerice.com,” a web-based vocabulary game that has donated 11.5 billion grains of rice to WFP, and “Food-Force.com,” the world’s first and most popular humanitarian video game, which helps kids to understand more about hunger." This shows that the website is actually trustworthy in donating rice. Also, from playing the game, many of the vocabulary words are actually quite challenging at the level 60 AkA maximum level. Thus, if this website is supported by the UN, the largest non-profit organisation ever, then, this website is trustworthy.
ReplyDeleteBarry 0924
The website we are evaluating will be http://freerice.com. This website is set up by United Nations (UN), in conjunction with the UN World Food Program, where the website has a series of vocabulary quizzes which every one question we answer correctly, 10 grains of rice will be donated to the poor. This website is reliable since it is held in conjunction with an official UN program, in which UN being the largest non-profitable official organization. This is also shown when the UN has also helped out in various disasters such as the tsunami that happen in December 2006. This hence, once again shows that the website is reliable. Also, the UN is recognized by many nations and governments in which re-enforcing the website, http://freerice is reliable.
ReplyDeleteZhi Yun, Felicia CT0924
The website that I am evaluating is http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/. From the URl, we could know that it is an educational site. From the website, we could see that linked has been updated regularly. Thus, the information found inside are current. Also, it is affiliated to Purdue University. Thus, it shows that the information inside is very useful and reliable. In additional, it is free of advertising. Also, the website is accompanied by copyright, thus it shows that it is a legitimate website. In this website , contact information sucj as address for us to contact them.
ReplyDeleteJia Wei 0924
The website that I am evaluating is http://www.eslcafe.com/. The founder of this website is Dave Sperling. He has been teaching English as a second language for years. Moreover, Dave's ESL cafe also provides information on how to learn English along with interactive grammar and vocabulary exercises and top of it all people can meet with other learners and exchange experiences with them online. Teachers around the world will also make use of the resources and materials from this websites for their teachings. Thus, this shows that this website can be trustworthy. In addition, it also offers links to other pages on topics such as grammar and vocabulary. Contact address and number are also made available to us. Overall, I think that this website can be quite useful and reliable.
ReplyDeleteXueyi 0924
I am evaluating the website http://www.theworldchallenge.co.uk/. World Challenge 09 is sponsored by BBC World News and Newsweek, in association with Shell, and is about championing and rewarding projects and business which really make a difference. It is a global competition aimed at finding projects or small businesses from around the world that have shown enterprise and innovation at a grass roots level. Since it is brought to us by well-known organizations such as BBC World News, it has to contain reliable informations. Furthermore, this competition has been taking place for four years and currently in its fifth year as it has evidences of previous winners of this competition. It also has stated a brief outline of the process of the competition which is useful information to us. The URL shows its from United Kingdom but it does not tell it is does not tell whether it is a NGO or so. In this site, there is contact information like email address and phone number to contact them regarding this competition. Hence, this site is reliable to a large extent.
ReplyDeleteMohd Faisal 0924
The website we are evaluating is http://www.freerice.com. It is a non-profit website run by the United Nations World Food Program, held in partnership with Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. It aims to provide education for evryone for free by making use of their quizzes, ranging from the different languages such as Spanish German etc, to science and math. Those who participate in the quizzes get to inquire more knowledge in the process. Also, eradicating world hunger by providing rice for free, especially to those stuck in poverty. Each question answered correctly means 10 grains of rice is donated to the organisation.
ReplyDeleteWe find that this website is reliable as it is supported by the UN, an international organisation, whose aims include eradicating poverty and ridding malnutrition in children in areas of poverty. This website provides a stepping stone to solving this problem. Though this is a small project, it marks the start to eliminating poverty by providing basic necessities such as rice for free to these people.
Everyone recognises that the UN is the largest organisation in the world, therefore such a website supported by them would allow the whole world to know of such a project, eradicating poverty has now become a global effort, regardless of race, social status etc. Therefore such a website is beneficial to not only the individual but the world community as well.
Samuel Ang, Zheng Xuan 0924
I am evaluating http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/ergo/essay_writing_skills.The website teaches us the research, essay writing and even studying skills. This website is an initiative of the state library of Victoria and is aimed at assisting students and teachers. From the URL, this website is a government site.The state library of Victoria is also well recognized, therefore,this website is useful and reliable. The website is also free of advertisements and the purpose of the website is to educate.Further ensuring it's reliability. I think that this website provides us with necessary skills and the information can be trusted.
ReplyDeleteChristopher 0924
I am evaluating the website http://dsc.discovery.com/. The website of the discovery channel that can be found on the starhub cable television, it provides some information about many interesting topics such as bacteria being the cause of mass extinction. Due to it being a website of a television channel, it will naturally promote programs that the channel shows. It is a reliable source of information, as most people do think.
ReplyDeleteThe website is made interesting, not just a dump for facts, by including a myriad of games such as "project earth". This game teaches about climate change, which will indefinitely capture the interest of many if they are bored with cramming facts.
This website is also extremely up-to-date. It even seems as though it is updated daily as news articles can be found for almost every day of the year.
http://dsc.discovery.com/ also provides links to websites of the same networks that specialise in a certain topic, such as animal planet. Thus making things convenient for the reader to obtain additional information.
The downside to this website though, is that it has many advertisements which may distract the reader. Advertisements to attract people to subscribe to the channel, and advertisements to buy merchandise.
Besides that, this website is quite useful in obtaining information, as long as the one does not find the advertisements distracting.
Brendon Ong 0924
The website I will be evaluating is http://www.wisc-online.com/objects/index_tj.asp?objID=TRG2603. This webpage is one of the many web-based learning resources called "learning objects" in Wisconsin Online Resource Center (a digital library). The digital library has been developed primarily by faculty from the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS). The authors of the learning objects are WTCS faculty members, which includes instructional designers, editors, technicians, and student interns. So, I can be quite certain that the author of the webpage is qualified to write on the topic of 'summary'.
ReplyDeleteThe author gives reader 1) the purposes of summary 2) steps to writing good summary 3) good and bad examples of summary with explanation of why is it so and 4) provide short essays for readers to practice summarizing. This is thus an educational website. Although the date of the creation of this webpage was not given, it is not something significant since summary skills is something that does not go outdated.
I can hardly or find any biasness or prejudice in the content of the webpage as the author never criticised other’s writing skill, and strictly focused on sharing his experiences on ‘summary’ and trying to make his reader able to do summary well. Furthermore, the author did not put any emphasis for the reader to strictly follow his writing style. Hence, we can see that the primary purpose of the author is to share a knowledge/skill, and this means that the webpage can be a reliable and useful tool for learning 'summary'.
Ang Yong Loong 0924
The website that we are evaluating is http://www.freerice.com/index.php Through this, UN donates 10 grains of rice for every correct answer to the poor. This website does this in an educating manner, not only to build up the player's volcabulary but more importantly, spread the awareness of the poverty happening worldwide. Although it is not a domain, but it is still reliable because of the following observations made. The website donates money to the World Food Programme. According to the World Food Programme, the link to FreeRice was given as a avenue to donate and contribute. Not only that, all the website's links that talks about media, donations, all lead to the World Food Programme. this shows that, this website is solely dedicated to help the world food programme alleviate poverty. Moreover, the website has no frills. this further shows that the website is solely dedicated to help the World Food Programme.
ReplyDeleteby Marion and Liyan of 0924 :)
The website that I am evaluating is http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=c95b427b29472b1eca13.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of setting up this website came from Jason Smith, a 14-year veteran educator. Jason has been a teacher, coach, campus administrator and district administrator in public schools. Much information about the staff of TeacherTube can be found in the site itself. It is clear who are responsible for the creation and maintenance of the site. The author, Jason, is clearly identified, and the contacts of the related personnel are also easily available.
The material is consistently being updated, revised and edited by its members to ensure currency of the content. However, there are several measures to ensure that these videos uploaded are reliable for all viewers. This is to minimize the biasness of some users. Users have the ability to preserve the integrity of the site by flagging inappropriate videos. TeacherTube staff review flagged sites and will remove any inappropriate posts. With more collegial commentary and discussion through messaging and responses, the quality of this resource will only increase.
TeacherTube was officially launched on 6 March 2007, after beta testing for almost two months. Their goal is to provide an online community for sharing instructional videos. They seek to fill a need for a more educationally focused, safe venue for teachers, schools, and home learners. It is a site to provide anytime, anywhere professional development with teachers teaching teachers. As well, it is a site where teachers can post videos designed for students to view in order to learn a concept or skill. The main purpose of this site is just to serve as an educating platform for all. It does not sell a product, make a political point, only exist for entertainment purpose, nor does it parody a person, organization or idea.
Thus this site is highly reliable and useful for both educators and learners.
Chao Chao (24)
0924
The website that i am evaluating is http://www.freerice.com/index.php.This website helps to educates us through questions and not just english but also other subjects which is very helpful. Besides that, the UN donates 10 grains of rice for every correct answer to the poor which could even encourage us to try our best in answering these questions so as to help others. I find that it is unique to create a website and help people to inquire knowledge and at the same time helping the poor which is like killing two birds with one stone. Hopefully there should be more of such similar ideas in the future.
ReplyDeleteby Wei kee of 0924
I am evaluating the website: http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/ergo/essay_writing_skills
ReplyDeleteFirstly, from the URL of this website, which shows, [gov.au], already highly increases the credibility of this website as it means that it is from the government sector of australia which is more likely a reliable source.
secondly, the webpage has navigations to "about this site" and "about SLV". This means that they provide a justification as to what they are about and where they get their resources and such,in which i gone through and see nothing doubtful of, infact, it shows that it's information was from "state library of victoria" which is relatively reliable.
Milly Ng [13]
0924
The website that i am evaluating is http://www.economist.com/. The website shows articles about topics from World Politics to Science and Technology. I believe that the website is reliable as the new articles are been posted online daily and the names of the writers are stated on the articles. Thus, it is not very possible that the articles are duplicated from other publications as the articles are mostly addressing current issues. In addition, all the articles have been edited before been posted online. Thus, the article will not be from just the perspective of the writer's, causing the articles to be bias. Despite the fact that some people commented that certain satistics posted on the articles are wrong but it is the comments, welcomed by the website, posted by other people that enables us to have a fairer and correct view on the issues. Hence, i believe that the website is, as a overall, reliable. Furthermore, 'The Economist' has been a reputable unbiased source of information.
ReplyDeleteTracy Teo Hui Ling 0924
The website that I am evaluating is http://www.eslcafe.com. The founder of the website which specializes in teaching English as a second language (ESL) is called Dave Sperling. He obtained MA in Applied Linguistics from California State University, Northridge and spent nearly a decade teaching EFL in Japan and Thailand, so he has years of experience as a certified English teacher which gives me a reason to believe the content in the site. The author is not affiliated with an organization but there are sponsors on some of the pages of the Cafe. Companies, schools, and organizations are also able to promote their products and services. Dave Sperling has actually created and maintained the website on his own, so he has the responsibility to update, revise and edit information to make it more relevant. There is also a lot of "Dave Sperling" in each and every creation, so I can see a lot of him throughout the Café, therefore at least I know there is someone to claim accountability for the content. With the provision of mailing and e-mail addresses in the website, I am able to contact the author to verify the credibility of information given when I am in doubt.
ReplyDeleteFor the teachers’ and students’ forums, people from the website community are allowed to voice out their personal opinions and sometimes their names might be used bogusly, so such forums lack reliability and ‘review and revision’ system. However, for ‘Stuff For Students’ category, the information is much more credible because the lessons and courses under ‘Stuff For Students’ are originally created by the author himself, they are copyrighted and cannot be edited by any other user. Furthermore, this category offers links to other websites of the same topics. For example, for topics like idiom, there are seven well-chosen links related to idiom being provided. While there are links that offer opposing definitions to balance the author’s way of understanding idioms, some links support the author’s points and make them more detailed and accurate.
The website is updated regularly, especially for the ‘Jobs’ category as many people are planning to apply for jobs to become teachers, so there is a lot of employment postings and vacancies waiting to be filled up. The website was last updated on 5th May 2009.
Overall, the website is reliable and useful for the learning of English, but for the discussion forums among teachers and students, there is still a need to practice critical thinking and healthy skepticism when reading and analysing their comments.
Excellent. 0919! I enjoyed reading all your reviews. And I especially liked Wei Hong's. However, I would have found my reading more pleasurable if there were proper paragraphing done.
ReplyDeleteHi mrs boo, we are 0924, not 0919!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteMy apologies, 0924. Thank you for pointing it out to me, Anonymous. I would have appreciated a name so that I could thank you personally. Anyway, great Job, 0924!
ReplyDeleteThe website that i am reviewing is http://www.tommarch.com/electraguide/thesis.php
ReplyDeleteThe author of the website is Tom Hanks. As he had been Chairman of the English Department: Poway High School, Poway, CA, I believe that he is a credible source and thus can be trusted. The website is just a simple blog powered by wordpress, but since the author had copyrighted his work, only he can edit the work. Since he is a credible source, I believe what is written should be termed credible too. The work in the website is up to date; it was last updated in April 2009. There are no advertisements on the website, showing that the website is non-commercialised and the main purpose of the author is to share information. Since he is not writing for any organisation, I feel that his views are most probably correct as he is in not liability to be biased to or against a certain matter.
However, a lack of definite contact information adds uncertainty to the blog.
-Jazlyn, 0919
Elton, you did a good job checking on the credibility of the author. Great!
ReplyDeleteI am evaluating on this website www.newscientist.com.
ReplyDeleteThis website is basically an online science magazine. The print version was introduced in 1959 "for all those men and women who are interested in scientific discovery, and in its industrial, commercial and social consequences" according to the website; the online version was created in 1996 and now has a wide array of articles of more than 76,000. Hence, information about science and discovery is aplenty in this website.
Moreover, online content is considerably enhanced by an international online news team, posting updates every day. This suggests that information found in this website is not 'stale'. Also, the fact that the magazine has a dedicated online to proof read and update the information makes it reliable. To further add on its reliability, it has also contact information in case if there are any queries pertaining to the information posted on that website.
This website is is number 1 of the top online magazine brands by unique users and also New Scientist is the PPA interactive consumer magazine of the year 2008. This suggests that this website is very reputable.
Information is well-organised and hence makes it easier for readers to find the information they desire.
Their articles also come with comment space for readers to leave their comments and opinions upon reading the articles. By reading both the article and the comments, I can actually get factual data and also many personal insights of people around the world. Most inportantly, the comment space is active, allowing for an open discussion for the topic is question.
The website seems to be free of 'external entries'. This means that there is no advertisement from other websites or agencies. This minimizes chance of the website being infected by the malicious ad-ware.
Overall, I find this to be a rather interesting and informative website as it creates a fusion between current affairs and discovery science. It is largely reliable and it is advised to be opinionated while reading it to reap maximum benefits out of it.-Hioe William 0919
The website i'm evaluating is http://www.readwritethink.org/
ReplyDeleteas the website has a '.org' it shows that the website is from a nonprofit organization.
the website is also up to date, as the last entry and modification to website, when i last check is at 05/07/2009 14:39:37
The website is a joint porject by two well know organisation, International Reading Association and National Council of Teachers of English.
International Reading Association is an international professional organization that was created in 1956 to improve reading instruction, facilitate dialogue about research on reading, and encourage the habit of reading. The IRA headquarters is in Newark, DE, United States. IRA has approximately 90,000 members, and more than 1250 councils and affiliates, worldwide. The current president of the IRA is Barbara Walker from Oklahoma State University.
In addition to newsletters, books, and guides, the IRA publishes four professional journals:
The Reading Teacher—for those working with children to age 12
Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy—essential reading for teachers of older learners
Reading Research Quarterly—the leader in literacy research
Lectura y Vida—about literacy education in the Spanish-speaking world
IRA also offers dissertation awards in which researchers like Donna Alvermann and Nell K. Duke have been receipients.
Reading Online, an e-journal sponsored by IRA, contains hundreds of articles, but it is not searchable from IRA's website, www.reading.org. Instead, articles may be searched at readingonline.org.
The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is an American professional organization dedicated to "improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts at all levels of education. Since 1911, NCTE has provided a forum for the profession, an array of opportunities for teachers to continue their professional growth throughout their careers, and a framework for cooperation to deal with issues that affect the teaching of English." In addition, the NCTE lists its mission as:
"The Council promotes the development of literacy, the use of language to construct personal and public worlds and to achieve full participation in society, through the learning and teaching of English and the related arts and sciences of language."
The NCTE is involved in publishing journals and books that address the concerns of English language arts educators. Since the 1970s, it has issued annual Doublespeak Awards and Orwell Awards.
therefore, i believe that the contents in this site is credible and reliable, as both organisations have received prestigious awards, and being able to publish journals and books shows that the organisation is credible as well, as their materials would have gone throught numerous editing and scrutinising by a panel of editors and critics.
Overall, i think that this is a interesting and comprehensive website that offers a wide range of english lesson material for the reader. it even includes lesson plans,with activities for different age group,aiding teachers in their work.
for example, one of the lesson the site offered is “America the Beautiful”: Using Music and Art to Develop Vocabulary In this lesson, students learn the song “America the Beautiful” and the meanings of its words through shared reading and by using the words in a variety of ways. They then use drawings, descriptive language, and photographs to create a mural in the shape of the United States. This lesson could be included in the study of any patriotic holiday or event. Grade 3-5 Date added 3/11/09
hence, it shows that it is very up to date. and using music and art to develop one's vocabulary is indeed innovative and would interest many students.
Jasmine Hui 0919
The website I'm evaluating is http://www.readwritethink.org/
ReplyDeleteIt is a professional membership organization dedicated to promoting high levels of literacy for all.This website is from a non-profit organisation, as can be seen from the .org. This suggests that the information provided is reliable and not bias.
Furthermore, the page is wriiten by educators and literacy specialists, and their contacts are all provided in the website. This shows that information provided is reliable, if not people can sue them, since their information is available. The page is also current enough, as the last entry is on March.
In addition, there are many links to the page, and these links consists of those from .org, .ca, .net, .gov, .us.
Hence, I conclude that this page is reliable.
Toh Ying Ying
0919
Website URL: http://teachertube.com/videoList.php?pg=featuredvideolist
ReplyDeleteThis website provides an online community for sharing instructional videos which can be easily accessed for teachers, schools, and home learners. The founder of the website is Jason Smith who is a 14-year veteran educator. The additional information about Jason Smith can be found on the website. Moreover, the website clearly stated the information about TeacherTube community members who are also encouraged to not only upload educationally relevant videos, but also to make constructive comments. TeacherTube staff review flagged sites and will remove any inappropriate posts. With more collegial commentary and discussion through messaging and responses, the quality of this resource will only increase. Hence, it is clear that Jason Smith and TeacherTube community is responsible for the creation and maintenance of the site.
It is also clear when the website was last updated, revised and edited since the site clearly identifies the name of the author, date, channel, and supporting files. In addition, the page provides URL of video and embeddable player. I also can find a legitimate article from a reputable publication which is accompanied by the copyright statement. In a nutshell, this website is clearly reliable and helpful for teachers and home learners.
Lim Subin, 0924
the website i am evaluating is http://www.freerice.com.by answering vocabulary questions, UN donates 10 grains of rice for every correct answer to the poor.this is not only to build up the player's vocabulary,at same time,it helps the poor to gain their own earning by playing the game.i think it is a creative idea to have the website as people reward player food as they answer the questions correctly.the website is quite reliable as it links to world food programme,which they are there to help the poor.
ReplyDeleteThe website i am evaluating is "http://www.wisc-online.com/objects/index_tj.asp?objID=TRG2603" , a website which guides students on summary writing. The website would seem reliable as it has information of its author and developer, accounting for the uploaded content. The website is also from "http://www.wisc-online.com", a reputable website, having won the 2006 Pirelli International award which awards yearly to the best multimedia presentations having as their main theme the diffusion of science and technology in the physics, chemistry, mathematics, life sciences and Information & Communication Technology categories. Wisc-online also has many funders and partners, thus leading to my conclusion, "http://www.wisc-online.com/objects/index_tj.asp?objID=TRG2603" is a reliable source of guide for summary writing.
ReplyDeleteTan Shixun, 0924
The website i am evaluating on is http://www.freerice.com. This is an interesting website that incoporates learning as well as charity. The website is definitely beneficial to us and the receipents as for every vocabulary question answered correctly, 10 grains of rice will be donated to the needy through the UN World Food Programme. There are people who are unable to satisfy their basic needs. Help from us is greatly appreciated and through the form of the website, it is definitely a inovative way to do charity as well as learning. This website is definitely reliable as it is linked to the UN World Food Programme which is afterall, a widely known organisation. This is definitely a very creative as well as pleasant website for people to brush up their vocabulary as well as for the sake of charity.
ReplyDeleteKelmond Tan,0294
http://dsc.discovery.com/
ReplyDeleteI think that this website is reliable and useful as beside that it was famous thought the whole world and in singapore we have discovery channel in our TV and in the website there alot first hand information being record down by film like some experiments that make by scientist. wild life recording.... which so increasing the reliability of the source as they let us know how and where the information come from and also there is numerical links in the website to help the viewer easier to find the information they need.
However i think that the research one website was not enough which is much better to research on another website to comfirm the reliability of the source and also need to be alert about the change of information.
yuxi 0924
I am evaluating on http://www.freerice.com. This is a non-profit website run by the United Nations World Food Program with the goals of providing education to everyone and to help end world hunger. The objective of the website is very commentable and meaningful.
ReplyDeleteI like this website as we can learn and help people in need at the same time. This website is also very accurate as it is set up bu a reputable orgainisation- the UN.
The purpose of this website is let more people have a chance to help the needy while learning, which is helping yourself too. It uses the strategy of helping others equals to helping yourself. By doing the exercises, we are helping ourselves by learning. Moreover, there are different types of exercises on various subjects avaliable, which gives us a wide variety of choices.
Hui Ming 0919
THIS: http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/ergo/essay_writing_skills
ReplyDelete1.This is a government website, thus it is credible to a large extent.
2.State library of Victoria is responsible for the creation and maintenance of the site.
3.It is created in the year 2009, thus the information shown are fresh.
4.There is no use of inflammatory or provocative language.
5.There are no advertisements on the website itself which shows its seriousness.
6.There is no biasness or perspectives.
7.Clear and forth coming with a clean tone.
8.The page is complete with even a feedback link. This shows it is a serious website and do care about the public views.
9.It is not peer edited and information can only be viewed.
10.All the information about essay writing is factual and written to serve as a guide for students.
I am evaluating the website http://www.personal.kent.edu/~rwisnesk/ENG112/eng112.html
ReplyDeleteAlthough URL states " kent.edu" , it has little relation to Kent state univerisity , as such this could be considered as a personal page by Dr Richard Wisneski
This webpage is created in spring 2005, thus there may be some relevance
Language used by him is clear and concise with many examples given.
However resources on Essay writing may not be that detailed as essay writing is not the field which he specialises in.
Jie yang 0919
The website we are evaluating is http://www.freerice.com/index.php. This website functions as such that when a person answers vocabulary questions correctly, the United Nations donates 10 grains of rice to the poor. With 5 correct answers, 50 grains of rice will be donated. Besides, participating in this programme will also help to improve your vocabulary. Furthermore, questions on other subjects are also available. Since this is a programme supported by the United Nations, it should be credible to a large extent. By participating in this, people can gain knowledge as well as help others. Therefore, I conclude that it is beneficial and meaningful and that this is a win-win situation. I will stop writing since I am going to play the games at FreeRice.com and embark on my journey of helping others. Bye!
ReplyDeleteGoh Hong Shih & Kenneth Teo of 0927
I am evaluating this website : http://dsc.discovery.com/
ReplyDeleteIt is a website owned by Discovery Communications, Inc which mainatains other websites such as http://www.howstuffworks.com/ and http://www.treehugger.com/ (which is #4 of the top 5 blogs according to Time Magazine) as well. The company is the world's number one nonfiction media company with an outreach of more than 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers in over 170 countries. Therefore, the website is reliable as it is owned by a global company with a huge viewership and the information would be fact-checked first before it is uploaded to the website.
The website regularly updates itself with news ranging from animals to technology and it even provides infomative games such as Sharkrunners which educates players about the ways to preserve and protect sharks.
Therefore,i find this website to be not only reliable, but it also provides a entertaining experience for all the vistors to the site.
We are going to evaluate on this website: http://www.freerice.com/index.php
ReplyDeleteThis website is run by a non-profitable organisation "United Nations World Food Programme" (WFP). Editing of the content in this website is only acessible to WFP, which implies that the information provided is reliable. This point is further supported by the fact that this website is in the list of organisations under WFP at "http://www.wfp.org/students-and-teachers".
The website states that it is running on funds by sponsors that advertise on their webpage, and these sponsors includes Berkman Center for Internet and Society, which is part of the renowned Harvard University. Thus, we can be assured that this website is reliable.
To further support the reliablity of this website, there is a link which states that it has been awarded the "Yahoo! Charitable Organisation, Search of the Year 2007". Hence, when the website was presented with such a prestigious award, therefore we can trust the contents and information found on this website. There are also many positive comments by reputable groups such as Los Angeles Times
and BBC News.
Furthermore, the website serves as a medium to enhance student's language capabilty and is therefore used by teachers as part of e-learning programme.
In conclusion, we believe that FreeRice website is a trustworthy website.
Ho Wee Chuen & Ho Jack Hon
0927
The website I will evaluate is "http://www.createdebate.com/".
ReplyDeleteThis website is a beta site which promotes and carries out online debates and arguments. It is currently run and powered by CreateDebate, an organization which calls themselves "a social debate tool that helps people communicate and collaborate". From it's privacy policy and user agreements, we can see that most of the information posted on the site is anonymous and therefore somewhat unreliable. However most of the topics in question are rather controversial, making it not as much of an information website but one where everyone can voice their views on.
To create or join in a debate, all you have to do is to create a simple account and login with your desired password. Many topics and arguments there are relevant to the world now but this does not include all. Some debate topics are rather uncivilized due to the somewhat sloppy maintenance and moderation done.
However, we must realise that this is but a website in beta and is simply a prototype. For it to be better or even on par with already great debate sites like 'www.volconvo.com' is close to impossible.
Although reliable information is not available in bulk in this site, much inspiration can be gotten from it as it is free to the public and allows many to express their views and different perspectives of some very interesting questions. To me, these are valuable information to check on how the world is right now, although some are not true. But in terms of opinions, nothing is really "true", there is no right or wrong answer.
Also, people can practise their debating or argumentative skills with this website. Although it does not command strict debate rules and debater jargon, it is good in away that most of the general public can understand and participate at anytime, anywhere. such is the modus operandi of most online debate websites, working on a floor debate format rather than the conventional 3 speaker format.
In conclusion, this website hosts many views about many good questions imposed on the world nowadays, although it still has a long way to go, it has great potential in giving us what we all need for our debating and argumentative skills.
Freerice dot com: why does the website need us to answer their questions before they donate the rice? Why not just donate them regardless of the questions?
ReplyDeleteThe website that I am evaluating is http://www.freerice.com/index.php This website is run by United Nations World Food Programme in partnership with Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. This website allows people to play a game and improve their vocabulary. At the same time, the people are able to donate if their answer is correct. Each correct answer results in 10 grains of rice donated. This website is reliable as the website is set up a well known organisation. This website is indeed useful and helpful.
ReplyDeleteDone by: Jeya 0927
ReplyDeleteEvaluation on http://www.theworldchallenge.co.uk/previous-winners.php
ReplyDeleteThe World Challenge 09 is global competition aimed at finding projects or small businesses from around the world that have shown enterprise and innovation at a grass roots level. The purpose is to improve the creativity and innovation of the participants and it also benefits the people at the locations where the projects are initiated. http://www.theworldchallenge.co.uk/ is brought to you by BBC World News and Newsweek in association with Shell which are reputable organizations. The country code “.uk” shows that the publisher is from United Kingdom. An email address “worldchallengeteam@bbc.com” is provided to contact the World Challenge organizer. Anybody can nominate any projects on the website as long as it follows the entry rules given. BBC World News, Newsweek and Shell have the rights to change or control those rules. This site also showcases previous winners of the World Challenge years by years. Those sources are reliable as nobody can edit the information except from the editors from the organization. Various kinds of information such as videos and pictures are available, too. They are also recently updated. In conclusion, I think this website is reliable and accurate.
It is obvious that a number of you have NOT read the articles that I advised you to read before evaluating the websites. I am very disappointed with you. I would strongly encouraged to do so as it is a very important part of your education.
ReplyDeleteJasmine I would like to comment on something you said which is erroneous.
ReplyDelete"as the website has a '.org' it shows that the website is from a nonprofit organization"
.org (organization) was originally intended for use by organizations that did not meet the requirements for other gTLDs. However, now anyone can register a .org domain. It has nothing to do with whether an organization is a profit or nonprofit organization.
The website that I am evaluating on is "http://www.ted.com". This is a website belonging to a public organization TED, which stands for technology, education, design. The website showcases speeches made by the speakers at an annual conference of the organization. TED is owned by The Sapling Foundation, a private nonprofit foundation, established in 1996 by Chris Anderson, who was at that time a magazine publishing entrepreneur.
ReplyDeleteThe website should be highly accurate as one of the speakers is Al Gore, the ex-president of United States who is currently an environmentalist. It proves the reliability of the website as Al Gore would certainly not choose to speak at a conference which is not truthful. The organization is also a copyrighted one, is also registered under the U.S tax code. Adding to the points of reliability, it is sponsored by well-known popular Transnational companies such as BMW and Nokia. Thus it is also certain that the website can be trusted.
The website is also frequently updated almost everyday based on topics that their speakers mentioned. As to date, the conference is still held every year, which means that it organization is not one that is not properly functioning anymore.
The topics of the speeches are of all kind of aspects, which mainly focus on the technology, education, and design.However, there are some comments which talk about the organization being an elitist, as the people who attend the conference are normally for rich people. The standard membership fee is actually US$6000.
In conclusion, this website is highly accurate and reliable and the organization has a clear objective and purpose, which is spreading ideas. This website is quite useful for people in the education, technology and design area, which give people a guided start to their research or projects.
Lim Ying 0927
P.S Sorry for the late submission Mrs Boo
the website that i'm evaluating on is http://www.readwritethink.org
ReplyDeletethe website is clearly not a personal pages. furthermore, from the domain which is .org which implies that the website is owned by organizations. deriving from the "about" link in the website itself, the website its clearly based on non-profit organization. the publisher, who are the international reading association, the national council of teachers of english, and the verizon foundation. from the contextual knowledge, all of them are non-profit organization. however, the verizon foundation is the branch of the verizon company which is the giant corporation that deals with communication related technology, such as the high speed internet provider, phone plans and satellite tv. thus, we cannot say that the website is purely based on non-profit organizations.
the website provides lesson guidelines that has been done by the members of the national council of teachers of english. the author of every lesson guidelines are certified tutors and teachers in USA. these tutors and teacher are mainly have high reputation and have few years experience in the world of education. the website is up-to-date, as the website stated the last time it was modified at the bottom of the page and its updated daily.
the website also provide links for additional web and non-web resources. the resources are also either government based website or non-profit based websites which also implies that the materials in the website is credible.
Huseyn Jaya Wirawan 0927
P.S Sorry for the late submission Mrs Boo
The website i am evaluating is http://www.freerice.com
ReplyDeleteThe website was founded in 0ctober 2007 by John Breen and the site was later donated to the UN World Food Program on March 2009 by Mr. Breen. Through this website, Mr. Breen and the UN World Food Program aims to feed and educate as many people as possible throughout the world. Also, as it is run by the world renowned UN World Food Program which has past records of providing free food and conducting school feeding program to places like Chad and Ethiopia where hunger is the main issue there, it will prove that the website is reliable.
Freerice.com is a platform whereby people can answer questions and help to raise the donations of rice by the UN World Food Program after answering every question correctly. The questions can be asked in the form of vocabularies or in other subjects like mathematics and geography. In this way, it'll definitely help in providing knowledge that is useful and interesting to the public. Also, the word definitions for English vocabularies provided come from a wide variety of sources including dictionaries, thesauruses and books of synonyms. These definitions are then double-checked and edited for accuracy. Thus, the answers and questions provided for the English vocabularies will be reliable too.
Similarly, as the website has been discussed and reported by various press like the BBC News, Washington Post, New York Times Magazine and Los Angeles Times, it will further support the credibility of this website too.
Joanna Ng
0924
sorry for the late submission.
I wish to evaluate
ReplyDeletehttp://www.slv.vic.gov.au/ergo/essay_writing_skills
I think the website is credible, as the names of the people responsible for the writing and research are clearly listed in the 'About this site' page (accessible at the bottom of each page). However, the credentials and qualifications of the persons listed are not provided, which I feel would contribute to the sites' reliability if done so.
A google search of excerpts from the website shows us that the information is not retyped or forged from other sources, as the exact wording of some of the sentences only comes from this particular website. This is consistent with the statement in their disclaimer, that "The content of this website is provided by the State Library of Victoria for information purposes only."
The website's design is simple and direct, with clear directions and links that make access easy and fast. There are no advertisements or frills on the website, and I feel that the sitemap reveals that the site to be very well structured.
It is stated in the 'About this site' page that the website is made to share information from the State Library of Victoria and share research skills to students and teachers. I feel that the website is well-suited for this purpose and that the information provided is to be trusted.
-Alexander (0927)
http://dsc.discovery.com/
ReplyDeletethis website writes about happenings around the world, from environmental issues to wonders around us. This web has provided information and filled their readers with knowledge such that people are not only restrained to the limited knowledge of their own country. The information it provides are not biased, but merely stating facts and providing views from those concerning the issue without taking a stand. The website is created by an organization in April 1993, according to the alexa.com, and there are regular updates on the information posted to ensure currency. The tone of the web is also non-exaggerating. The website is also rather adamant on the changes on information by readers.
However, the organization did not declare their purpose of setting up the website and the identity of the organization is rather secretive even on google search. The web also does not provide URLs to other supporting sites. Hence, it is rather questionable about the credibility of the website and the objective of the organization. Some of the information it contains are updates on discoveries made but were not yet confirmed. Thus the information might not be accurate over time. This website has several advertisements that encourage people to buy products such as documentary shows. Hence it is probable that the one of the objectives is to make profit.
Hence I conclude that this website is not very useful unless the facts are supported by other sources. Liu miao xian (0919)
I'm evaluting the website http://www.freerice.com/index.php.
ReplyDeleteThe website is credible as it is an official website being adopted by the United Nations that runs a non profit organisation for the sole benefits of helping the unfortunate by providing education and food for the hungry free of charge.
It serves as a platform for commoners all over the world, whether if its a high ranking official or a typical commoner like myself, everyone is able to do their part for the less fortunate. This website is credible as it has been reviewed by many renowned organisations such as BBC and several famous magazines. Peer review is being exercised here, hence its credibility is confirmed.
The website is designed such that users can easily do their part as the homepage itself is already the questionnaire which immediately converts the right answer into rice grains. This made it possible for even people that are not IT savvy to take part.
Sorry for late submission
- Jiankai 0927
I am evaluating on this website: http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/ergo/essay_writing_skills
ReplyDeleteThis website belongs to the State library of Victoria, providing students and teachers the researching skills, essay wrinting skills and even studying skills.
Looking from the url, i can conclude that it is a government site, further ensuring that it is a reliable source. It does not contain any advertisements and encourages people to visit the state library of Victoria, which means that the purpose of the web is to educate.
Therefore, it a a useful web for those who are interested in learning more about research, essay writing or even studying skills.
Sorry for the late submission
I am evaluating on the website http://www.freerice.com/index.php
ReplyDeleteThis is a credible website because it is supported by the UN to provide education and end world hunger by providing free rice. Furthermore, there is peer evaluation to ensure its credibility.
The website allows people from all walks of life to do their part for the community and even improving their lives. There is also a clear explanation on how the organisation works. The website also have vacabulary games for people to improve on their vacabulary.
I can conclude that the website is credible as there is a high level of transparency as to how much rice was donated. The website also has parntership with reowned organisations like The United Nations World Food Programme.
Koh Jia Rong 0927
Sorry for the late submission.
I had evaluated the website www.readwritethink.org which had gave me a great surprise as i never knew that such non-profit organisation with such a professional group of people had actually came up with such a website where language skills could be taught and improved - FREE! It came to my attention that their teaching and techniques taught in the website is very useful for different people as the had even set different courses for different standard groups. Thus i could even come to a conclusion that their sources are credible and this website is useful and effective in helping the public.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that i felt disappointed was that this useful website was not well-known to the public as not much publicity was made.
Sorry for the late submission.
the website i am going to evaluate is http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/ergo/essay_writing_skills
ReplyDeleteThis website is a government website because it's domain includes .gov. Moreover, it is an official website of the State Library of Victoria.
From the "About us" section of the website SLV. It states that the site is one of several initiatives to provide greater online access to the services, collections and information at the State Library of Victoria. Designed for secondary students and their teachers, ergo not only teaches students research skills but also provides access to the vast range of resources at the Library.
The Learn skills section of the site is based on the School Library Association of Victoria's (SLAV) six steps to research as outlined in their Making a Difference CD-ROM. The Explore history section showcases original documents, photographs, maps, newspapers and other items in the State Library of Victoria's collection. This section is arranged thematically and is aligned with the Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS).
Copyright in this website is owned by the State Library of Victoria. Material presented on this site (information, text, images, sounds and audio-visual material) is protected by intellectual property law, which includes copyright, and where applicable, moral and cultural rights. Copyright in the material included on this website is either owned by or licensed to the State Library of Victoria.
Thus the information provided should be authentic and reliable.
Sorry for the late submission.
ReplyDeleteThe website that i am evaluating is http://www.freerice.com/index.php
ReplyDeleteThrough this website, the UN donates rice to the poor. This website does this in an smart and interactive manner, by donating 10 grains of rice for every correct answer. The website not only to builds up the player's intellectual capacity but more importantly, it spreads the awareness of the poverty that is still prevalent in this current day and time. Although the website does not belong to any domaind, its is still conclusive that it is reliable. The website helps to gather donations for the World Food Programme through sponsors that place banners on the website itself. With reference to the World Food Programme, FreeRice was given as a avenue to donate and contribute. And also, everyone of the the website's links eventually would lead to the World Food Programme. This shows that, this website is solely setup to help the world food programme reduce poverty. This point can be further proved by comments from various press and media agencies.
Thats why this website is reliable and definitely trustable.
yiheen
forgot to write.
ReplyDeleteit's liu xinhua & ong yuqing
The website that i am evaluating is http://www.freerice.com/index.php
ReplyDeleteThis website is credible as it is supported by the UN. This website helps to salvage the situation of poverty around the world. The reliability of the website is further enhanced as it is linked to the World food programme. There are also information on different the different media to prove that this website is trustale and credible.
ShenSong 0927
Website I am evaluating is http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/606/01/
ReplyDeleteThis website is clearly an education website made to teach people about English, mainly writing in English.It is quite useful as it teaches how to paragraph effectively,writing in engineering,creative writing.It also provides writing resources and instructional material on all forms of writing.By reading the website throughly, it helps in our General Paper essay writing.
Kai Jie 0927
The website I have evaluated is http://www.freerice.com/index.php. This website is absolutely amazing. For each question we answer, 10 grains of rice will be donated to the United Nations World Food Programme. Of course, since it is linked to the UN, it is without doubt, reliable. The FAQ (frequently asked questions) section, is also amazing. This section answers almost all questions that anyone can possibly think of, such as how does the programme work. This FAQ explains the Free Rice program in great detail, and very clearly. This makes the website reliable.The websites also has a list of the rice donations all the way from 2007 to 2009, and the latest update is May 11, 209, which is just yesterday! This shows that the website is constantly being updated, and thus the websites is not outdated.This shows reliability. The free rice programe is also supported by media such as the BBC news which have commented positively on it.
ReplyDeleteThus this website is absoutly reliable.
DANIEL LIM (0919)
i would like to comment about this website http://www.freerice.com/about.html. This is an interesting website as it offers a form of unique teaching. By providing a correct answer to a question 10 grains of rice will be donated to the hungry people. This form of donation is a useful method as not only one is able to learn to improve on their vocabulary or languages, at the same time, they are helping the poor and hungry without paying a single cent! Moreover, the website is partnered with large organizations which are popular with their donations to the poor. Hence, it is a credible website. Moreover, even if the website is a fake, there is nothing much to lose as we do not require to pay any single cent!
ReplyDeleteSry for late submission!!!!!
The website i have evaluated is http://www.ted.com/talks/browse. This website is about professional or influential individuals giving talks to people from all walks of life about issues of the environment, economic issues and political issues, etc. In my opinion, this website may be reliable enough for us to do a research based on the website. But we also have
ReplyDeleteto consider that these opinions are made by individuals, thus we still do have to verify and question the reliability of the source. Some sources may be reliable but some may just be making up facts in a persuasive manner for their own personal propaganda's sake. Therefore, i personally feel that the sources from the website i evaluated will not be reliable unless i can verify it and support the stated facts by any supporting evidences from other sources.
Nicholson Lim (0924)
The website Im evaluating on is http://www.economist.com/. A reputable website such as this will tends to increase their credibility in the eyes of readers. Also, not only words and articles can be seen on the website, videos and interviews are also taken and filmed so that they show the real situation or someone's opinions right from them. Hence, this website is reliable and trustworthy.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.economist.com/ has a tool that welcomes comments from the public. This allows th public to be involved in current affairs and express their opinions should there be any discrepancies. There is also a recommend tool that clears any discrepancies or answer any questions posted by the public on the various articles. Therefore, this website is definitely creible.
Sry for the super late submission.
I am evaluating the website http://www.freerice.com/index.php
ReplyDeleteFirstly, i think it is good because it provides a win-win situation. For both the users and people suffering from starvation.
The users are exposed to a wider variety of English vocabs or any other subjects. The constant practising and motivation to help others will help improve our knowledge on the subjects whether knowingly or unknowingly
When we do that, people undergoing starvation will get rice, essential items to eat.
The FAQ also suggest that the rice given to them are of significant help and will definitely impact or change their lives.
Besides, this website is being function by reputable organizations such as United Nations World Food Program and hence we can trust this site.
You can also see the amount of rice grains donated increasing from year 2007 to 2008 which means that more and more people are informed of this website, supporting its credibility.
Angie 0919
(sorry for the late submission)
The website evaluated is
ReplyDeletehttp://www.freerice.com/index.php
This website help the people by giving them rice for each correct answer.
This website is constantly accounted for and provide latest information.The website will definetly benefit us in certain way or so, and at the same time, we're using our knowledge to help people in need.
The website had also raised the awareness of people, uncovering the reality that people are starving while they themselves are living peacefully without insufficient necessity.
As it is in partnership with well-known parties such as harvard university, it is thus credible.
Daphne Lim 0919
I would be commenting on the website 'http://www.createdebate.com/'. From first glance, it seems like it is a forum style website which allows users to post topics and debate about them. Upon further scrutiny, it is clear that this is another website which main aim is to generate income. From what I can assume, this website provides a medium for debaters while also hosting numerous advertisements, so as to generate income. It can then be deduced from the URL that this website is probably written by an agency or company, which complements my deduction that the website is meant to generate revenue.
ReplyDeleteUpon reading reading several pages of arguments, it could be seen that they were insightful and powerful. However, most of the arguments, though convincing, were not backed up by sources. And hence the credibility of the website is in question. Since users will not be affected in any way, false claims could easily be introduced to their arguments, in attempt to make them more convincing.
Therefore, without stringent justification on claims, the website could not be said to be credible.
Benny Lim (0919)
I am evaluating the website 'http://www.createdebate.com/ '. This forum gives a platform for debaters to voice out their opinions and evidence to certain topics ranging from politics to even comedy.
ReplyDeleteHowever, i feel that not all info given is reliable or even factual. Some are influenced by personal feelings and belief, thus some of their statements might be bent from the truth. Which results in more misleading for other people.
Okay maybe this is personal but i feel that some of the debates are totally useless and I am easily annoyed by such doings. There are so much more other things that need discussion like world hunger and global warming. Its time to get serious with the things that need our utmost attention
KOH KANG LIANG (13) 0919
ReplyDeleteBasically I have seen that it is important to look at the URL of any website before deciding its reliability. Such include the type of website's domain (.gov, .com, .edu, etc.), or the popularity and reputation of the hosting website, if any.
There are also some characteristics of the source to look out for, for instance the author and his purpose.
I would do a review on the website FreeRice (http://www.freerice.com/index.php).
This website is run by the UN World Food Program "to end hunger". At one look it may seem rather vague and one may question its reliability but seeing that the organization UN has been used I am hereby convinced. Besides, by going to the "About" tab, it would laready justify itself.
However, it is questionable that this website has not gained thr .org domain to recognize it as a full-fledged organization.
I am evaluating the website 'http://dsc.discovery.com/', the discovery channel website. The website provides a wide range of information to readers ranging from wild life to the sciences, not just focusing on one main topic, making it a good website for people wanting to gain knowledge, having their questions answered and learning about specific events such as hurricanes in certain countries.
ReplyDeleteThis website definately promotes more well balnce and rounded knowledges, as it is able to spark interest in people one is various sub-headlines.
The fact that discovery channel is also shown on television makes this website more credible, as researchs in the shows are done by certified scientist and geologist, etc, hence making the facts on the website credible.
This website is a good site for both the young and the old, be it for leisure or research.
0919
After poring over the many websites available, I have decided to evaluate this website:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.createdebate.com/
What struck me first was it's long list of debates going on concurrently, varying from religion to economics. Even topics such as terrorism, animal rights, Barack Obama and gay marriage are being debated over in this website.
This website is definitely useful to absorb many useful and innovative points that has never occured in our brain before, and can also definitely be linked to General Paper as a subject, spurring especially our critical thinking. With the wide array of topics to 'choose' from, researching on 'hot' topics which are being pulled in different directions is much easier now. However, one must caution against picking out an argument that might not be credible, or use credible information. Luckily, there are moderators on the website to ensure that the arguments do not get out of hand or go way off point.
Also, anybody gets to create their own debate topic, so when you have a burning question or are itching to debate, this site is very much useful.
Many of the debate can be biased or subjective, and thus when researching, we will have to take into account that not everything on the website is 'The Word' and copy them word-for-word.
Brandon Ang
0919
The website evaluated would be http://www.theworldchallenge.co.uk/previous-winners.php
ReplyDeleteThis website is basically the main webpage for a global competition aimed at projects or small businesses, named the world challenge. It is to showcase the levels of enterprise and innovation in which current organizations can bring about. I feel that the competition organized is highly beneficial to our society as it not only acts as an incentive and spurs current companies on to doing more innovative projects and business, but also, indirectly, helped our community.
Although the URL states a country code (uk), I would still doubt the reliability of the website as these country codes are no longer tightly controlled and may be misused. However I still feel that the website is credible due to the fact that it’s linked to various reputable organizations like the world BBC, Newsweek and shells.
ZhiQun 0919
The website i am evaluating on is http://www.freerice.com/index.php. It is a non-profit website run by the UN World Food Program to help end hunger in the world. It provides various questions to test our vocabulary skills in which 10 grains of rice would be donated to the poor for every question that is correctly answered.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the website is reliable as stated by the World Food Programme, the link to FreeRice acts as a platform to donate and contribute to resolving hunger ongoing in the world. The website is also not a personal site. Furthermore, the site is linked to the world food programme and other reliable organisations.
CheeKit 0919
http://www.readwritethink.org/
ReplyDeleteThis is not a personal page, as it does not include any names or tides or percentage sign in the URL. In addition, it comes from a non-profit organization's domain, since it uses a .org as the domain extension. This is appropriate, as one would expect a website which provides learnings on language to be done by an organization, and not a single person.
This page is written by the IRA and the NCTE, and it provides details on ways to contact the organization, the address of the organization in charge of the webpage.
This webpage is current enough, since according to what it shows, it was "Last Modified: 05/14/2009 02:14:19" which is very recent.
This website is mainly a website aimed at educating people about the English language, since it is setup by the IRA and NCTE, which are all organizations based on the english language, it shows that the author of this webpage has the necessary qualification for writing this website.
It provides external links to other websites for the resources,which are reliable sources, which have to do with the subject of teaching the language and learning of the language, since some of these sources have .org and .gov, we can deduce that the sources are mainly reliable.
There are sites which link and promote this website, such as, /www.eric.ed.gov as can be deduced from its domain, it is a government website, hence can be trusted, and the title of this article from this particular site is, Exploring a Literacy Website that Works: ReadWriteThink.org
which thereby proves that it is saying that readwritethink.org works well at what it is supposed to do.
The website i have chosen to evaluate on is http://www.freerice.com
ReplyDeleteReason being that the website is extremely accurate on its facts and it is very updated.
According to the website, the rice you donate makes a huge difference to the person who receives it. According to the United Nations, about 25,000 people die each day from hunger or hunger-related causes, most of them children. Though 10 grains of rice may seem like a small amount, it is important to remember that while you are playing, so are thousands of other people at the same time. It is everyone together that makes the difference.
This website is reliable since it is held in conjunction with an official UN program, in which UN being the largest non-profitable official organization. The free rice programme is also supported by media such as the BBC news which have commented positively on it. Thus it is an amazinng website.
The website I am evaluating is http://www.freerice.com/index.php from the website, it is known that the website is meant for educational purposes. The website gives evidence that the United Nations World Food Program supports this website in providing the rice. This website is hence reliable since it is held in conjunction with an official UN program, in which UN being the largest non-profitable official organization. The site focuses more on helping others and does not receive much benefit or such from the donations. The webesite not only helps the people in need of the food but also educates the people donating. Being mostly beneficial to others. This website is quite reliable.
ReplyDeleteBenjamin Lui 0919
The post above Benjamin is MINE.
ReplyDeleteEng Zi Feng (0919)
The webisite I am evaluating is http://www.freerice.com/index.php.
ReplyDeleteThis website is to help to eradicate hunger by having netizens to answer the quizzes. For each correct answer, the United Nations World Food Program will donate 10 grains of rice. Also, it serves as an educational purpose for the netizens since they are able to gain knowledges such as english, mathematics and geography. As such, i feel that this webiste is very meaningful.
Wee Jie
0919
The website I am evaluating is http://www.freerice.com/index.php.
ReplyDeleteIt is a non-profitable organisation.It is funded by donations from world governments, corporations and private donors. It has no advertisements on the websites. hence, showing that the website is a non-profit site. The primary purpose of the website is to get people better involve to help end hunger in the world poor by donating rice through the correct answers that people has answer and at the same time provide free eduaction. The date stating when the document was originally created is 2007-2009. hence, it is quite up to date. The source is not bias. There are up to date information about the amount of rice grains donated for this month.
JUSTINA CHIANG 0919.
The article that i chosen is from this website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8049187.stm. The conserns the Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. According to the article, she is to face trial for breaching the conditions of her detention under house arrest.
ReplyDeleteThe article is very significant as it concerns the future of Myanmar. For many years, Myanmar has been facing pressure from many countries to move towards democracy. But has refused, and the country has been under the Junta military. Ang San Suu Kyi is one of tyhe brave leaders to go against the military rule, and for democracy. but she has been dealt harshly by the government, and spent 19 years in jail, and is still under house arrest.
According to the article, an american man swam across a lake to her house and stayed with her for two days. This man have breached the rules of house arrest, but surely not Aung San Suu kyi. She is not responsible. The junta are just using this as an excuse to keep her out of the elections in 2010.
The Junta are shying away from the move towards democracy. I disagree with this as, democracy is best for the people of Myanmar. If Myanmar continues to stay under the military rule, the people are going to suffer, because the Junta simply do not have compassion for the people. Any laws they pass are for their benefit.
Daniel Lim (0919)
The Economist is an informative newspaper that provides insightful views on a wide range of topics. It is being read by politicians, researchers and is crafted by accredited writers. To post an article on The Economist, it is vetted by its own editors. Clicking on the “About us” link at the bottom of the page, we can see the website’s history and its credibility. The Economist also offers an option to the public to give comments on articles and very often, these comments help to sieve out biasness in the views expressed in the article.
ReplyDeleteChua Fu Lin
0919
The website I am evaluating is http://www.freerice.com.It is a non-profit website run by the United Nations World Food Program, held in partnership with Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.
ReplyDeleteThe United Nations donates 10 grains of rice for every correct answer to help the poor. I feel that this is a very creative and pleasant website for people to brush up their vocabulary, and at the same time, helping others.
To further support the reliablity of this website, there is a link which states that it has been awarded the "Yahoo! Charitable Organisation, Search of the Year 2007".Also, the BBC news have commented positively on it.
This shows that the website is absolutely trustworthy.
The website I am evaluating is http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/ergo/essay_writing_skills. This website gives users the idea of how an essay should be written. It breaks down the essay question into parts so that we can decide on the most convenient approach when it comes to essay writing and at the same time, makes learning fun and effective by including pictures.
ReplyDeleteIt is created by the State Library of Victoria and thus I assume that information provided by the site is relevant and does not really has any untrustworthy content as it benefits its users in every way.
In terms of accuracy, I would not say that it is or not accurate because this site only provides guides on how to write an essay and ultimately it depends on how the users make use of the information given to them. It may be helpful to some users whereas completely irrelevant to others.
From my point of view, it is not out of date as the skills written there and the skills taught to me in school are somewhat alike. Although there may be slight differences, once again its up to the users how they decide they would like to use it.
This website also has the good intention of helping users and does not show any signs of negative impacts. It is a win-win situation for anyone who wishes to spend some time reading its contents as users can learn something from it or just choose to read it for leisure.
Lastly, the purpose of this site, I believe is to introduce essay writing skills to people and allow them to write their own essay in a suitable manner or just appreciate other people's essay while reading them.
In conclusion, this website is beneficial for all who wishes to learn or just spend some time reading something useful.
I would also like to cross-reference this site to freerice.com. Although free rice introduces new words to its users like a thesauraus, a certain word may not only have one meaning to it. An example would be "row", it has to different meaning which is "to quarrel" or "to paddle a boat". In free rice, it only gives the word one meaning and thus, people will not get the fullest benefits from doing the quiz. It also doesn't teach people how to apple the new words in sentences. Furthermore, unlike the essay writing skills website, people may just use a thesauraus instead of the traditional try-and-error way just to attain more points. Thus, defeating its purpose of learning new words.