CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING AN ONLINE COURSE

General Information

• What is the course URL?
• What is the course title and I.D.?
• Who is the author of and/or contact person for the course?

Authorship

• Who is responsible for the content of the web site? What are the author's credentials? Does the author list his/her occupation, years of experience, position and education?
• Is the author the original creator of the information?
• How can the author be reached? (e-mail, a contact address/phone numbers)

Accuracy

• Is the information accurate and verifiable?
• Are the sources for factual information clearly listed so that the information can be verified? (Bibliography)
• Is the information error free -- correct use of grammar, spelling, and sentence structure, and free from other typographical errors?
• Is there an objective and balanced presentation of information, viewpoints, and images?
• Is it clear who has the ultimate responsibility for the accuracy of the content of the material?
• Is there a statement that the content of the page has the official approval of the institution?

Currency

• Look at both the date of publication and update, as well as the dates for any cited information.
• Is there an indication of when the information on the syllabus, calendar, home page, announcements, instructor's and similar informational pages was created or updated (date and timestamp included on each page)?
• Is the information on the page outdated?
• Is the course up to date?

Content

• Does the information on this web site match the requirements of the course? How detailed is the information? Is the coverage of the topic complete? Does it leave out important information? Does it offer more than one perspective? How does the content compare with other presentations of the same topic?
• Are the goals/objectives consistent with other sections?
• Is the information consistent with the Departmental course requirements?
• Is the information provided of sufficient scope to adequately cover the topic for the intended audience?
• How detailed is the information provided to the student?
• Is the information organized and clearly labeled for students?
• Is the information offered not easily available in other sources?
• Is there a meaningful progression of topics within the site and the primary outside links?
• Is the content of linked sites worthwhile and appropriate?
• Does the content of linked sites add to achieving instructional goals?
• Do the required activities and interaction increase the instructional value?

Purpose

• The faculty's purpose should be clear and the requirements of students consistent with that purpose and sufficient to achieve it.
• Are the activities and results required of students consistent with the goals and objectives of the course?
• Are the requirements consistent with others offerings of this course in the College?
• Do the graphics/sounds/videos serve a clear function appropriate to instructional purpose?
• Is student work assigned and collected in ways that insure that it is their work? How is it gathered, stored, and assessed?
• What kinds of interaction are required of students?
• What is the involvement of the faculty member during the term?
• Are the evaluation techniques appropriate to the course?

Design

• What kind of information - textual, visual, aural - does the page present, and does this add or detract from the page's usefulness or legibility?
• Is the home page designed to be useful to students?
• Are screen displays uncluttered and concise?
• Are there captions, labels, or legends for all visuals?
• Are text fonts legible and print size appropriate for the intended students?
• Does the course load within a reasonable amount of time?
• Can users move from page to page, link to link, item to item with ease, without getting lost or confused?
• Are there logical options for printing/downloading all or selected text and graphics?
• If the page requires special software to view the information, how much would the students miss if they did not have the software?