Nowadays, it is absolutely common to look for different websites when we
need to gather information about a certain topic, but we should be aware that
not all sites can be trusted. In order to know if a webpage is reliable, there
are some key points to bear in mind that will help us in our decision to use it
or not.
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| Commercial purpose in ESL Kid Stuff |
- Purpose: A webpage can have different objectives; for instance, it could
be educational, informative, commercial, entertaining, institutional,
personal, and persuasive. In the case of the BBC website, the purpose is
an educational one because it contains materials such as audio, videos and
texts for teachers and learners of English to improve their skills in the
foreign language. Besides, ESL Kid Stuff is a commercial and educational
webpage. It is commercial because you have to become a member to have
complete access to the content, but it is also educational because it
provides the audience with lesson plans, worksheets, activities,
flashcards, games, and so on for using in a classroom.
- Reliability:
what it is useful to consider here are the sections “Contact us” and
“About us” in which you can find information about the authors of the page
and sometimes even their credentials. As in ESL Kid Stuff, the “Contact
us” section gives us more confidence to rely on the site because the
authors provide not only an email address but also an address in case we
want to write a letter to them. Moreover, the “About us” part gives us
details about the English teachers who created the website, how they met,
how they decided to do the webpage and the current participants of the
project.
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| From: http://www.eslkidstuff.com/contact.htm |
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| From: http://www.eslkidstuff.com/about-us.htm#.VfQ9fNLtmko |
- Currency: this is related to the update of websites and the possible
emergence of dead link; two essential characteristics to be considered
when trusting the net. In the BBC webpage you will see that the authors
keep it absolutely up-to-date: they upload new materials almost every day,
and there is no evidence of any broken link, which inspires complete
confidence.
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| From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish |
- Appropriateness and relevance: when using a website, especially if we are
teachers, we have to pay attention if the content of the web would be
suitable for our learners or not. In ESL Kid Stuff, for example, it would
be quite difficult to adapt its content to advanced learners of English
because it contains materials and resources for primary level or
beginners.
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| From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish |
- Clarity: this criterion is related to legibility. We have to consider
if the text is clear and neat, whether the graphics can distract the
audience or help them to understand the meanings, and also if the presence
of advertisements results obtrusive to the readers. In the case
of the BBC page, the materials are well-organised, the texts are
completely clear and the pictures help to convey the meaning of what the
audience is going to read about. The absence of advertisements gives more
credits to the authenticity of the website.
So, next time you seek for information on the web, these criteria will
give you a hand when deciding which webpage is authentic or not.
