Evaluation of children’s educational websites based on the developmental perspective

Abstract

In this digital era, educational websites have become one of the important learning resources which facilitate children's learning experiences. Although the use of educational websites in supporting children's learning has progressively increased in Qatari schools, these websites are used without being evaluated in terms of their appropriateness for children. The aim of this study is to evaluate children's educational websites used in Qatari schools based on the developmental perspective. It also intends to describe what children think about these websites and what types of online activities they undertake. A developmental scale was designed to evaluate how developmentally appropriate these websites are for children. Later, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 50 children to achieve a better understanding of their perceptions about the educational websites used in their schools. Findings of this study revealed that children's educational websites are moderately appropriate. The websites were the most developmentally appropriate in the domains of "easy to navigate" and "technical design", while "accessibility" and "instructional design" were the least appropriate domains. Moreover, there were significant differences in the appropriateness of children's websites due to websites source and school types. Most children involved in the study expressed their satisfaction with some elements of the websites they use. Finally, academic activities were found to be the most common type of activities children participate in while using these websites. Recommendations for developing children's educational websites in Qatar are discussed.