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Why should you do this?
While there is much questionable information available on the
Web, there are also some very good resources available at your fingertips. Many
Websites on various religions are produced by people and organizations within
those traditions. So this is a way for you to see how the followers of
different religions understand their own faith traditions.
Through the course of your study of religion, you are bound
to turn to the Web as a resource to learn more about various religions. Religion
has a strong presence on the Internet. For many minority faiths - as well as
majority faiths, the Internet may be the most readily available source of up to
date information and even contact with people who follow a given faith.
However, not all religious Websites are equal in quality and
content. Many religious Websites have an agenda to either preach the truth of
their own religion or, even worse, to discredit the truths preached by other religion(s).
Many such sites present biased information or even misinformation.
Yet there are also many good, informative, fairly objective
sites on religion present on the Web. Some such sites are an
"insider's" perspective on the religion: produced by and for people of
a given faith as well as to inform outsiders about the basic facts and teachings
of the faith. Other good sites are an "outsider's" perspective,
produced by academics presenting the religion in an objective fashion, allowing
the reader to make his or her own judgment regarding the religion in question.
Many sites are chock full of interesting and useful
information. But just as many sites seem to be mainly "portals" or
"meta" sites supplying links to other sites (keep an eye on the URL to
see if the first part of it - the "domain name" - changes. Often you
don't actually have to click on the link; you can find out where a link goes by
looking at the bottom left of your browser when you simply pass your cursor over
it). These portals can be useful for locating other, content heavy sites but you
won't learn much from portal sites.
The purpose of this assignment is three-fold:
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to explore the presence of religion on the Internet
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to supplement text books and other standard learning resources with material available on the Internet
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to develop critical evaluation skills
What should you do?
This is a collaborative project. Working in cooperation with classmates, you will review and critique a
selected Website related to a specific religion, suitable for educational purposes (i.e., a site where you can learn something about a religion). You will
write a preliminary critical review (150-200 words), give feedback on critiques written by two classmates while receiving feedback on your critique from two other classmates. Finally, you will
revise your critique based on feedback received and submit a final critique useful to other students of religion.
You
are encouraged and may even be asked to use these, as well as other sites, in
the course of your studies and research for this class.
There are several steps to this project which will take place
over a period of several weeks. Due to the collaborative nature of this
project it is important that you are timely in completing each part of the
project - your classmates are counting on you to do your part. You should post
your initial and final critiques and feedback to the "Our Websites"
forum of the class discussion
board. After reading through the steps that follow, if you have
questions about the process (yes, it does sound complex), please ask either in
class or in the FAQ forum of the class discussion board.
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First step is to select a topic
(specific religion) you wish to use as the focus for your Website
critique: (Distance learning students, see note below)
Topics may be chosen from
among the twelve major religions discussed at this site (see the symbols
on the home page). Specific choice of topics will depend on the focus of the
class you are taking. If you are studying Eastern religions (REL 231) your
topic should be related to one of the Eastern religions. If you are studying
Western religions (REL 232) your topic should be related to one of the
Western religions. If you are unsure of which religions will be suitable, ask
your mentor. Students in "Introduction to the Study of Religion" (REL
100) may select any religion as their topic. Topics may also include groups of religions - such as
Eastern or Western faiths in general, multi- or inter-faith sites. You may
check the list of possible topics in the "Our Websites" forum of
the discussion board.
Where possible, each student will select a different
topic. Choice of topic will be granted on a "first claimed, first
granted" basis. The sooner you decide on a topic, the more likely you
will be to get your first choice. You may e-mail your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd
choices to your mentor. If you fail to choose a topic by the due date (see class
schedule), your mentor will assign you a topic from among those
remaining. Distance learning students will not
be assigned a topic but should try to select a topic that is under
represented or not yet covered by other students.
In preparation for critiquing a Website, you should take
this Online tutorial: Evaluating information from the World Wide Web
(should take about half an hour) (you need not submit the quiz at the
end).
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Second step: select and
critique a Website
You will have one week to select and critique a Website
related to your topic. (see class
schedule for due date).
Don't confuse a "Web page" for a "Web
site" - a "site" is a collection of pages. You will
begin your exploration of a particular Website on a specific page (usually the
"homepage") but do not limit your critique to a single page, explore
the entire site to see what else is there.
(If you are new to using the Internet or otherwise need help using search
engines or understanding how to navigate around a Website, there are people in
the computer lab or library on campus who can help you.)
Your critique of the site should be between
150 - 200 words and include the working site
URL, title, and author (or sponsoring organization), annotated details regarding the content and usefulness of the
site, and an evaluation of the site quality. Consider such questions as:
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Is it an "insider" (by and for followers) or "outsider" (objective, academic) perspective on the religion in question?
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Does the site offer a biased and one-sided or balanced and well-rounded presentation of content?
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Is it a credible site? (hint: look for an
"about" page that tells you who has written the pages, what
their qualifications are - would this person be expected to know what they
are talking about? Is the site produced by a reputable and respected
organization? Has the site won awards or recognition from related
organizations?)
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Is there a substantial amount of substantive content (not simply links to other Web sites)?
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How might a student of religion use this site?
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You might also want to consider appearance and
navigation issues or any other issues you deem pertinent.
To help guide you in your evaluation, you might consult
this chart of five criteria for web site evaluation
Be sure to address the following in your critiques:
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Site title and URL
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Brief description of site contents ("This site
contains...")
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The purpose of the site (often noted somewhere on the
site itself e.g., in the "about us" page. If not stated, then
use your own judgment of contents to make this determination)
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How the material is presented: is it informative and
objective or persuasive and biased? Does the site seem to be for insiders
or outsiders of the religion in question?
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Who has produced and/or authored the materials at the
site: Are they insiders or outsiders to the religion in question? Do they
seem to be a credible, reliable authority on the issues discussed? Why do
you make this judgment?
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the appearance and ease of use (navigation) of the site
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the value of this site for a student of religion
Post your critique as a reply to the
relevant message in the "Our Websites" forum of the class
discussion board. You are advised to compose your critique off-line
and, when complete, copy and paste your work into the message text
window.
*The best way to make sure your URL is
accurate is to copy it from the address line in your browser and paste
it into your critique (to copy a URL, highlight the URL in the address line,
right click, select "copy" or use keyboard shortcut: control+c, then
simply paste into your critique as you would for any other copied material).
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Third step:
Critique your classmates' critiques
You are to offer feedback on critiques posted by two of your
classmates. In turn, you will receive feedback on your own site critique from
two of your peers.
Please select critiques not yet reviewed by two classmates - we
don't want anyone to not get sufficient feedback from their peers. If your
feedback for a particular critique is posted after two others, that
will deduct from your grade for the assignment.
You will have one week to visit the sites
your two classmates reviewed and offer your constructive feedback on
their critiques (see class
schedule for due date):
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Do you agree with their evaluation of
these sites? Why or why not?
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Do you feel their critiques are useful
and accurate?
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How would you suggest they modify their
critiques?
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Did they leave anything important
out?
Remember, you are offering feedback on your classmates'
critiques, not on the sites themselves. Your feedback should be
constructive and helpful to your classmate. A simple "good job" is not
very constructive - no one does a perfect job; there is always room for
improvement.
Post your feedback as replies to the respective messages. A
part of your grade for this assignment will be based on your offering such
feedback.
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Fourth step: Revise and submit
final critique
You will have one week to review the feedback on your
critique that you receive from your classmates, take another look at the
Website you reviewed and revise your critique accordingly.
Don't take the feedback personally. Remember, your
classmates are trying to be helpful.
Final critiques should be posted as a reply to your own
preliminary critique. Please do not modify your original critique
- I need to be able to compare your original and final critiques to see how
you have incorporated the feedback. If I see only one critique from you -
even if it has been modified, you will not receive full credit for the
assignment (it will look as if you have only posted a preliminary
critique).
General considerations:
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Since this assignment is completed online, you are
responsible for timely completion even if absent or out of town.
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If there are extenuating circumstances and preclude your
timely completion of this assignment, e-mail
your mentor.
Throughout the remainder of your studies, you are encouraged
to visit the Websites critiqued by your classmates (and other sites) as a
supplement to other resources you are using.
Grading criteria:
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Timely
completion of each step of the process (25%) 1 - 4 points
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Thoroughness,
accuracy, utility, and completeness of critique: consider points
noted above in step two (and any other points you deem pertinent) (50%):
1 - 8 points
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URLs
that work as cited (be sure to include "http://" in the
critique you e-mail - again copy the URL from your browser window)
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Title of site
(and, if available, author and/or sponsoring organization)
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Content is described and accurately reflects content of site
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Quality of contents is evaluated
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Review is useful to reader: is informative and intriguing as well as accurate
(Bonus
points to students who identify a Website I find worthy of linking to from
my own site)
Grade
will be calculated as a fraction of points earned over possible total points.
Thus: 15 - 16 points = A, 11 - 14 points = B, 7 - 10 points = C, 3 - 6 points =
D, 1 - 2 points = F
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