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4. Encourage Feedback, Review and Evaluation
A critical goal of publishing on the Web is to engage young authors in a dialog with their audience. When this dialog is encouraged and fostered, Web publishing is the beginning of the story... not the end. It is this connection with a real... not theoretical... audience which makes the enterprise so rewarding.
Appropriate author-audience dialog can create powerful incentives in your students to meet high standards. When their work is reviewed and evaluated by their remote peers and other members of the 'Net community, they will appreciate and understand how standards are established and "enforced." They will understand the importance and context of skills development. Consequently, they will be more inclined to edit, revise, and improve their work, which will in turn provide many teachable moments and opportunities to develop the skills they must learn.
At the minimum, we should find a current email address (or a link to the contact address) at the bottom of each page that will put us directly in contact with either the student author(s) or the students' teacher.
In the best cases, the project solicits responses to specific questions about the project, or perhaps includes an evaluation rubric to send back to the authors. (Our section on Web Project Assessment gives more specific ideas and guidelines through the use of forms, evaluation rubrics, and other strategies designed to structure the dialog and feedback with the audience.)
Planning for Feedback Via Electronic Mail
Since most informal feedback your students receive will come via email, it is important to
plan for appropriate email dialog.
At the minimum, you should prepare to use your own email account to accommodate review, feedback and evaluation between your young authors and their audience.
Page 1: Define audience and purpose
Page 2: Teach something "new"
Page 3: Cite information sources
Page 4: Encourage feedback
Page 5: Include reflection pages
Page 6: Balance content & presentation
Page 7: Make it current
Page 8: Keep it simple and accessible
