Share Paper: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Interactive Tools and Elementary and Middle School Websites in Mississippi

1. Jessica Bounds, Center for Undergraduate Research - University of Southern Mississippi, United States

Abstract: This paper reports initial findings for an in-progress study using qualitative textual analysis and website assessment instruments to evaluate a variety of elementary and middle school websites. Data sets from both the public and private sectors were included in order to emphasize various contextual forces at play when determining overall effectiveness and accessibility of websites from diverse educational settings. Initial research indicates a general lack of effectiveness, accessibility, and quality in both elementary and middle school websites in one particular region of Mississippi. Implications include a need for improvement, in part in ways that offer dynamic, up-to-date sites that serve ...