Let's+work+on+our+Rating+System+here.

(Lauri) I used Chapter 2 in //Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts// by Richardson and Stephen Downe's article on website evaluation retrieved from @http://www.downes.ca/post/4 to pull together some categories to use in our rating system. This sample blog evaluation might be a good resource: Sample Blog Rubric

Overuse of **Generalizations**: //"Think about the generalizations you believe. Are they based on good data? What is the data?"// (Downes, 2005)
 * Authority Rating**: (using Technorati) //Who the author is; what s/he does for a living; level of expertise; judgments others have made (Ch. 2, p. 38)//
 * Accuracy**: //How accurate is the information? Is it verifiable, dependable, and error-free?//
 * Sources**: //How current is the information? Are the links updated?//
 * Objectivity**, Bias, Motives, Agenda, Sponsorship? //Use the blogrolls to check this out as suggested in Chapter 2, page 38? What is the author's purpose (to inform, persuade, entertain)?//

I have started a collaboration on the discussion board. It would be great to come to a concensus on the rating scale. Lauri

HOW to add stars to your ratings: Click on the page you want to add the stars to. Click on the place in the page you want to add the rating stars. Click on FILE from the toolbar. Click on the set of stars you want to add, then click on embed (choose the right side alignment).

(Dave) Thanks Lauri, I'll rate my entries right away! --

(Pru) I think we should use stars to as a rating scale. This is universal we could have 0-5 and 5 starts being the best. I think of movie, restaurants, and hotels having 5 star ratings being the best. Lauri has done some great research as a wonderful starting point for us.

We need to figure out what is a 0 and what is a 5, along with the other stars or symbols we use.

(Dave) I agree with using stars, its become the standard icon for ratings. Do we need a full 0-5 rating though? That could mean a lot of miniscule differences in opinion to argue over rather than evaluating each blog critically and efficiently.

As to a rubric for evaluating, I think the sample one is a good start. I just feel that it may not be comprehensive enough for our needs. What Lauri has put above is great. I'm not sure what else we would need to include except possibly a category for clarity. My thought is to evaluate if the ideas presented are done so in a concise and clear manner, making the information easy to understand. Thoughts?

Cole: I like the evaluation method that was Lauri posted at the top of the page. I feel as though that would be one of the easiest ways to break down a blog. If we wanted to use that rubric and still use the star system, we could just score something like 1-4 marks of YES score one start and 5-7 is two stars and so on. Let me know what you think! Also, if anyone was feeling really ambitious, they could try to make a rubric using Rubistar from last class.

(Pru)- I would work on a rubric for stars. I think we should incorporate what Lauri has done above. Any ideas? **I made a rubic. I am not sureif I uploaded it correctly. [|Rubric for resources.xls]** I did use [] and the rubric ID # is 2169732. I used some of the ideas that they had and then I used Lauri's above ideas. You will see some of the boxes are blank. There is also only 4 stars. Please feel free to download the rubric and change things. Then reupload your version.

**Lisa**: I think we have a great start here. Pru - I was not able to read the file you attached here, but was able to access the rubric on the rubistar site...however, as I was recognized as the author, I was unable to edit it. I will look again and find a way to work on it later this evening when I have more time. Also, does everyone envision listing the ratings for all five categories for each resource, or just average an overall rating? (Pru) Let me know if anyone else cannot get the rubric to open. I can get it to open and I added it to its own page. In order to open it from the page I had to save it. It then opened.I hope it works. I would like other people’s input; I know there is some missing information. If it does not open for you can get it via the website. Look at the rubric and tell me what you wanted added/changed. I will change it. I added it again as a different excel format. I hope this works.

(Dave) Hey guys check the message board at our class, Lauri and I were working on a modified rating system that's a bit simpler. She went ahead and put the star graphics on the wiki so we could rate our blogs and finish up the assignment. Hope everyone's St. Patrick's Day was fun!

(Charlotte) The rubric looks great and agree that the rating system works better when it is a bit simper. thanks for butting that together!