A programmer looking for an answer to a question will evaluate a site based on whether it has the information he happens to be looking for. A child looking for an interactive, shoot'em up game to play over the Internet will be evaluating sites with a different set of criteria. As educators, we have a different set of standards that a web site must meet to be educationally valid for use within the classroom. Below you will find the rubric that I use to evaluate web sites. This should be of primary importance when deciding to use web resources or not.
Static displays are pretty, but so are colorful books.
Computers and the Internet lend themselves to two-way communication. Hands-on activities and manipulatives have been proven to be a great way to teach a wide variety of concepts. Watch for web sites that allow the students to interact in some way. It could be drawing, writing, clicking, or chatting. Textbooks have shown us that the media does not have to be dull and boring to be effective.