الكاتب/ة الباحث/ة
Dr Fathi Ahmadieh
الناشر/المؤسسة
E-Learning and Digital Media
تاريخ الإصدار
2018
الدولة
الأردن
In this digital era, educational websites have become one of the important learning resources
which facilitate children’s learning experiences. Although the use of educational websites in
supporting children’s learning has progressively increased in Qatari schools, these websites are
used without being evaluated in terms of their appropriateness for children. The aim of this study
is to evaluate children’s educational websites used in Qatari schools based on the developmental
perspective. It also intends to describe what children think about these websites and what types
of online activities they undertake. A developmental scale was designed to evaluate how devel-
opmentally appropriate these websites are for children. Later, semi-structured interviews were
conducted with 50 children to achieve a better understanding of their perceptions about the
educational websites used in their schools. Findings of this study revealed that children’s educa-
tional websites are moderately appropriate. The websites were the most developmentally appro-
priate in the domains of “easy to navigate” and “technical design”, while “accessibility” and
“instructional design” were the least appropriate domains. Moreover, there were significant
differences in the appropriateness of children’s websites due to websites source and school
types. Most children involved in the study expressed their satisfaction with some elements of
the websites they use. Finally, academic activities were found to be the most common type of
activities children participate in while using these websites. Recommendations for developing
children’s educational websites in Qatar are discussed.