This document describes an assignment where students will explore different aspects of popular music by investigating music bands. They will create their own pop band, write a biography for a band member, and present their work in a fanzine format. It lists several internet sources that provide reliable, up-to-date information about various bands that will help students complete the assignment. It analyzes each source based on accuracy, currency, content, and functionality. Some sources were not included because they were too long, lacked necessary information, or had confusing or inappropriate content.
1. ICT APPLIED TO LANGUAGE TEACHING 2011
Assignment # 3: Project Work based on Internet
Students: de Miguel Anabella, Duarte Rocío, Hacinlioglu Jacqueline
Project Work: MUSIC
Analysis of the Internet Material.
Description:
In this project the students will explore different aspects of popular music. They are supposed to investigate
and learn about some music bands to be able not only to create their own pop band, but also write a
biography, design a profile and an outfit for one of the members of the band and present it to the class in a
“Fanzine” format.
The internet sources included in the project were selected taking into account the following questions:
1. Accuracy
• Who wrote the page? Is this person an expert in the subject matter?
• Is this page content reliable and factually correct?
2. Currency
• Is the content up-to-date?
• When was the page uploaded?
3. Content
• Is the site interesting and stimulating?(learner’s point of view)
• Is it attractive and easy to navigate?
4. Functionality
• Does the site work well?
• Does it use a lot of large files or alternative technologies?
Internet sources for the project:
These are the ones which are included in this project:
• Queen (band). Retrieved September 6th, 2011, from en.wikipedia.org. Web site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_(band)
This page provides students with lots of information divided into different sections. This helps students to
focus on certain aspects and not on others by means of clear headings and subtitles.
This information is in a page which is known by most people who frequently make researches. The content is
reliable. The site is easy to navigate works well and resume all the info the students will need to carry out the
project. It is updated and properly organized. It also contains pictures which are very useful.
2. • Black Eyed Peas Official Site. Retrieved September 6th, 2011. Web site:
http://www.blackeyedpeas.com/home/bio
This page is very attractive and it is full of colourful pictures of the band. As soon as you open it, you can find
the information required in this project. So students will not feel lost during reading time. It’s easy to navigate
and the info is reliable since this is an official page of the band. Students will only find information about
them and not any other singer. It helps avoiding confusion. The content is updated
• Backstreet Boys: Music, videos, songs, news, photos and lyrics. Retrieved September 6th, 2011, from
www.mtv.com. Web site:
http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/backstreet_boys/artist.jhtml
This page is meant for music lovers and the runner of it is actually a very popular music channel on TV, so
we find the info very reliable, up-to date and easy to navigate. It contains very useful information for the
readers at the moment they have to look for some specific data. It has many pictures and files to look at.
Students can also listen to some of this band’s songs. The site works well.
• Jonas Brothers. Retrieved September 6th, 2011, from en.wikipedia.org. Web site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonas_Brothers
This is another very well-known web page which is very organized and clear. This site works properly and
fast. The information is updated and accurate. The site is easy to navigate, so sts will not find any difficulties
in searching for the info required in task 1 in the web quest. It also has many pictures.
• Spice Girls Biography. Retrieved September 6th, 2011, from www.starpulse.com. Web site:
http://www.starpulse.com/Music/Spice_Girls/Biography/
In spite of being quite long, this site contains lots of information. We compare the info with different sites and
found the info is current and updated. It’s easy to navigate and do not present any other kind of information
not related to the Spice Girls.
• Hanson (band). Retrieved September 6th, 2011, from en.wikipedia.org. Web site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanson_(band)
This page is short but it contains all the necessary information for the project. It is easy to follow because it
has many headings presenting the data in a neat and tidy way. The site works very well and fast. The info is
updated. The students can also find some pictures to see the faces of the singers now and in the past. The
content it presents is reliable.
• The Beatles. Retrieved September 6th, 2011, from en.wikipedia.org. Web site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles
I t provides the students with clear, organized and factual information in a reliable site known by most of us.
There are also pictures and guidelines to help learners’ comprehension.
• Maná. Retrieved September 13th, 2011, from en.wikipedia.org. Web site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man%C3%A1
This is another very well-known web page which is very organized and clear. This site works properly and
fast. The information is updated and accurate. It has many pictures and files to look at. The site is easy to
navigate works well and resume all the info the students will need.
3. • Kiss online history. Retrieved September 13th, 2011. Web site:
http://www.kissonline.com/history/
This page provides students with lots of information divided into different sections. This helps students to
focus on certain aspects and not on others by means of clear headings and subtitles. The site works very well
and fast. The info is updated. The students can also find some pictures to see the faces of the singers now and
in the past. It’s easy to navigate and do not present any other kind of information not related to the band.
• Ricky Martin: Gallery, Media and Photos. Retrieved September 13th, 2011. Web site:
http://www.rickymartinmusic.com/Media/Photos
I t provides the students with clear, organized and factual information. We chose it mainly because it contains
videos, music and lots of pictures to help them working out their task in this project. The site is easy to
navigate and works well.
• Backstreet Boys: biography. Retrieved September 13th, 2011. Web site:
http://backstreetboys.com/bio/
This page is very attractive and it is full of colourful pictures of the band. As soon as you open it, you can find
the information required in this project. There are also videos and photo galleries for students to look at. The
site works very well and fast. The info is updated.
These are the others web pages which were not selected for this Project:
• The Black Eyed Peas. Retrieved September 6th, 2011, from en.wikipedia.org. Web site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Eyed_Peas
In this site, there are nice pictures and very well-organized information. But, in fact, it is too long and students
will get bored very easily. It is a very popular page and in this case the information it provides with is reliable.
• Backstreet Boys. Retrieved September 6th, 2011, en.wikipedia.org. Web site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backstreet_Boys
In this case, the information provided was quite messy and too long for learners to read. In fact, there is only
one picture which is not very attractive and interesting to navigate on.
• Jonas brothers: biography. The official site of the Jonas Brothers. Retrieved September 6th, 2011, from
www.jonasbrothers.com. Web site:
http://www.jonasbrothers.com/about.php
This site is not suitable for learners because you have direct links to some social networks like Twitter or
Facebook. There is only one picture and the information contained is not the one required for this project.
• The Cheetah Girls biography. Retrieved September 6th, 2011, from www.starpulse.com. Web site:
http://www.starpulse.com/Music/Cheetah_Girls,_The/Biography/
This site is very neat and tidy. However, it has a tiny picture with little information. So as regards the
objectives of this project, this site would not be that recommendable. All in all, for this project we left this
band out.
4. • Spice Girls Biography. Retrieved September 6th, 2011, from www.sing365.com/music. Web site:
http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/spice-girls-biography/e9607989c20bc89a482568970010b1fe
This site has a very short text with information and a small picture but there are comments that people made
below it. It is confusing and dangerous for students because it is difficult to have control on what people add
each day in the page.
• About Hanson. Retrieved September 6th, 2011, from www.hanson.net. Web site:
http://www.hanson.net/site/sections/13
Although it is an official band’s web page, the information is not appropriate for this project. The pictures are
very attractive but they are not enough. It lacks certain factual items which are necessary to do some tasks.
• Introduction: The Beatles. Retrieved September 6th, 2011, from www.thebeatles.com. Web site:
http://www.thebeatles.com/#/history/Introduction
In the case of this site, the information is properly organized but it does not contain what students should look
for their projects. It is updated and very colourful with many pictures in a guideline.
• Teen Angels. Retrieved September 6th, 2011, from en.wikipedia.org. Web site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teen_Angels
This site was too short and it did not contain much useful information. Its content is reliable but incomplete.