Response #2

Topic: You need to teach your students how to evaluate websites. How will you do this?

As teachers it is our job to not only be sure that we teach our students the curriculum, but we also need to instruct our students to be good investigators and researchers, especially with the internet. Children do not enter into school with the knowledge of how to search on the internet for information, which is why it is imperative for us to teach this within the walls of our classroom.

My plan...

Step 1.
In order for student to understand that information is not always valid on the internet, it is important for them to see examples where information is not true and valid. The first step to my lesson would be to have students visit the website: Save the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus Site. At the sites students would need to look for information to support if this is a valid site or not. As a group we would visit:

• Forward links
• Back links
  
• Implement Real:
  
• R- read the URL
• E - examine the content
• A – ask about the author and owner
• L – check out the links

Step 2.
After the group has decided how they feel about the validity of the site, we will then take a look at 2 different websites that describe several questions to ask and things to consider when deciding if the website is good to use or not:

• The Quality Information Checklist
• Fact of Folly

Step 3.
At this point students should be at the point to be introduced to evaluating websites on their own. To help them along the way, they will have a worksheet with questions to answer while they are there.

Evaluating Websites

How do we make sure a website is a good one?

There are some steps to always follow…

R- read the URL

E - examine the content

A – ask about the author and owner

L – check out the links

REAL

Always use a…CRITICAL EYE

Directions: It is important to look for valid information when looking on websites. In order to do that we must ask ourselves some questions when we are there. Take a minute to answer the questions to see if this is a valid site.

• What is the URL? __________________________________

• Who is the author of the site? _________________________

• What is the title of the site? __________________________

• What institute sponsers this site? _____________________

• When was the site last updated? ______________________

Answer yes or no to the following questions (circle your choice). You should be able to get an idea if the information is valid or not for your topic if you have more yes(s) or no(s).

• Is the reading level good for me? Yes No

• Is the page easy to navigate (go through)? Yes No

• Are the pictures clear? Yes No

• Is the page organized and well set up? Yes No

• Are there headings/titles on the site? Yes No

• Are there links on the site? Yes No

• If so, list where they go (2 examples)…

• Can you get back to the main site? Yes No

• Is the information on the page useful? Yes No

• Are the facts true? Yes No (See if you can validate on another site or book)

• Is the author biased about the information? Yes No

(Watch this one. If it is a yes then that is

not necessarily good.)

Total: _____(yes) _____(no)

Now…

• What do your totals tell you about the website?

• Go to altavista.com
• Type in Link:(add your url here)
• This will tell you what websites LINK to this page.

• What does this information tell you about your page that you are on?

• After completing your evaluation sheet, do you think this website is valid? Why or why not?

*Students should be on the right track for evaluating websites after this lesson.*

November, A. (2008). Web Literacy for Educators. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.