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•Reasons to Teach Due to the areas previously discussed in this paper it is necessary to teach students to critically analyze the information found on the Internet. In light of the vast amount of information found on the Internet, students tend to take Internet information at face value and are not innately aware of the need to question the information they are exposed to. In other words, students are being allowed to use the Internet without actually knowing how to use and evaluate the information they are finding. Teachers may be spending time teaching students to use various search engines, but are they teaching students to analyze the information they are finding? Teachers need to be spending almost 10 times more time teaching students how to interpret the information they have found. ( November, A. ) Are teachers exposing students to the many factors associated with web information found on the Internet? Based on the information presented in this paper there are many issues to discuss with students before they become independent navigators of Internet information. Our job as teachers is to teach the user synthesis, finding the useful out of a plethora of what is available. (Jones, D. ) There are several suggestions that you may follow in order to determine what type of curriculum would be appropriate for your classroom. In order to begin the process of teaching web evaluation, it is a good idea to decide what subject area would be best to cover the majority of the instruction. Preferably, the instruction should take place within the subject area where the majority of research is being conducted. For example, if the majority of Internet research will be conducted in social studies, then the social studies teacher should address the major issues related to web evaluation. Additionally, it would be advisable to have the other curricular teachers reinforce the material that has previously been covered. Also, it is necessary to address this curriculum in conjunction with the district's acceptable use plan. This plan will give students a clear idea of the type of information they are allowed to access while using the school's equipment. By reinforcing these concepts in all curricular areas and educating students about the acceptable use plan, they will begin to get a sense of the need to evaluate. Another issue that will need to be determined is the age at which students should begin to learn how to analyze and evaluate the information they are finding. The answer to this question will vary. The basic rule of thumb would be to begin to educate students about web evaluation issues as they have the need to become independent navigators of the Internet. Before students are allowed to search for Internet information without using previously book marked sites they should be well aware of the need to evaluate the information they are likely to find. For example, if students are expected to conduct research using the Internet for the first time in junior high, then part of the junior high curriculum should include instruction that would allow students to properly consider and use the information they locate via the Internet. This is not to say Internet use should be limited to these grades only. Awareness of the Internet issues should be a gradual process, developing from the very early grades to the point of independent navigation. Students in the elementary grades can be using the Internet through the use of book marked sites. Students should start becoming familiar with the uses of the Internet as early as possible. Developing a comfort in the use of this tool will make future uses easier. Also students can begin to become aware of the need to evaluate as soon as they appear ready to understand the basic concepts of critical thinking. • Methods of Instruction In order to address web evaluation in the classroom it is necessary to develop a plan of instruction. This plan should incorporate four areas that would be helpful in allowing students to become critical thinkers about web information. The first part would be to inform the students of the necessity to evaluate the information. This step would include educating students about the many issues related to web evaluation. The second step would be to teach techniques students can use to evaluate information. This would include educating students about the indicators and methods which they can use when evaluating Internet information. The third step would be to practice the evaluation techniques that were taught. Students can practice these evaluation techniques at several websites and through classroom assignments. Finally, students should be assessed on the evaluation skills. This will allow the educator to be certain that the students understand how to use the information that they have uncovered. Once students have been through a curriculum similar to this, they should have the skills they need to become defensive users of the Internet. However, as teachers, it is still our job to carefully monitor the information students are obtaining. Teachers should also remind students of the need to evaluate by periodically reviewing the skills necessary to evaluate Internet information. The first major step in teaching students to evaluate Internet information is to make them aware of the need to evaluate. Most students do not realize that some of the information which they may encounter is inaccurate. Students will not innately understand that they need to question Internet information. Therefore, students need to be presented with information regarding the vast amount of material located on the Internet. They need to be aware that there are no real monitors of the information that is placed on the Internet, therefore anyone is allowed to post anything about anyone. During this awareness discussion it may be helpful to show students several examples of Internet sites that contain information that may not be accurate. This may include having students compare research they have found in print to research they found on the Internet. For example, a site located at the homepage of Arthur R. Butz gives reasons why the Holocaust did not happen. This type of site should allow students to use prior learning and knowledge to realize that this may not be accurate information. Although a bit extreme, at least students would understand that false information is out there and they do need to be aware of what they are finding. Another way to teach students of the need to evaluate would be to have students actually compare the information they found in many different sites about the same topic. For example, if they research the Holocaust on the Internet they are likely to find hundreds of different sources regarding this subject. Once students begin to compare the information on each of the various sites, they are likely to find discrepancies in the information as they look from site to site. This happens for a variety of reasons, but it serves as one of the major purposes we should evaluate the information we are finding while searching the Internet. Perhaps, by actually exposing students to these discrepancies located on the World Wide Web, we will begin to show them that they must be responsible users of the vast amount of information they can access. An additional way to increase awareness would be to expose students to the various reasons individuals or companies publish material for the Internet. This would include exposing students to issues such as as propaganda, advertising, advocacy, recreational, and education and scholarly information. Each of these categories prompts individuals to provide information in various ways. Students should also be made aware of the fact that they can see examples of many of these issues in books and magazines, as well as on the Internet. The difference between printed information and the Internet information is that printed information does have sources such as editors and publishers to monitor the information and content. Therefore, there is definite necessity to teach students to evaluate both kinds of information. •Evaluation Techniques Once students have been made aware of the issues that demand them to be active evaluators of Internet information, they need to be supplied with tools to aid them in the evaluation process. Most of the skills necessary to properly evaluate Internet information have been covered in other areas during the basic educational process. Critical thinking skills are at the root of proper evaluation techniques, and these skills are often addressed in many ways throughout the curriculum that is currently in place in most schools. Another critical tool to teaching the evaluation process is to model the skills you, as an educator, would like for the students to be using. Modeling can be accomplished through the use of sites that have been previewed by the teacher. Through this method teachers can demonstrate to students what an acceptable or credible site would look like. An additional method to aid in the instruction of site evaluation would be to teach students the various indicators that they can use as guides when evaluating the sites they encounter during searches. These indicators will provide students with various questions they should be asking when determining whether a site contains valuable information. The first indicator that could be discussed would be author credibility. Students can be made aware that a site is more credible if it contains the author's name and a way to contact the author, such as an Email address. Also, sites are more credible if the author's credentials are listed, and the credentials entitle them to be an expert of the given topic or qualify the author to publish information about the subject. For example, a professor of history does not have the background necessary to publish an article on cancer research. Students should be informed that just because an article is published by a professor or someone who can put "Dr." in front his/her name, does not always mean that he/she is a credible source of information. The next issue should be to teach students to evaluate the author or site's purpose for publishing the information. It is important to determine the site's purpose to be able to accurately determine if the information it contains is relevant for your needs. A site's purpose may not always be obvious, so it will be necessary to teach students the skills needed to determine purpose. ( November, A. ) Students should look at a site and ask the questions such as: What is the site trying to do?, Why was the site created?, Was the site created to sell a product or promote a particular idea?, and Was the site created solely for the purpose of entertainment? These questions will help students determine if the information is consistent with their intended use. For example, an author would provide different information if he/she were trying to attract someone to vacation on the Puerto Rican islands than if he was trying to publish a documentary about the island itself. Although both sites are on Puerto Rico, they have been published for different reasons. Another useful technique would be to teach students the method of using a web address, or URL, to determine the credibility of a site. Students can look at an URL and determine several important pieces of information. Students should be taught the basics in determining domain association. It would be useful to teach them the following domain types:
These are some of the basic domain names. These domain names would be easy for students to recognize and to use to determine the purpose for the creation of a site. A good FYI for teachers: The "Alternative" White House vs. the real White House--confusing these three sites may be a real surprise. The real White House URL is http://www.whitehouse. gov, which takes the viewer to the actual site. The "alternative" White House's URL is http://www.whitehouse.net, which is a satirical view of the White House. Finally, a third site that displays pornographic material is found at http://www.whitehouse.com . This illustrates a very good reason why teachers should preview sites prior to using them in their classrooms. Students can also be taught to recognize the date of publication and the currency of a site. Students can be taught to look at the currency of a site in order to determine if the information it contains will be accurate. Sites should be updated periodically to ensure that the author is keeping up with current information. This is especially important when researching areas related to the sciences or rapidly changing topics. Students should be taught that the date of publication of a site is usually at the bottom of the page. This date should reflect both when the sire was published and the date of last revision. This will be an area easy for students to detect, and can give useful information regarding the accuracy of the information. Finally, students can begin to look at the overall design of a site. They can look at a site and determine its accuracy by checking the publication for errors. These errors might including spelling, grammatical errors, and profanity which students should detect while reading through the information. In addition, the information should be easy to find, and the background should be created so it is easily read. As students advance in their web evaluation techniques, they can gain additional skills related to site format and design. The final evaluation skill may be the most important component of teaching students to evaluate web information. This includes teaching students critical thinking skills which can be applied to evaluation of a web site. According to a paper entitled, "Thinking Critically About the Web," critical thinking can be defined as "a readiness to question all assumptions/ an ability to recognize what is necessary to question, and an ability to evaluate and analyze".( Anagnostelis, Cooke, and McNab ) Students have usually been exposed to critical thinking skills throughout the curriculum, now it is necessary to teach students to apply these skills when thinking about web evaluation. The skills that are necessary for students to posses are: analyzing material, judging information, summarizing, and questioning. Each of these skills will play a vital part in determining which web information is credible. Students will use critical thinking skills to first analyze the author's purpose for publishing the information. Students will need to use analyzation skills to determine if the author is a credible source. Students will use judgment skills when using prior knowledge to determine whether the information they have found is accurate. "Critical thinking is a learnable skill with teachers and peers serving as resources. In order to develop good critical thinking skills students need to formulate and justify their own ideas." (Jones, D. ) Another important component of web evaluation would be to educate students about the various tools that are available to evaluate web sites. Students can use some of these tools to help them with the evaluation process. However, these tools should be used in conjunction with the various other resources the students have learned. The tools that are available for students come in the form of checklist, rubrics, and surveys/worksheets. Students can be shown examples of each and can refer to these resources as part of the evaluation process. There are many sites such as these located on the Internet. The following recommended sites contain checklists that can be useful to students.:
Once students have been taught the evaluation skills they will need the opportunity to practice these skills with the guidance of a teacher. This can be accomplished by having students look at various book marked web sites. The teacher will then have the opportunity to allow the students to look at the site and question what they are seeing. Teachers should allow students to ask questions, and also see a variety of sites, including those that would be considered non-credible pieces of information. Teachers should look at these sites, and working with their students, point out the reasons and indicators that led to a given decision of credibility. Once students have had the opportunity to evaluate web pages with the help of the teacher and fellow classmates, they will need to practice these skills independently. There are several good sites that can be used as independent practice sites for students. These sites allow students to look at web pages that portray examples of the various issues discussed above. Below is an annotated listing of these sites: Ed's Oasis - This is an online instructional resource that provides examples of each issue that is discussed. Teachers or students can become informed about the guidelines, and then click to visit sites that are examples of each. The following are links to sites that are useful examples of numerous topics.
The following is a list of sites that can be helpful in presenting the various purposes of web pages.
The last and final step to the teaching of web evaluation would be to assess what the students have learned. The sites above would be good test sites to give the students. The students could look at the sites to determine either author purpose or any of the issues that have been discussed in the web evaluation curriculum. The final test will come when the students are allowed to become independent navigators. They will use these skills to become active discerners of information. "The Internet is extraordinarily diverse. It is composed of millions of computers, networks, data files, and services. These encompass a tremendous variety of information" ( Cate, F. ). The Internet has the potential to be a useful tool for disseminating and retrieving very valuable and relevant material. However, the information found on the Web exists in massive amounts, and is produced by a variety of people possessing different purposes. The Internet is revised and growing daily and does not appear to be slowing down. Thus, one must learn the tools to critically evaluate the Internet themselves in order to be discerning navigators of the Web. |
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Date Last Modified: 7/01/2002 by Valarie
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