Getting to the Truth on Internet Websites

One student summed up the value of the Internet this way: “You have a wider range of information on one site on the Internet, whereas if you are looking in books you have to go find the book, look it up, get another book. On the computer you can just sit in one place and click around and print. Plus you can do the Internet at home and not have to go to a library.”

Another typical comment was, “I think the Internet is a good learning tool. You can find the information you need fast and easily.”

As these comments suggest, access to information is viewed as a major benefit of using the Internet for research. This inflated view of the Internet’s capabilities may exist because it does uncover so much information, whether it’s relevant or not.

Bogus web sites:

http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/

http://allaboutexplorers.com/index.html

http://martinlutherking.org/

How do we get students to look more critically at the information they find on the internet?

Guidelines from the web site About.com

Guidelines and Best Practices for Using the Internet

Remember that anyone can publish anything they want on the Internet, true or false. It's up to you to determine which information is true and credible.

Trust your intuition. Like the old adage, if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is. Stay as objective as you can.

Stick with well-respected websites for the most credible and objective information.

Always find at least a second reference to confirm your findings. Find a third reference, too, if you have time. There are few exceptions to this rule (pointed out in the resources listed.) But in general, if you can't find the information duplicated in more than two or three references, then it's questionable at best.

Teaching Kids how to search for Websites---I have used this lesson with the kids. http://www.eduplace.com/kids/usingweb/g3-5.html

The site goes over finding a search engine, entering key words, reading descriptions of sites, choosing best sites. The end provides them with topics to choose from and a PDF sheet to record their findings.

Here is the PDF link http://www.eduplace.com/kids/usingweb/pdfs/g3-5.pdf

Search Engines for Kids by librarians. http://www.kidsclick.org/

Also… www.ajkids.com      Ask for kids site

www.factmonster.com   Online almanac, dictionary, encyclopedia, and homework help www.cybersleuth-kids.com/    An internet search guide for the K-12 student

What is a blog?

Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (artlog), photographs (photoblog), sketches (sketchblog), videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog), audio (podcasting), which are part of a wider network of social media. Micro-blogging is another type of blogging, one which consists of blogs with very short posts. As of December 2007, blog search engine Technorati was tracking more than 112 million blogs.[1] With the advent of video blogging, the word blog has taken on an even looser meaning — that of any bit of media wherein the subject expresses his opinion or simply talks about something.

What is a wiki?

A wiki is a page or collection of Web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content, using a simplified markup language.[1][2] Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites. The collaborative encyclopedia Wikipedia is one of the best-known wikis.[2] Wikis are used in business to provide intranet and Knowledge Management systems. Ward Cunningham, the developer of the first wiki software, WikiWikiWeb, originally described it as "the simplest online database that could possibly work".[3]

AuthorshipIs there an author or organization clearly indicated? If there's an author, go back to the questions listed above about authors and ask yourself how reputable this person is. Can the author be contacted? (If an e-mail address is given, you can contact that person or look up the address by using the "finger" command.)What can you find out about the author? If there is no information on the site, use a search engine or search Usenet. You may find the author's homepage or other documents which mention this person. Or look up the person on the Internet Directory of Published Writers. If the person is associated with a university, look at the university Web site.If there is an organization sponsoring the page, what can you learn about the organization and who they are? (You can search the site by following links to its home page or going back to a previous level on the site by eliminating the last part of the address, after a "/" mark or a period. Another way to find the organization is to go to the View menu at the top of your Web browser and open the Document Information window where the owner of the document is listed.)

AuthorshipDoes the organization take responsibility for what's on the site? Does it monitor or review what's on the site? Look at the address for the site. Does it end in .edu, indicating that it's an educational institution? If it has .gov, it should be fairly objective government-sponsored material. Addresses with .org are usually nonprofit organizations that are advocacy groups. (The Sierra Club is an example of an advocacy group. Their postings will conform to their goals of environmental preservation. Information posted by advocacy groups may be accurate but not entirely objective.) If the site has a .com address, it's most likely promoting or selling something.

Resources:

http://www.myteacherpages.com/webpages/SGoldstein1/validityaccuracy.cfm

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/eval.htmlhttp://www.eduplace.com/kids/usingweb/g3-5.html

http://www.uen.org/Rubric/browse.cgi

http://www.kidsclick.org/

http://www.askkids.com/

http://www.factmonster.com/

http://www.cybersleuth-kids.com/