Helping students find their way into the World Wide Web

Evaluating Web Sites

The Importance of Evaluating Web Sites

In this electronic age, there is so much information available online, but not everything you find is credible, reliable, or trustworthy. Therefore it is of the upmost importance to teach our students how to evaluate the difference between good and bad web sites.

John Goes Searching… John is in the third grade and is given

his first research assignment about the cockroach. The following sites are what John found through his internet search.

Biased Web Site John finds this web site that seems

reliable, but in fact the creator of the web site may have skewed the information due to their own beliefs or opinions.

Personal beliefs and opinions

Facts

Example of a Biased Web Site http://www.trulynolen.com/blog/?p=19

The web master is a pest company.

Inappropriate The next web site John finds has very

valuable, reliable information but is at a level way above his comprehension.

Example of an Inappropriate Web Site http://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/kunkel/cockroach.html

Huh??

Lacks Credibility John finds great information from this

web site but he is unaware of the fact that the webmaster is not providing any credible sources on their site.

There is no authorized webmaster, evidence of authorship, or that of a reputable sponsor.

Example of Web Site that Lacks Credibility http://www.cockroach-pictures.com/

Great information, but we don’t

know who wrote it.

Excellent John finds this web site which is a

perfect example of a web site that does NOT:

Lack credibility Is inappropriate for his age Is biased

Example of an Excellent Web Site http://yucky.discovery.com/noflash/roaches/index.html

What did John learn? John learned that not ALL information

on the internet is valuable. John knows now that he should play detective when it comes to internet research.

Tips For Improving Student Success

Create a “Favorites” list of preapproved web sites that students should use.

Have students use a school supported search engine such as Net Trekker, AskKids.com and YahooKids.com.

Always follow the two-step rule. Never be more than two steps away when students are searching the internet.