When your students or younger patrons browse the Web, they are bombarded with information from all kinds of sources—but can they tell what is fact and what is fiction? Teaching them how to find trustworthy information on their own is an essential life skill as well as a research skill. For that, youth need guidance to learn how to find reliable sources of information when navigating the Web.
Evaluating Websites
The major portion of a student’s research in today’s world will often be on the Internet. The Web is powerful and has a wealth of information for students to access and use. Unfortunately, as Alan November writes, “the Internet is a place where you can find ‘proof ’ of essentially any belief system that you can imagine and for too many students, ‘if it’s on the Internet, then it is true’” (November Learning, 2009). In his article, “Teaching Zack to Think,” November tells a true story about a 14-year-old student who, as a result of using information he found on the Internet, came to the conclusion that the Holocaust never happened. November discusses how students can use the web itself to evaluate their sources by determining the purpose, author, and meta-web information of the site found (November Learning, 2009). Knowing how to use the Internet is an indispensable twenty-first-century skill. Teachers and librarians can work together to teach lessons on its use. Evaluating websites is the focus of the following lesson. It may be taught by the teacher or librarian earlier in the year or at the time of the iSearch Project.
Lesson 12: Evaluating Websites
Curriculum Standards
• American Association of School Librarians (AASL, 2007)—Standards for the 21st-Century Learner: Standard 1. Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge.
1.1.5. Evaluate information found in selected sources on the basis of accuracy, validity, appropriateness for needs, importance, and social and cultural context.
1.1.8. Demonstrate mastery of technology tools for accessing information and pursuing inquiry.
1.3.5. Use information technology responsibly.
• International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE, 2007)—NETS for Students 2007:
5. Digital Citizenship
a. Advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology.
Lesson Objective Students will have the opportunity to evaluate websites for their authenticity.
Materials Needed
• Teacher/librarian computer and projector device
• Student computers
• “The Five W’s of Web Site Evaluation” (see Figure 5.2).
• Kid-Friendly Search Engines (see Figure 5.3). [Not available as part of this post]
Anticipatory Set
• Talk with the students about using the Internet for their research. Most students will have had prior experience searching the web. This is a good time to remind the more experienced users of the basics and an opportunity to introduce the inexperienced younger students to search strategies. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2011) offers a helpful tutorial, “Using the Web,” divided by grade level: grades 1–2, grades 3–5 and grades 6–8. “Searching for Web Sites” for grades 3–5 and “Evaluating Web Sites” for grades 6–8 are especially valuable for this lesson.
• A useful video for older students is the Common Craft (2011) video Web Search Strategies in Plain English.
• Use information from ALA’s “Great Web Sites for Kids Selection Criteria” to lead the class in a discussion of what makes a website useful (ALA, 2010) .
• Next, discuss with the students the “Who, What, When, Where, and Why” of website evaluation. Use Kathy Schrock’s “The Five W’s of Web Site Evaluation” (see Figure 5.2).
Click for larger image
Guided Practice
• Choose a “hoax site” and have students work in pairs using “The Five W’s” to determine if the website is useful or not. A source for hoax sites is: “Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators: Critical Evaluation Information” (Schrock, 2011c).
• Students may work at computers or with print copies of “The Five W’s of Web Site Evaluation” and the hoax sitewebpage.
• Have students share with the class their findings regarding the hoax sites.
Independent Practice
• Have students do searches for a class question (i.e., What are fun things to do at Lake Tahoe?) using one of the search engines in Figure 5.3 and “The Five W’s of Web Site Evaluation.”
• Students may work again at computers or with print copies of “The Five W’s of Web Site Evaluation” to determine the helpfulness of the Internet site.
• Have students share their findings with a partner.
• Another option is to use Kathy Schrock’s forms “Critical Evaluation of a Web Site: Elementary School Level” or “Critical Evaluation of a Web Site: Middle School Level” (Schrock,2011a,b; see also Schrock, 2002).
Closure Discuss with students the difference between a site that is not helpful and a useful site. Ask them how “The Five W’s of Web Site Evaluation” helped them determine the difference.
Formative Assessment Check students’ knowledge of “The Five W’s of Web Site Evaluation” for understanding of the web assessment process.
