session 8: evaluating and validating web sites
DESCRIPTION
Session 8: Evaluating and Validating Web Sites. Focusing Question. How do you evaluate information found on the Internet?. Instruction. Framing Our Work. In our previous session, we looked at how being able to “decode” a web address was helpful in evaluating a website. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Session 8: Evaluating and Validating Web Sites
Focusing Question
How do you evaluate information found on the Internet?
Instruction
Framing Our Work
In our previous session, we looked at how being able to “decode” a web address was helpful in evaluating a website.
We heard the story of Zack, the student who wrote a paper saying that the Holocaust didn’t exist because he read it on a university website.
Framing Our Work
We learned that a web address can offer us important clues as to the bias and content of a site.
Framing Our Work
However, often deconstructing the web address is not enough. It doesn’t provide us with enough information.
So now we’re going to look at some additional strategies that we can use to evaluate a website.
Evaluating your source of information has always been an important skill
http://www.askmen.com/money/professional/20_professional_life.html
Today, when more people are relying on the Internet as their primary source for information, it’s become even more critical.
“A 2002 study directed by BJ Fogg, a Stanford psychologist, found that people tend to judge the credibility of a Web site by its appearance, rather than by checking who put it up and why.”
“But it is much easier to produce a professional-looking Web site than a credible-looking book!”
From “The Nation: Course Correction; Teaching Students to Swim in the Online Sea” by Geoffrey Nunberg, Published: February 13, 2005 in The New York Times
The Internet is used to….
Inform…
Misinform …
Misrepresent…
Preach hate…
Promote violence…
What criteria should we use for evaluating a website?
When evaluating a website, look at:
- the web address (URL)- the content- the author- the links
Is it REAL?
Read the URL
What did we see that made us dubious?
“Columbus returned to Spain in 1939…
He appeared on Larry King live and became quite famous around the world.”
Examine the content
What are some evaluative criteria to use when examining content?
Examine the Content
1. Is the information on the Web site useful for your topic?
2. Are additional resources and links provided? Do the links work?
3. Is the site current? Do you know when it was last updated?
Guiding Questions
Examine the Content
4. Do you think the information is accurate?
5. Does the information contradict information you have found elsewhere?
Examine the Content
from Alan November http://anovember.com
How to check when a site was last updated (for currency):
Examine the Content
Go to the site you want to check
Erase the URL in the address bar
Type in these words javascript:alert(document.lastModified) press enter
Examine the Content
Erase the URL in the address bar
Examine the Content
Copy the text into the address bar
Examine the Content
A box will come up in the middle of the screen and give you a date and time of the update
Examine the Content
Caveat!
This does not tell you the date that a particular page within the site was updated
The difference in currency between the site update and a page within the site can be dramatic
You can check the history of a site by going to the Internet Archive http://www.archive.org/
Examine the Content
Sometimes this can provide you important information about the site
The history of the harrypotter.com site
Examine the Content
Examine the Content
The site in 1999 with information on the publishers of the book worldwide
Examine the Content
The site today – owned by Warner Brothers
To find out the author, publisher or owner of a site, use the site Alexa.com
http://alexa.com
Ask about the author
Ask about the authorThe martinlutherking.org site
Ask about the author
Using Alexa.com, type in the URL of the site you want to check out
Click the web search button
Ask about the author
Click on the overview
Ask about the author
Scroll down the page and you’ll see the contact information the person or organization that registered the site
Ask about the author
If it’s an organization, you can go to its website to get more information on what it does.
Internal Links
External Links
Two types of links to examine:
Look at the links
Put your mouse over any link and look at the bottom left hand corner of your computer screen; the URL of the link will appear.
Guiding Questions:
Look at the links
Internal links connect to other pages within the same URL.
This can show you that the author is trying to keep you within his/her site.
Look at the links
External links connect to pages on other Web sites with different URLs.
Look at the links
Look at the links
Anyone in the world can add a link from his/her site to any other site.
Seeing who has linked TO a site can provide information on the validity of a site.
Guiding Questions
Look at the links
Use the Link:command in AltaVista, Google or another
search engine.
How to check who links to a particular site.
Look at the links
We’ll be using AltaVista
In the search box, type link:
and then type in the URL (no spaces)
link:http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/
Look at the links
Guided Practice
Today we’ll be practicing these three evaluation strategies:
Ask about the author
Check for updates
Examine the links
Guided Practice
I’m going to take you through this using this WTO site:
World Trade Organizationhttp://www.gatt.org/
Who owns this site?Web site title:________________________________________Author:______________________________________URL of Web site:________________________________________
Resource: Alexahttp://www.alexa.com
World Trade Organizationhttp://www.gatt.org/
When was site last updated?Date:___________________________________
Erase URL and write in the address bar: javascript:alert(document.lastModified) then press enter
World Trade Organizationhttp://www.gatt.org/
What are the URLS of the forward links? Do the domain names of these links change? Hover over a link and look at the bottom left corner of your screen to see the URLs of the links.
______________________________________________________________________________
World Trade Organizationhttp://www.gatt.org/
Who is linked to this site? Why are they linking to the site? What do other sites say about the material on this site?
Use Link command in AltaVista or Google In the search box, type link:URL (no space)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
World Trade Organizationhttp://www.gatt.org/
Work Time
Work Time
We’re now going to break up into smaller groups.
You will be using your worksheet and the links on your participants agenda.
Work Time
We will be taking a look at some sites on three different health topics:
Eggs and cholesterol
Smoking and tobacco
Nutrition and kids
Work Time
For each topic, you’ll see a list of 3-4 sites.
These sites are hyperlinked so you can get to them easily.
Work Time
As a group, choose one of the topics.
Each person should evaluate one site.
As you evaluate your site, ask yourself, is this a credible source of information?
Share
New York City Curriculum Resources Information Fluency Continuum
Phase: Investigate p. 18Indicator: uses a variety of search engines to do
advanced searching
New York City Performance Standards Applied Learning Standard 3a: Gather information to
assist in completing project work Applied Learning Standard 3b: Use information
technology to assist in gathering, organizing, and presenting informationh
Standards
Technology StandardsISTE National Educational Technology Standard (NETS)
Standard 5: Technology Research tools: -- Students use technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information from a variety of sources -- Students use evaluate and select new information resources and technological innovations based on the appropriateness to specific tasks.
Standards
Evaluations
Please go to Survey Monkey to fill out the evaluation for today’s sessions.
Thank you