Web Literacy for Educators Chapter 3

How to Validate Information on the Web

This chapter is all about teaching students to question the information presented to them on the internet. Too often, students accept information that looks authentic as the "truth".

November suggests a four-step process called REAL.

R = Read the URL
E = Examine the content
A= Ask about the author and publisher
L= Look at the links

R- November says that one of the most expedient ways to find out if a website is authentic is to glance at its address. November suggests that you ask yourself: Do you recognize the domain name, what is the extension in the domain name, and is this a personal page?
A list of common extensions can be found on p. 33

E- November compares and contrasts websites to print material, saying that unlike print material websites are not broken into genres. Therefore, students must use critical thinking skills to determine if they are looking at fiction, nonfiction, an editorial etc.. They also should not let graphics distract them from evaluating the content information.
There is a check list for examining the content on p. 45.

A-Most schools have filters that protect students from inappropriate websites; however, a large majority of students have internet access outside of the the school day. With this and the fact that anyone can be an author and/or publisher of a website we must teach students how to check for the author and owner.
A helpful web site to use to find out who owns a web site is http://www.easywhois.com

Chapter 5: Building Knowledge Without Boundaries: Online Learning

Chapter 4: Accessing Primary Sources to Enhance Critical Thinking

This chapter made me reflect back on my own education in history and civics. I always viewed this subject and the teachers of this subject as boring. Yet, as an adult, I love traveling and learning about new places, cultures, etc... Which got me thinking about the power of primary sources. I believe if my teachers would have used primary sources I would have been much more motivated and engaged in the learning of history. I will defiantly explore the National Archives and Records Administration website. This seems like a powerful resource that could be used in all curricular areas.

As I read about Thinking Critically About Primary Source Material: Generating Questions, Identifying Information Sources, Student-Generated Data, Experts and Finding an Authentic Audience for Student Analysis; I immediately thought about how our 43rd and Plum project based learning could be a great opportunity for us to implement some of these strategies.

Chapter 3: Emerging Roles Within the Knowledge Community

November is right on the money when he states that since adults are not native born to the world of technology they are like immigrants learning a new culture. Teachers are indeed digital immigrants and find it hard to have students learn new skills faster then them. We have the mind set that to be the teacher we must be smarter then the students we are teaching. It is quite humbling at first to try the practice of reverse mentoring. Students who can teach and assist other students with the technology help enhance my classroom management.

As far as, collaboration and sharing of knowledge, I feel the teachers in my district are quite fortunate. Not only do we have weekly collaboration time set aside within our grade level, but we also have monthly district wide Professional Development and/or Collaboration time with our grade level. I believe this is imperative to our professional growth. This is turn aids our collaboration with parents. It's a win win situation.