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Critically Evaluating Online Information = The Problem:= Few of our students think critically about information they encounter on the Internet. Our research indicates that middle school students, for example, almost always evaluate reliability in terms of the amount of information at a site – if a site has extensive information, it is reliable. Similarly, our research suggests few students consider who wrote the information and how this might impact the perspective taken.

**The Questions:** 1. What are some of the reading and learning skills required for critically evaluating information online? 2. How might we teach these skills in the classroom?

**Activity 1:** **How do I know if the information is true?** **Evaluating The Validity of Online Information** 1. Work with your group to brainstorm strategies for evaluating the validity of information at a website. Create a short list of these ideas.

2. Choose one or more of the sites below and use the Internet to determine if the information is real or not real. Do not rely on background knowledge since our students often lack this when reviewing a site. One example of a strategy would be to use this site: [|www.snopes.com]. There are many others though. If you determined that the information is real, what evidence do you have to prove it? If you think it's a hoax, how do you know for sure? List the strategies that you used.


 * [|Boilerplate Mechanical Marvel of the 19th Century]
 * [|Free Forever: Dog Island]
 * [|Elephant Painting A Self-Portrait]
 * [|True but Little Known Facts About AIDS]
 * [|Save The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus]
 * [|The First Human Male Pregnancy]
 * [|Microsoft Firefox]
 * [|The Ova Prima Foundation]

3. Share with the larger group the strategies that helped you determine the validity of each website. Add to your own list any new strategies you learned from someone else in the group.

4. What ideas do you have about how you might teach these skills and strategies in the classroom?
 * **Activity 2:** **How does the author shape the information at this website?**
 * Detecting Bias in Online Information**

1. Briefly explore the information about dogsled racing at the three webpages below, noting the information's author(s) and their affiliation.

Site A: [|Veterinary Center for the Iditarod] Site B: [|Racing for the Grave] Site C: [|Is the Iditarod for the Dogs?]


 * 2. Detecting Fact vs. Opinion:** Tell which website you think has the STRONGEST opinions about the use of sled dogs in the Iditarod. Tell whether you think the author of the website you chose is for or against racing sled dogs for competition. Select a quote from the website you chose and explain why you think it represents a strong opinion (rather than a fact).

a. What claims does the author(s) of each website make about racing sled dogs in the Iditarod? b. Tell which website (Site A, B, or C) offers opinions from more than one side of the issue. Once you have identified this website, identify the factors that make these two people feel the way they do about the treatment of sled dogs?
 * 3. Detecting Bias and Considering the Author:**

4. What ideas do you have about how you might teach these skills and strategies in the classroom? ||  ||  = =** //CONSIDER: What types of inferences must readers make as they read search engine results and within a website to evaluate the relevancy, reliability, bias, and overall utility of a website ?// **=
 * [[image:http://fordham.blackboard.com/images/ci/sets/set01/document_on.gif caption="Item"]] || C. Critically evaluating information - Being a healthy skeptic

=


 * Related Ideas to think about when evaluating reliability and authority/expertise of the author**
 * [|Snopes.com]
 * Think and Check Activity
 * Investigating the author within the website and outside the website
 * Provide opportunities in art/computer class or as part of a persuasive writing unit to explore digital manipulation and creating bogus websites to see how easy it really is!
 * Move from sites like these with clear black and white issues to issues with shades of grey

[|Internet Search Challenge]  Classroom Blogs and Podcasts = = =Classroom Blogs and Podcasts= = = //1. Explore the resources below to find an example that you think captures the potential of using either blogs or podcasts for learning.//  =**  //2. Be prepared to describe a short-term project you currently teach that might work well as a project-based blog or a series of podcasts.// * **Classroom Content-Area Blogs **- Click on Archives on the right margin to view the posts** = [|National Park Project WIki Site] This was the site featured in the Bowling, et.al. article, Collaborative Literacy: Blogs and Internet Projects., Reading Teacher, March 2008.
 * Evaluating author stance and bias**
 * Investigate each of the following websites while considering the answers to the following questions:
 * Who created the information at this site?
 * What is the purpose of this site?
 * When was the information at this site updated?
 * Where can I go to check the accuracy of this information?
 * Why did this person, or group, put this information on the Internet?
 * Is there anyone that might be offended by the information at this site?
 * Does the website present only one side of the issue, or are multiple perspectives provided?
 * How is the information at this site shaped by the stance taken by the creator of the site
 * [|American Girl], [|Scholastic], and [|Lego], and [|Animal Legends]
 * Try some of these [|Media Awareness Educational Games] with students ages 8-10.
 * Supporting readers as they learn how to detect fact, opinion, and bias in the information that they read
 * [|Ray Redington's Dogcare], [|Racing for the Grave], and [|Is The Iditarod for the Dogs?]
 * **Detecting Fact vs. Opinion:** Tell which website you think has the STRONGEST opinions about the use of sled dogs in the Iditarod. Tell whether you think the author of the website you chose is for or against racing sled dogs for competition. Select a quote from the website you chose and explain why you think it is an example of the author sharing strong opinions.
 * **Detecting Bias and Considering the Author:** Tell which website (Site A, B, or C) gives opinions from more than one side of the issue. Who are the two people whose opinions are given in the website you chose in number 1? What factors make these two people feel the way they do about the treatment of sleddogs ?
 * [|Jefferson Bear]
 * **[|Scribe’s Post Hall of Fame]** **(A Math Blog lists the award winners in a wiki, but you can also visit the Applied Math, Calculus, and Pre-Calculus Blogs for all the postings) – Click on Archives on the right margin to view the posts**
 * **[|Sargent Park Math Zone]** **(Grade 8) and [|background] for the Scribe Site**
 * **English: [|Student Newspaper Blog of Pepplebrook High School]**
 * **[|Room 613 Student Blogs]** **for 6th Grade social studies students**
 * **[|Applied Science Research Blog]**
 * **[|Room Twelve (Grade 3) Student Blogs]**
 * **[|Grandview Library Blog]** **to support the school curriculum**
 * School Podcasts
 * **[|Radio Willow Web]** **(Radio for Kids, By Kids)**
 * **[|Mabry Online Podcasts]** **(Content Area Learning Podcasts)**
 * **[|Long Elementary Podcasts]** **(Responses to Literature by Elementary Students)**
 * **[|Our City Podcast]****: Students from around the globe promote their cities**
 * **Create your own blog:  **
 * [|WordPress]
 * **Create your own Wiki:**
 * WikiSpaces+Help Teachers
 * Additional Readings: [|Learning Spaces for Blogs from Annette Lamb]

= Exploring Wikis  = //1. CONSIDER: What new literacies are required to interact with others to compose and share information in online spaces? // // Wikis - [|Wikipedia] ,or [|WikiJunior Wikibooks], or Wikispace tools to create your own wiki or wiki post // 2. While you are exploring the potentials of wikis, you might want to check out [|Wikijunior], and the books that are created and produced by a worldwide community of writers, teachers, students and young people all working together. As described on their "[|About Us] " link, they proudly build their books around the core values of being kid-friendly (appropriate for children birth-age 12), collaborative, fun, reliable, and open (meaning YOU and your students are invited to become co-authors!). Check out for example the [|Big Cats Project] (one of the first to be created and completed) or explore the developing Wikijunior book about [|Ancient Civilizations] (scroll down to see the columns of publishable articles, developing articles, and article stubs) and imagine that YOUR students can join write now and be a part of the excitement! There's also a [|Staff Lounge] and [|Wikijunior Talk Page], for example, to keep things moving forward and provide support. = I**nternet Workshop**  = Use the following link and worksheet attachment to particpate in today's Internet Workshop lesson on Kids Web Japan.

http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/

==** Video on Demand  **== [| http://www.powermediaplus.com/digitalHome.asp?uid=568898]

** Epals **
[| http://epals.com/tools/forum/forum.e?bo=47&at=vm&id=01261&res=7&ofs=25] As you search through the site discuss and answer the following questions with a neighbor: 1. What can you do with this site? 2. What are the benefits to students using this site? 3. What measures are taken to promote safety among users? 4. How can using this site be connected to the curriculum that you currently teach?

==** Synthesizing Online Sources  **== [|Synthesizing Online Information and Sources.doc]<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> (43.5 Kb) Graphic Organizer

** Request For Help ORCA **
[|Request for Help Appendix A.pdf]<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> (52.214 Kb) =** Link to ORCA Assessments  **= [|__Students Reading Online__] ||