1. Thinking Critically about Web Sites Cynthia W. Sparks Chesapeake Public Schools

2. WWW: Access to Everyone Not all sites are good sources of information In past, expensive to publish Materials usually juried by authorities Carefully selected Today, anyone can publish to web Easy to broadcast inaccurate or biased material Users must be critical consumers of information

3. What to consider? Source Who is the author? Does the creator have knowledge of the field? Date When was the site created? Is the information updated periodically? Are links to other sites kept current?

4. What to Consider? Content Is the content accurate and current? Is the content relevant? Is the coverage comprehensive? Is the site obviously biased? Design Is the site easy to navigate? Does the design enhance the site?

5. Places for more info Evaluation criteria for Information Sources http://www.vuw.ac.nz/~agsmith/evaln/ev aln.htm Thinking critically about WWW Resources http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/col lege/help/critical/index.htm

6. Evaluating Web sites: Practice A WebQuest about Evaluating Web Sites http://mciu.org/~spjvweb/evalwebstu.html This quest asks you to compare specific sites in groups of 4 Each member of the group will have a specific job to accomplish Finally the group will evaluate and discriminate between the various web sites visited.

7. Resources Beginners Central http://www.northernwebs.com/bc Online tutorials of basic information for the novice

8. What about the Page Content Web page content http://www.lib.msu.edu/link/critical.htm http://www.lib.msu.edu/link/critical.htm Icyousee Critical to the web http://www.ithaca.edu/library/Training/hott.ht ml Evaluation Surveys from Kathy Schrock http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/eval. html Disinformation on the Web http://library.humboldt.edu/~ccm/crithink.html

9. Teacher/Adult Concerns Evaluating Web Resources Faculty guidelines from Maryville College http://faculty.maryvillecollege.edu/libra ry/researchguides/Evaluating%20Web% 20Sites.htm

10. Thinking and Paying Attention Web is a wonderful gift and a dangerous place Brings a wealth of information into the classroom With every benefit there are concerns Teaching student to think, pay attention, and evaluate is imperative