Critically Reading The Internet: Three Strategies

By Author: Adela
Total Articles: 74
Comment this article

This experience provided a good introduction to three strategies for critically evaluating information on the Internet: examining initial markers (superficial characteristics of a website that can help us make an initial judgment), corroborating information (looking to other trusted sources to verify information), and determining author bias (analyzing the author's intent for a specific agenda). I describe Omega Replica here how I modeled each strategy for students, using an Internet-connected computer in my classroom attached to an LCD projector, and how I then invited students to work with me as we practiced the strategies together.

The "Tree Octopus" site, despite being bogus, allowed us to begin a discussion of what I refer to as "initial markers" of credibility: features of websites that we might examine to make an initial judgment about the site's credibility. Many students were convinced of the site's validity because of the numerous images (including a doctored image that shows an octopus residing in the branches of pine trees), the large ...
... amount of text (which included scientific-sounding names), the professional-looking layout of the site, and numerous links to other sites about octopuses and endangered species (many of which lead to legitimate sites). After explaining to students that none of these markers were guaranteed indicators of the validity of information on a site, we talked about markers or features of a Web page that would give website credibility.

First, as Howe and Harris suggest, I asked students to look for information about the author or sponsoring organization of a website. Sites that prominently display contact information can be more credible than those that do not; if we can identify an author, we can learn through further research about any credentials the author might have. Identifying the author of a site may also help us in determining possible biases of that author or the author's motives for publishing this information online. Another initial marker that we can look for is the timeliness of the site. I asked students to look for a note on the Web page about when it was last updated (this will often appear near the top or bottom of a Web page). A site that is rarely updated or posts no information about when it was last updated might be less trustworthy. More Breitling Replica Watches importantly, if we're looking for relevant and timely information online, sites that haven't been updated in a long time might not be appropriate for our needs or may not even be correct anymore given new information that has come to light since the site's publication.

This experience provided a good introduction to three strategies for critically evaluating information on the Internet: examining initial markers (superficial characteristics of a website that can help us make an initial judgment), corroborating information (looking to other trusted sources to verify information), and determining author bias (analyzing the author's intent for a specific agenda). I describe Omega Replica here how I modeled each strategy for students, using an Internet-connected computer in my classroom attached to an LCD projector, and how I then invited students to work with me as we practiced the strategies together.

The "Tree Octopus" site, despite being bogus, allowed us to begin a discussion of what I refer to as "initial markers" of credibility: features of websites that we might examine to make an initial judgment about the site's credibility. Many students were convinced of the site's validity because of the numerous images (including a doctored image that shows an octopus residing in the branches of pine trees), the large amount of text (which included scientific-sounding names), the professional-looking layout of the site, and numerous links to other sites about octopuses and endangered species (many of which lead to legitimate sites). After explaining to students that none of these markers were guaranteed indicators of the validity of information on a site, we talked about markers or features of a Web page that would give website credibility.

First, as Howe and Harris suggest, I asked students to look for information about the author or sponsoring organization of a website. Sites that prominently display contact information can be more credible than those that do not; if we can identify an author, we can learn through further research about any credentials the author might have. Identifying the author of a site may also help us in determining possible biases of that author or the author's motives for publishing this information online. Another initial marker that we can look for is the timeliness of the site. I asked students to look for a note on the Web page about when it was last updated (this will often appear near the top or bottom of a Web page). A site that is rarely updated or posts no information about when it was last updated might be less trustworthy. More Breitling Replica Watches importantly, if we're looking for relevant and timely information online, sites that haven't been updated in a long time might not be appropriate for our needs or may not even be correct anymore given new information that has come to light since the site's publication.