Evaluating Online Resources

Ali GallagherED PS 6446 – Hunter

Direct Instruction AssignmentFebruary 27, 2012

Lesson 1 Objectives• Upon completion of this lesson, students will be able to:• Analyze web addresses• Classify web site domains• Determine purpose of web sites• Critique web sites for accuracy, authority, objectivity, currency, and content

Utah Computer Technology Core, Grades 9-12, Standard 6, Objective 4

“I found it on the web so it must be true!”

6 Criteria for evaluating web pages

☐ URL☐ Accuracy ☐ Authority ☐ Objectivity ☐ Currency ☐ Content

What is in a URL?

http://www.nba.com/jazz

1. Protocol: http

2. Service: www.

3. Domain name: nba

4. Domain extension: .com

5. Resource ID: jazz

Domain Name

http://www.nba.com/jazz

•Where the web page is located•Identity of company or organization responsible for the information

Domain Extension

http://www.nba.com

Purpose & Intended Audience• What is the purpose of these website?

• Entertainment• Business/Commercial• Reference/Information• Educational• News• Advocacy

Domain Types• .com =• .net =• .org =• .info =• .edu = • .us =• .gov =

Resource ID Extension

http://www.nba.com/jazz

•Comes after domain ending

•Defines subfolders or directories

•Takes you directly to a page

Personal Web Pages• A personal page is a web site created by an individual

• Clues• A name in the URL such as joeblack• Tilde “~” or “%”• The words users or people or members• http://www.tc.umn.edu/~vanes002/

6 Criteria for evaluating sites

URL☐ Accuracy ☐ Authority ☐ Objectivity ☐ Currency ☐ Content

Distinguish between

the reliable and

the questionable!

Accuracy

Why is reliability important when looking for information on a web page?

Authority

Who created the page?

Objectivity

Is information presented with bias?

Currency

Is information up-to-date?•Look for publication date at the top/bottom of page

Content

Content

• http://www.sixtiespress.co.uk/•http://www.iwr.com/becalmd•http://www.chestertourist.com/morehotels.htm

•http://www.rainbowprimates.net/•http://www.sosbeevfbi.com/•http://www.greatdreams.com/•http://www.billoneill.info/

6 Criteria for evaluating a web page

URL Accuracy Authority Objectivity Currency Content

“Try It!”

Homework Assignment

Try it! – Evaluating Web Pages