Website Evaluation

website evaLUATION:You should be able to complete all 4 assignments to receive all points.

OBJECTIVES

I can accurately identify credible internet sources.

I can describe several philosophies when calculating the dependability of a website.

I can apply guiding principles to evaluate the reliability of a website’s information and determine reliable and unreliable information sources.


Assignment #1:
Answer the following questions in your journal.
1. Do you use the Internet for research/homework?
2. Can you think of any advantages in using a library as a homework resource instead of the Internet?
3. What are the advantages of using the Internet over more traditional resources?
4. What are the disadvantages?
5. What is the difference between publishing material on the Internet and publishing material in books?
6. How much of the information you find online do you think is true and can be trusted?
7. Do you ever do anything to confirm that the information you have found is true and can be trusted?
8. If you answered yes, what do you do to check that information?

ASSIGNMENT #2: Look up the domain extensions below and create a poster (use Canva or any other website you would like) to explain what they mean.
.gov 
.edu 
.com 
.org 
.net 
ASSIGNMENT #3: 
1. Watch the following video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVo_wkxH9dU

2. Look at the following website: http://www.dhmo.org

3. Both the YouTube video and the DHMO.org are both unreliable sources. They both look credible and are filled will great information. However, it is important to dig deeper and find that dihydrogen monoxide is actually water. The video is about the spaghetti tree hoax, a famous 3-minute hoax report broadcast on April Fools' Day 1957 by the BBC. It told a tale of a family in southern Switzerland harvesting spaghetti from the fictitious spaghetti tree, broadcast at a time when this Italian dish was not widely eaten in the UK and some Britons were unaware that spaghetti is a pasta made from wheat flour and water. The website aims to ban dihydrogen monoxide and talks in detail about its dangers.

4. Go through this website: 
  • https://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/sightings.html
and complete the following web page credibility checklist by scoring each site.  Write in your journal for each site listed if the source is reliable or not based on your score.


Use the checklist as a guideline to help decide whether an online source is reliable. If the URL receives 7 or more points, the source is probably reliable. If 4-6 points, it might be a good source (try to find out more about it before using it). If 3 or less, it is not reliable.

This handout will be a resource for you as they consider credible sources to use for your tasks. It is not a checklist, but rather a set of ideas. No website will meet all these criteria, and some websites that do may have other factors that make students suspect them.

Sometimes content seems so amazing that it makes a reader wonder if it’s true or not. Questions to ask yourself: Does this information seem unbelievable? Does it make sense to you or others? Does what you read conflict with something you already know to be true? Is there a way to check this information out so you know whether it is true or not? 

Give your final recommendation of whether this website would be credible to use or not.

ASSIGNMENT #4 Aspartame Website: 

1. How do you know if a website is credible? 

2. Read the poster below to begin thinking about ways you can know if a website is reliable.

Answer the following questions below in your journal using the 5 W's below to evaluate the website:

1. WHO: 

  • Who is Dr. Joseph Mercola and WHO sponsored his research?

  • Has someone taken responsibility for the content of this website?

  • Is information about the author or organization clearly stated?

  • Are there any links to in-depth info about the author?

  • Can you contact the company or author through a real world postal address or phone number?

2. WHAT: 

  • What info are you getting? 

  • Is the information trying to make you feel one way/believe something?  

  • Can the information they give be verified? Go try and find out!

  • Is the information well written and easy to understand?

  • Can you find a copyright date anywhere on the site?


3. WHEN: 

  • When was this article posted? 

  • Is it current? 

  • Has it been updated?

  • Do most of the links still work?

4. WHERE: 

  • Is it a personal home page or a medical site?

  • Which domain does it use? (What type of organization is it...what .com does it use?)

5. WHY: 

  • Why would I use this site as a credible source? 

  • OR Why should I NOT use this site as a credible source?

  • Can I verify the information I've found?




 








 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 




Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)