Module+4+-+Evaluating+Websites+and+Resources

Evaluating Websites Reflection

Module 4 is called Evaluating Websites and Resources. The required readings for this module are "Teaching Zack to Think", "The Five W's of Website Evaluation", "The ABC's of Website Evaluation", and a Checklist for Evaluating Web Resources. A YouTube video was also made available called "Evaluating Websites Using the 5 W's". We did the Wikispaces Website Evaluation Activity as a class in order to evaluate two websites for validity and reliability. The websites had to deal with No Tobacco Day throughout the World. The purpose of this module is to learn how to evaluate websites and resources in the classroom and to teach students how to do the same.

It is important that students and teachers know how to identify reliable websites and resources because it is very easy to obtain false information on the internet. Students need to know who made the website, who sponsors the website, when the site was created and when it was last updated, and any sources to support statements made by the site. Some additional sites we looked at were for Martin Luther King Jr. and Hydrogen Dioxide (water). These sites proved to be unreliable because of their affiliations and lack of sources to support the "facts". Many people just search for a topic on Google and click on the first result that comes up, which may or may not be reliable. Students and teachers need to investigate websites and articles before they decide to use them for research.

I will show my students what unreliable and reliable sources look like so they will be able to distinguish between the two. I will show them all of the signs to look for in identifying an unreliable site. When I provide my students with information from the internet, I will make sure the site is reliable and prove to them that it is a valid source to use for anymore information. We must teach students to recognize honest sources in order for them to do their own research well.