Quiz: Web Eval Activity
Name: Deidra West
Instructions: In this activity, you will consider how to determine if a website is
useful. There are five (A.-.E.) sections to this activity. Please type your responses
within the document below and save. Upload the finished assignment to the
appropriate dropbox at CourseDen.
Two excellent starting points with information to guide you include Teacher Tap's
Evaluating Internet Resources and Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators.
How do you determine if a webpage is accurate, relevant, appropriate,
comprehensive, and unbiased?
A.
Brainstorm a list of criteria which you believe should be evaluated to determine the
usefulness of a webpage for research. (Type your responses in the textboxes below.)
1. Authority
2. Accuracy
4. Currency
What
makes a
Web Page
useful for
research?
B.
3. Objectivity
5. Coverage
Review the following websites and answer questions about each:
1. http://www.martinlutherking.org/
There’s something not quite right about this website. List any reasons you can see why this
website is not appropriate for students to use in school research. (Hint: who is sponsoring this
website?)
*This lesson is adapted from Critical Evaluation of a Web Page Lesson Plan: Grades 6-8, Retrieved
1/31/08 from: http://kathyschrock.net/eval/index.htm
This website was created by a “white pride” organization. The rap lyrics are not lyrics,
but are accusations about what black people want to do to white people. This website
does not highlight Martin Luther King, but in facts defames his name and black people.
This website also links to other websites that disrespects other nationalities by posting
opinions opposed to facts and referential encounters.
2. http://www.dhmo.org/
I (your instructor) am an ardent supporter of the cause to ban DHMO. Based on the information
you find on this webpage, will you join me in supporting this cause? Why or why not? (If you
dig deeply enough, you will discover why not.)
At the bottom of the page it states Note: content veracity not implied. It is stating that the
information given may not be factual. It is more based on opinion.
C. Below you will find six important website evaluation criteria.
These criteria are explained
with examples at the Good, Bad, and the Ugly website (brought to us by the New Mexico
State University Library). Read through this website, then answer the questions that follow
about each website.
1. Authority
Do you consider the author of Clonaid to be an expert of the subject covered? Why or why not?
No. There are no authors nor does this webpage a have a sponsor. And then there is not a link to
any other sponsors. This page lacks a signature as well.
2. Accuracy
What information in The True…Facts about Women with AIDS leads you to believe or
disbelieve its accuracy?
I do not believe in the accuracy of this website. There are misspelled words throughout this
webpage. The information does not seem reliable.
3. Objectivity
Can you determine the real purpose of The Truth? What is it and how did you determine the
purpose?
This website is geared toward educating people about the harmful effects of tobacco. I went to
“about us” located at the bottom of the page in order to find out the real purpose of this website.
Once I went to the about us I played one of the games and quickly saw that the purpose of the
game is mainly for the player to listen to the tobacco song sing how tobacco is harmful.
*This lesson is adapted from Critical Evaluation of a Web Page Lesson Plan: Grades 6-8, Retrieved
1/31/08 from: http://kathyschrock.net/eval/index.htm
4. Currency
Is it easy to determine the currency of The Onion? What did you do to determine the currency
of the site?
Yes because the website has dates and offers a news wire that has breaking news updates.
5. Coverage
Do you consider the information on OncoLink to be relevant and comprehensive? Why or why
not?
Yes. This website offers an “expert on call,” updated blogs, information and resources about
Cancer research. The material presented is not general, but in depth research about the topic.
D.
Visit the following pages and briefly share your thoughts (a sentence or two) about how you
might guide your future K-12 students in determining the reliability of the information found:
http://www.google.com/technology/pigeonrank.html
http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/
http://www.weathergraphics.com/tim/fisher/
1. For this website, I would encourage students to always read the fine print. Do not instantly
start copying information from any webpage until you have thoroughly looked over it.
2. At the topic of the webpage, there are quotes and different advertising that change each time
you visit this webpage. The information presented on this web page does not seem to be true.
3. This website does not have a sponsor or a valid author. I will direct my students to always
look for a valuable resource that backs the information that is presented on this page.
E.
Write a paragraph explaining why it is important to evaluate the information found on a Web
page, include the ways to find out more about the author, the sponsoring agency, or the
information itself. Paste this information on your Web Eval wiki page.
It is important to check the authority, accuracy, objectivity, currency, and coverage of any
website. Anyone can post information to the web so it is important that the information you use
from a website is presented in a matter that is completely reliable. Make sure the web page has
an author and not just a general website. Also make sure the website is updated often. There is
no point to get information from a webpage that has not been updated in years.
*This lesson is adapted from Critical Evaluation of a Web Page Lesson Plan: Grades 6-8, Retrieved
1/31/08 from: http://kathyschrock.net/eval/index.htm