Evaluating Web Resources
A Workshop for Teachers
Facilitated by Sandy Scragg
For Download:
Sandy's PowerPoint Presentation for Teachers
Sandy's PowerPoint Presentation for High School Students
Sandy's "5 A's to WebSite Evaluation" (PDF format)
Sites for Evaluation:
1) martinlutherking.org & Stormfront (no direct link)
2) Professor Butz's articles @ Northwestern University & new disclaimer added
(N.B.: These three sites above may not be accessible in NYC schools due
to the DOE filter, and contain offensive content not appropriate for
younger students.)
2) The True but Little Known Facts about Women and AIDS
3) The Jackalope Conspiracy
4) Lacuna Inc.
5) Cholesterol Information
6) All About Explorers
7) Robots of the Victorian Era
8) Feline Reactions to Bearded Men
9) The Dangers of Dihydrogen Monoxide and the truth about this web page
10) WhiteHouse.gov VS WhiteHouse.net VS WhiteHouse.org (and also whitehouse.com)
11) Pregnant Women Can Drink Safely in Moderation
12) Illegal Immigration
13) Bunny Survival Tests
14) Easily Distracted
15) Attention Deficit Disorder & Hyperactivity Success
16) AIDS Researcher Has Second Thoughts
17) NY1 VS NY1
18) The First Male Pregnancy
19) Driver's License Search
20) Beef Nutrition
21) Puppy Tips
22) Anne Frank
Photofakery Resources:
John Kerry doctored photo from Election '04
John Kerry original photo from 1971
Museum of Hoaxes Photo Gallery, incl. quiz:
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/photos/photos.html
Can Digital Photos be Trusted? (good examples)
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/technology/generaltechnology/d6002684e4646010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html
Detecting Photofakery:
http://oemagazine.com/fromTheMagazine/jan05/photofakery.html
Altering of Scientific Images:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/24/science/24frau.html
Questions to Ask Yourself While Viewing a Web Site:
1) What is the purpose of the site? Why do you think it exists?
2) What about the site looks legitimate?
3) Is an author or organization credited with creating the site?
4) Is it a personal web page or professionally designed?
5) Is there anything about the site that raises questions for you: obviously erroneous information, misspellings, etc.
6) Is there a clearly-marked place on the page to find out more about the web page creator(s) or organization it represents?
7)
What is the web address? What does the site suffix (.org/.edu, etc.) tell you about this site?
8) What links are on the page? Where do they lead you?
9)
If there are ads on the page, are they clearly separate from the page content?
10) Do I feel confident about allowing students to view this web page or do I still need to find out more?
Articles & Evaluation Resources:
Portals for High-Quality Resources:
Sandy Scragg's Home Page | Sandy Scragg's Training Site for Teachers | Sandy's Internet Resources for Teachers
