Twenty first century technology has made information more accessible than ever before. At the touch of a few buttons an endless stream of written and visual information is available to us to extend our knowledge and inform our opinions.
But does it do this well?
Although it may sometimes appear genuine at face value, just how much of the information we see online is authentic?
Critical literacy in the digital age is more important than ever as we educate our students, our children and ourselves to always maintain a healthy skepticism about the words we read, the pictures we see and the videos we watch online. In a cyber-world where anybody can be an “expert” (or at least a well-read author via social media or blogging sites), the necessity to read carefully and widely when searching for information has never been more important.
So, apart from using commonsense, how can we be sure that the information we find is accurate? Additionally, how can we teach students to evaluate internet sources effectively?
Todd and I attended the EduTech 2016 conference in Brisbane over two days earlier this year. Educational technologist Kathy Schrock was one of the keynote speakers who presented us with the following framework of questions that students could use to evaluate the reliability of web sources:
The Five Ws of Web Site Evaluation
Who…
Who wrote the pages and are they an expert?
Is a biography of the author included?
How can I find out more about the author?
What…
What does the author say is the purpose of the site?
What else might the author have in mind for the site?
What makes the site easy to use?
What information is included and does this information differ from other sites?
When…
When was the site created?
When was the site last updated?
Where…
Where does the information come from?
Where can I look to find out more about the sponsor of the site?
Why…
Why is this information useful for my purpose?
Why should I use this information?
Why is this page better than another?
Asking these types of questions to encourage the critical analysis of web resources is imperative for users to make the most of the internet. We need to consider how author bias and motivation can influence the texts that we see in order to understand their true meaning and significance. Without critical thought, trusting everything we see, watch or read online is a pretty concerning idea to say the least.
Perhaps you shouldn’t take my word for it though!
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