Evaluating Websites

The Internet provides a plethora of information, some information that is necessary, and other that is not so much. When allowing elementary students, or any students for that matter, access to websites, it is important to evaluate websites beforehand. If websites are not evaluated before students gain access, the students can be exposed to both appropriate and inappropriate information, which could bring about trouble for the teacher. In addition, it is necessary to evaluate websites because not all websites provide true information. Students can access false information, which can impact their personal views on topics, as well as influence false information on projects for the classroom. Finally, it is important to evaluate websites before allowing students to access to make sure websites are updated and can be the most useful resources for students to use for research. I think that most people can understand and apply website evaluation techniques. School districts take great responsibility in filtering Internet access at schools so students do not have access to the entire Internet. Most teachers, as well, seem to know what is a good or bad website. For instance, most teachers would understand that if a website does not have an author, it is not the most reliable source or if the website was from ten years ago it does not provide the most current information. Most people understand evaluation techniques and can distinguish reliable and unreliable websites. Evaluation techniques can be taught to students and incorporated into the classroom. One way to incorporate evaluation techniques in the classroom is to have students fill out evaluation sheets when they are completing research. Evaluation sheets could be checklists (where websites have to meet all criteria) or could ask students questions about who the author is, when the website was published and whether or not they think it is a good source. Another way to incorporate evaluation techniques in the classroom is to have the teacher show students a series of websites to determine together whether they think it is a reliable or unreliable source. Websites are a great resource for the classroom. However, it is necessity for teachers to evaluate websites to determine whether they are appropriate for the students.