Information literate means to be able to look at source and determine its validity. This is important in all types of media, but especially on the internet. The internet can be a wonderful tool to find new and exciting ideas, but it can also be terribly misleading. Knowing how to spot credible sources is extremely important and is a skill that all students should know how to do.
To evaluate online sources, there are a couple of key things to look for. The first is to see where your content is coming from. This can be done by analyzing the URL of the website and the "about" section, if there is one, on the web page. The next thing that can be done is to do a search to see how many and what other pages are linked to the source you are looking at. If it is linked to many other credible sources, then there is a good chance that the source that you are looking at is credible as well.
Finally, a few thoughts on the four models of Internet use. All 4 models act as tools to help expand the students ability to navigate the web and learn how to perform effective searches. As students progress through the modules, they acquire more advanced techniques for how to create relevant searches for the topics that they are looking for and to determine their validity. Where they start to differ, is as students go through the models, they start to become more advanced and they begin to use the internet as a tool to collaborate with other students. The first module, Internet Workshop, is designed to give students an overview of what can be done with the internet and how it can be utilized to accomplish a given task. As they move on from there, the students are then required to start working with other students, whether it is from the same class, school, or maybe a different country. The ultimate goal of these more advanced modules is to expose students to different ideas that are out there and to get them to think about different perspectives.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I like how you described the different models as progressing in difficulty; I hadn't thought of it that way before. It does seem like they all build on one another! To successfully complete an Internet Inquiry (in-depth research) a student would need to use the skills they learned in Internet Workshop and Internet Project.
ReplyDelete