criteval

=Critically Evaluating Online Information=

The following definitions can serve as common language for you and your students as you begin sharing strategies for how to read critically on the Internet.
 * **Relevancy**: the information’s level of importance to a particular reading purpose or stated information need
 * **Accuracy**: the extent to which information contains factual and updated details that can be verified by consulting alternative and/or primary sources
 * **Reliability**: the information’s level of trustworthiness based on information about the author and the publishing body
 * **Bias** (**perspective**): the position or slant toward which an author shapes information
 * **Commercial bias:** the extent to which information appears to be influenced by commercial interests for or against a certain product

Explore the activities at the website below, using your handouts to note your thoughts and reflections.
 * [|Teaching Critical Evaluation on the Internet: Blending Strategy Instruction with Collaborative Inquiry.] Created by Julie Coiro (2008).
 * [|Navigating the C's of Change: Internet Reciprocal Teaching Practices for the 21st Century Classroom] written by Greg McVerry, Lisa Zawilinski, and Ian O'Byrne from the New Literacies Research Team at the University of Connecticut includes a 5-minute video of middle school students conducting Internet Inquiry
 * [|Twenty-first century skills and the Tree Octopus Problem]: a posting on the Core Knowledge Blog
 * [|Tikistar Island.com]: a result from a project by Ian O'Byrne from the University of Connecticut
 * [|RADCAB: Your Vehicle for Information Evaluation]
 * See Read, Write, Think's Activity: [|Hoax or No Hoax: Strategies for Online Comprehension and Evaluation]. Created by Deb Kozdras (2008).
 * [|Bogus Websites: Maybe?] - a collection of websites to possibly explore with students
 * [|NSTeens®] is an educational resource created by the Internet safety experts at NetSmartz® Workshop. The series uses animated tales of online “drama” to help students understand Internet risks and supplements these lessons with 20-30 minute classroom activity cards. The NSTeens video, [|“Profile Penalty],” has corresponding [|Intermediate] and[| Middle School] prepare projects, illustrating that their online actions can have offline consequences.

Ideas about critical literacy in your content area
 * [|Critical literacy and math]
 * [|Critical literacy and science]
 * Critical literacy and social studies (see Vincent Ciardemo)
 * [|Critical literacy and language arts]