Lesson: Identifying High-Quality Sites (6-8)

Warm-up (10 minutes)

SHOW students a selection of photos from the “Hurricane Sandy” slideshow, found at the bottom of the page of the Huffington Post article, “Fake Hurricane Sandy Photos Spread On Internet As Storm Barrels Toward Northeast."

Note: This slide show shows real photos from Hurricane Sandy. You’ll want to show these real photos to students first, before showing them the fake ones featured in the rest of the online article. If your school blocks Huffington Post content, you can show Snopes.com's "Hurricane Sandy Photographs" instead. Read the "Origins" paragraph as a class and then have students explore and discuss a few of the photos featured.

ASK: What kind of role do you think the Internet played in helping people learn about Hurricane Sandy?
Guide students to recognize that the Internet played a big role in helping people stay informed about Hurricane Sandy. Many people posted photos online (like the ones in this slideshow) to help illustrate the impact that the hurricane had on the Northeast. Others turned to online news sources to help learn about the hurricane’s status and the damage it had done. People who were affected by the hurricane also used sites like Facebook and Twitter to update others on how they were doing. 

SHOW students the image of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the top of the article page. Click on the image.

TELL students that this is an example of a Tweet that someone shared during the hurricane. Invite a student volunteer to read the image’s caption out loud (“AMAZING PHOTO: Even a hurricane won’t keep the honor guard from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier this morning.”)

ASK: What if I told you that this photo wasn’t actually taken during Hurricane Sandy?
Students’ reactions will vary.

EXPLAIN to students that this photo was actually taken a month earlier than when the hurricane hit. Taken out of context, the photo went viral online and was even picked up by major news outlets like NPR and the Washington Post. People misinterpreted it to be a snapshot of the hurricane.

INVITE students to share their reactions to this photo and the way it went viral. (You may also choose to show other “fake” photos of the hurricane that are featured on the site.) Encourage them to consider how this kind of mistake can easily happen online. 

Can Anyone Be an Author? (20 minutes)

DEFINE the Key Vocabulary term publish.

INTRODUCE students to the idea that the Internet has made it easy for anyone to become an “author” and “publish” information for other people to read. 

ASK: How is the process of publishing printed material (newspapers, magazines, books) different from publishing on the Internet?
Although many websites are written by people with expertise on a particular topic, this isn’t always the case throughout the Internet. Sometimes people who create or post on blogs do not have a background in the  subject matter, and there is no editor to hold them to a high standard. By contrast, most respected book publishers andnewspaper editors look for authors who know a lot about their subjects. They also have skilled editors and fact checkers who review the information in these publications for mistakes.

DEFINE the Key Vocabulary term trustworthy. 

POINT OUT to students that people who create or post on blogs and other websites are not necessarily experts in the subject. Their “facts” may not be true. They often don’t fix errors when some are found. They may pretend that their opinions are facts. They may even choose to include unkind or harmful statements. 

INVITE students to name an article they might want to write for a school magazine or a website for kids. Are they qualified to be authors of that article? Why or why not? Explain to students that to be a reliable author, they don’t need to have advanced degrees or important jobs. They just need to know a lot about their subject, have trustworthy sources of information on their subject, and check their facts carefully.  

Test Before You Trust (15 minutes)

EXPLAIN to students that, while there are generally fewer rules about what can and can’t be published on the Internet, there are a growing number of sites that have high standards for publishing information. Therefore, though it is important to use a critical eye when looking at websites, you shouldn’t automatically assume that online information is incorrect or of lesser quality than information in books or newspapers. 

DEFINE the Key Vocabulary terms evaluate and criteria. 

EXPLAIN to students that it’s important to know how to evaluate information online to make sure that it’s trustworthy. Tell them that they are going to learn some criteria for evaluating high-quality websites, which is especially helpful for research projects. 

DIVIDE students into pairs. If your class has access to a limited number of computers, you may assign two or more pairs to work at the same computer and look at the same website; each pair should complete its own handout. 

DISTRIBUTE the Test Before You Trust Student Handout, one for each student. Refer to the Test Before You Trust Student Handout – Teacher Version for instructions on how to guide students through this part of the lesson. Students will evaluate assigned websites based on a 30-point test, then score their sites and discuss the results. 

Wrap-up (5 minutes)

You can use these questions to assess your students’ understanding of the lesson objectives. You may want to ask students to reflect in writing on one of the questions, using a journal or an online blog/wiki.

ASK: How do you know whether you can trust the information you find on a website?
Sample responses:

• The author is an expert and received awards
• The site is run by a respected organization or type of website (e.g., .gov, .edu)
• It comes from a well-known newspaper
• I got there from a link on another site that I trust

ASK: Why should you be careful to evaluate websites before using their information in research projects?
Anyone can publish material of any quality on the Internet. If students’ sources are reliable, then their research projects won’t contain inaccurate information.

ASK: Do you think that you could apply what you have learned to sites that aren’t just for school research, such as a site about your favorite singer or sports team?
Students should recognize that they can use the Website Test to evaluate the quality of all different kinds of websites, not only ones for school purposes.

EXTENSION ACTIVITY

Have students practice being directory “editors.” Remind students that one of the jobs of a directory editor is to place websites in different categories, depending on the information they contain. Invite students to choose a simple keyword to submit to a search engine that relates to a topic they are learning about in your class. Have them click through to each of the first five search returns they believe are high-quality sites. Ask students to assign each site to one of the subject categories from a popular directory, such as Yahoo Directory.

AT-HOME ACTIVITY

Have students write a short research paper on the subject of year-round education. They should use one site that was evaluated in class and one site that was not and appears to be of low quality. When they write their papers, they should keep track of which facts came from each site, comparing and contrasting them to determine which site seems to provide higher-quality information. When they are finished, they should teach their parents about how to identify a high-quality website.