Website+Evaluation

WEBSITE EVALUATION AND CRITICAL THINKING Overview - To learn to use a critical eye when evaluating websites or looking at any type of media. Know exactly what you are looking at and using critical thinking skills to evaluate. Become attuned to your environment. Use all of your senses. Listen. Gather Information. Pay attention and focus on all that is going on around you. Become a more effective decision maker and problem solver. Why do you think this is important? .

Watch this video clip. []

Realize that anyone can create and post information for any topic or purpose to a web site, and what you see at first glance may not be all there is to the topic.

=**__Evaluating a Website__**=
 * What is Website Evaluation? || Why should you evaluate a website? || How do you evaluate a website? ||

Separate Fact from Opinion - Examples

 * ** 1. The Civil War started at Fort Sumter in 1861. ** || === 2. Creme Brulee is the most delicious dessert. === || === 3. I went to Minnesota for a vacation last year. === || === 4. Putting money in the stock market is a bad idea. === ||

**How do you know whether or not to trust a source?**
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 * Bogus Website Examples || [|More Bogus Websites] ||

Verify and check three different resources on the same subject. Ask the following questions. CLICK on RADCAB below.
Some tools to help with website evaluation: == =Task description: Evaluate the following websites using the the answers to the RADCAB questions and one of these worksheets.=
 * == [|RADCAB] == || [[file:Clues to URL's.doc]] ||  ||
 * [[file:Bank evaluation 2012.doc]] || [[file:Website evaluation2012.doc]] ||


 * **Banking** ||  || **Endangered Species** ||
 * > [] ||  || [] ||
 * > [] ||  || [] ||
 * > [] ||  || [] ||

=After students finish the evaluation process they will decide which website is the better one to use for the research topic and why.=

Day 2
=__Using Different Search Tool__=

“If you want to drive a nail into a piece of wood, you reach for a hammer, rather than a screwdriver. Use the right tool, and you'll get the right results. The same is true with search engines ... Like a Swiss Army Knife, general purpose search engines often can do many different jobs. Nevertheless, your results might be better if you turn to a subject specific tool.” Danny Sullivan, editor, SearchEngineWatch.com

=What is a search engine?= A search engine is an indexed list of websites. The websites are listed in order of popularity, not by accuracy of content. Search engines contain unorganized collections of websites. It may be difficult to find who wrote the website. Many times websites are created just for fun. = = =What is a database and why should I use one?= A database is simply an organized collection of related information. On some databases you can search for digital versions of magazine, reference books, images. video and audio resources and newspaper articles. On others you can access information in a specific subject area (like science or social studies) written especially for the database from educated and authoritative authors. Our school district subscribes to many databases and we strongly encourage students to make use of them. Subscription databases offer several important advantages over searching the free Internet:
 * = ==== [|Google Advanced Search] ==== || ==== [|What is the best way to use Wikipedia?] ==== || ====**[|Duck Duck Go]**==== || ====**[|Alta Vista]**==== || ====**[|Sweet Search]**==== ||
 * = ==== [|Google Advanced Search] ==== || ==== [|What is the best way to use Wikipedia?] ==== || ====**[|Duck Duck Go]**==== || ====**[|Alta Vista]**==== || ====**[|Sweet Search]**==== ||
 * Trustworthy - published by reputable companies
 * Age appropriate
 * Searchable
 * Updated regularly
 * Free of advertisements
 * Unbiased
 * May contain information not available on the free Internet, including primary source documents
 * Databases provide accurate information from quality sources
 * Source citations are always given. There is no need to search for the citation information.

Database Resource Evaluation Assignment . Do not use Wikipedia for this assignment.


There are a variety of different sources for many topic. For example, there are magazine articles, newspaper articles, audio resources, reference books and websites about the topic within each database. Choose a database by clicking on this link: Databases

Pick one of the resources ( magazine, newspaper article etc.) within the database and answer the questions on the worksheet.

=Subject Directories to help you chose and research a topic.=
 * [|Open Directory Project] || [|Resources by Subject] || [|Yahoo Directory] || [|Lists of Topics] ||

Plagiarism Prevention and Citation Generators

Never assume that something is true without checking at least three other resources first. Think for yourself !
 * media type="custom" key="4979253" || media type="custom" key="4993545" ||