Sunday, October 2, 2016

Don't be fooled with bad websites


Search Engines:

        Search engines can be so useful to find and access information. Search engines are used by millions of people on a daily basis. "Two commonly cited types of search engines are: major search engines and metacrawlers- these programs use more than one search engine at the same time to locate things" (Roblyer, 2016, p. 183). Teaching students to use search engines is important, using the correct search engine will save the student time. This will allow the student to find more credible information that will help on his/her project. Search engines allow for keyword searches that allow the engine to search millions of documents simultaneously. "Just type in the search word or phrase, and the search engine displays a list of websites whose URLs contain the word or phrase" (Roblyer, 2016, p. 183).

Website Evaluation Video:



"The Internet's vast information storehouse, unfortunately, contains some information that is incomplete, inaccurate, and/or out of date" (Roblyer, 2016, p. 199). I think this video is a very easy way to explain website evaluation to students. Although the acronyms are different I think this video is a simple way to explain website evaluation. Videos in a cartoon form allow students to be more comfortable and learn the material. This video after changing the Acronyms from C.R.A.A.P. to R.E.A.L. would be very effective, it gets the message across in a way that students will relate to and understand. I would definitely use a video of this nature before a project assignment to ensure "Users evaluate a Web page by the usefulness and reliability and the quality of its design" (Roblyer, 2016, p. 199).

Website # 1:
For my first website I chose the Miller Center, The Miller Center is a website that I evaluated with the criteria in our text authorship, content, organization and navigation, visual design, media. The author or contributor to the website is the University of Virginia, it is also a .gov website as well. The content of the site is mainly about the past and current Presidents of the United States. The organization and navigation is very easy to use. The visual design is great for the student to know what the content is about. The media involved with this site consist of this like speeches that a president gave.

Website # 2:
    For my second website is the Library of Congress, the Library of Congress is a website that also fits the criteria from our text. When looking at the author I have found that the publisher is the Library of Congress, this is a credible source to do research from. This websites content, organization and navigation, visual design, and media content are all very well placed and chosen to ensure the site runs smoothly and accurately.  This website is a good site to pull historical content from equipped with teacher resources and lesson plans.




Online Safety and Security:
      This topic is very important when dealing with our students, the amount of pornographic material that is accessible is astonishing. To combat that issue school districts will need the use of firewalls which “protects a computer from attempts by others to unauthorized gain access to it, and also prevents access to certain sites (Roblyer, 2016, p. 174).

Resources:
Roblyer M.D. (2016). Integrating technology into teaching (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.


3 comments:

  1. David this was a great blog. I see we both was on the same page with the video i defintly thought it would grab the students attention as well. As students learn how to make use of online sources for school purposes and create their own websites, an essential skill they must acquire is being able to evaluate information critically and to look for indications that content is accurate and reliable (Roblyer p. 199). This way students stay safe and receive reliable information.

    ReplyDelete
  2. David, good little blog with some good websites which I saved since they are related to Social Studies. The video is great in showing how students need to be educated when determining information on the internet from non biased truthful sites. The ease at which people can make a website now is that makes its so tricky to syphon through the good and the bad. Roblyer notes (2016) "Now, thanks to Web page development software, it is possible to develop whole sites without writing a line of code or script"(pg. 192). We saw in class how .org sites are not always reliable.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nice video! So nice that San and myself coincidentally included the same one in our blogs. It is quick, to the point, and illustrates a very common issue people run into. But in this day and age it is crucial to be able to sift through sources and know what is legitimate. "The ability to be critical and ethical producers and consumers of media," (Robyler, 2016, p. 191) or digital literacy, is as relevant as any subject students will learn. In fact, I'm starting to think students should have a required class in online navigation and digital literacy. In this day and age it makes sense.

    ReplyDelete