Dan Severson

The issue that I found very useful today was evaluating websites. I am having a tough time evaluating sites that I really do not have a background on. It is like it was done on purpose so I would feel like my students when they start to research a topic that they have little knowledge of. I am glad that I have the five "golden rules" used to evaluate web sites: Accuracy, authority, objectivity, currency, and coverage. This seems like a simple task with a black or white answer but I have found a lot of gray areas. I will working with a partner so hopefully two heads will be better than one.

I do feel this is a good topic for students to spend some time on. One of the major problems that people have is who to believe. What if you saw a milk jug touting that this is BST free milk, would you believe it? Think about it. BST is a natural hormone just high producing cows have more than low producers. So all milk has BST. How about a news program depicting UofD as having the best football team on the East Coast. UofD is not bad but what division are they in? What year or time of year was the program aired? This evaluation can teach students to become critical thinkers and researchers.

I am glad to be working on this exercise and have the many resources to help me evaluate web sites. I feel that the examples helped in some ways of making the picture a little more clearer. I am, however, starting to worry about the final assignment. I have to start to thinking about teaching content using this new technology. That is going to be tough for me. I am an old drill and grill style of teacher but that is why I am here - to make my instruction mor meaningful.