Checklist for Evaluating Web Resources | USM Libraries | University of Southern Maine Is the Web a good research tool? This question is dependent on the researcher's objective. As in traditional print resources one must use a method of critical analysis to determine its value. Here is a checklist for evaluating web resources to help in that determination. Authority: Is the information reliable? Check the author's credentials and affiliation. Does the resource have a reputable organization or expert behind it? Are the sources of information stated? Can the author be contacted for clarification? Check for organizational or author biases. Scope: Is the material at this site useful, unique, accurate or is it derivative, repetitious, or doubtful? Is the information available in other formats? Is the purpose of the resource clearly stated? What items are included in the resource? Is the information factual or opinion? Does the site contain original information or simply links? How frequently is the resource updated? Does the site have clear and obvious pointers to new content? Other Tips:
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IN OUR SCHOOLS: Common Core - More thinking, learning UNION TWP. — Eileen Gorman likes to watch her students struggle. The eighth-grade math teacher at Glen Este Middle School in Cincinnati believes they will learn more that way – as she learns herself to teach the new Common Core, which many believe will transform classroom lessons, homework assignments and state tests. So on a recent morning, before her eighth-grade algebra students could sit down or crack open a book, Gorman gave them a word problem that included measurements of a toy snake, the kind that jumps out of boxes, and a question: would that snake fit best in a box or in a can of equal width and height? The students engaged in guided guesswork or, as Gorman put it, a “productive struggle.” This is a look inside the classroom under the Common Core, curriculum standards being adopted by 46 states to better prepare students for college and the workplace. The change will, advocates say, mark a fundamental shift in the way the nation’s children are educated. Marrs disagrees.
The 5 Elements Students Should Look For When Evaluating Web Content March , 2014 In a section in her wonderful book "Understanding The Social Lives of Networked Teens" Danah Boyd talked extensively about the concept of digital natives and argued that this nomenclature does not really capture the essence of what a digitally savvy teenager really means. Dana argued that the mere fact of being comfortable with a social media tool does not prove that the user has a digital fluency to allow them to better use it for educational purposes : Just because teens are comfortable using social media to hang out does not mean that they’re fluent in or with technology. Many teens are not nearly as digitally adept as the often-used assumption that they are “digital natives” would suggest. The teens I met knew how to get to Google but had little understanding about how to construct a query to get quality information from the popular search engine. Learning how to evaluate online content is an essential step in the process of developing digitally literate students.
WestEd: Home Include parents in standards debate: Opposing view Across America, moms are rising up against the Common Core, national standards for English-language arts and mathematics adopted by 45 states. As Anne Gassel, of Ellisville, Mo., said, "Parents and their legislators were cut out of the loop. Even now we can't get straight answers." OUR VIEW: Myths fuel attacks on 'Common Core' standards Private concerns, notably the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, financed the Common Core. Although Common Core is regularly described as "state-led," its authors are private entities, which are not subject to sunshine laws, open meetings or other marks of a state-led effort. Through its Race to the Top grants program, the federal government gave states the incentive to adopt the Common Core and to use aligned, federally funded standardized tests. Those tests, with teacher evaluations geared to them, will act as an enforcement mechanism. Stotsky and Milgram sat on the Common Core Validation Committee, but refused to sign off on the standards. It's simple.
Wonderopolis | Where the Wonders of Learning Never Cease Editure Professional Development Why conservatives should support the Common Core The new “Common Core” math and reading standards have come under a firestorm of criticism from tea-party activists and commentators like Glenn Beck and Michelle Malkin. Beck calls the standards a stealth “leftist indoctrination” plot by the Obama administration. Malkin warns that they will “eliminate American children’s core knowledge base in English, language arts and history.” As education scholars at two right-of-center think tanks, we feel compelled to set the record straight. Here’s what the Common Core State Standards are: They describe what children should know and the skills that they must acquire at each grade level to stay on course toward college- or career-readiness, something that conservatives have long argued for. The Common Core standards are also not a curriculum; it’s up to state and local leaders to choose aligned curricula. For decades, students in different states have been held to radically different expectations.
Digital Citizenship