Education Resources for Web Literacy
In a world of information overload, it is vital for students to be able to find information on the Web, as well as to determine its validity and appropriateness. Our web literacy materials demystify the process Web so you can impart the vital skills students need to be safe, successful 21st century learners. Our globally acclaimed BLC summer conference in Boston has multiple hands on workshops to develop web literacy skills.
Web Literacy Resources
We have started a collection of websites that can be used when teaching students how to evaluate the validity of websites.
The first step in learning the grammar of the Internet is to read URL’s closely. Reading a URL is an exercise in critical thinking.
It is helpful to know who publishes the information you are reading. Use the Whois Database to find out.
One of the beauties of the Internet is that we can chart the history of a website through a collection of drafts using the Wayback Machine.
A quick look at who has linked to a site might help you gain perspective about the quality of its information.
Web Literacy Articles
If you’re not including your students in professional development opportunities for teachers, you’re missing a key opportunity. Here’s why.
The Wayback Machine is as basic a reference tool for the Internet Age as a dictionary. When was the last time you saw a student use it?
GOOGLE HAS AMAZING TOOLS FOR FINDING SCHOOL-WORTHY SOURCES. TOO BAD MOST KIDS DON’T KNOW THEY EXIST
On Feb. 10th 2011, the world was transfixed on the protests raging in Egypt. We all watched as thousands gathered in Tahir square, where they had been for the past several weeks, to listen to a speech by President Hosni Mubarak. Many figured this would be his resignation speech.
In 1998, a 15-year-old high school student used the personal website of a professor at Northwestern University, Arthur Butz, as justification for writing a history paper called “The Historic Myth of Concentration Camps.”
Are you as worried as we are that the overall impact of technology on our children’s ability to solve complex research problems is negative? Have you heard a child near you say, “Just Google it,” when asked to describe the meaning of life?
Is your high school teaching students to access the Internet for research? Then it is essential that students also learn how to validate the information. The Internet is a place where you can find “proof” of essentially any belief system that you can imagine. And, for too many students, “If it is on the Internet, it is true.””
