Critical Thinking About Websites

Google turned 11 today, happy birthday! Google is the most popular search engine and has been for many years. But what did people like me use 11 years ago? I remember being assigned research reports during high school and college. As I look back now I try to remember the process I used to find information to write my papers. I remember long hours spent in the library finding books, looking through educational magazines and searching microfilm. It took a long time to sort through the information, but I was sure the information was reliable. What about students today? I feel they have the opposite problem, lots of information at their fingertips, but how do they know a reliable website from one that may not be accurate?

I began searching for information that would help students and teachers critically examine web sites relied on to build knowledge. I came across rubrics, checklists, forms, criteria, tools, templates, etc. Most of the resources ask the evaluators to critically examine the author of the page, the purpose of the web page, the audience the web page was designed for, and the last date of publication.

I found a great resource for both students and teachers to experience that breaks down how to critically examine web sites and offers practice activities to reinforce new skills, 21st Century Information Fluency Project: Web Site Investigator.

Other sites that I believe contain good information:
Web Site Evaluation & Internet Lesson
The C's of Web Site Evaluation
The ABC's of Web Site Evaluation

21st Century Learner

Mid August means the beginning of a new school year. The beginning of a new school year means another year of working with students and teachers to integrate technology in their learning. My focus and goal for this school year is to educate myself and co-workers on characteristics of a 21st Century Learner and ways to educate this new generation.

This school year began with a conversation I had with my building administration in early August. They had just finished reading Tony Wagner's book, The Global Achievement Gap, and were influenced by the book's message: "Why even our best schools don't teach the new survival skills our children need -- and what we can do about it." This book became an open door for conversations about the importance of using resources that engage students in learning, particularly technology resources.

My building principal asked me if I would be able to pull together some information and create a presentation for the opening faculty meeting. How much time are you willing to give me? I have enough to fill an entire day or more! After agreeing to a half an hour time limit, I began perusing resources I have collected over the last few years. What should I focus on? What should I include? After days of planning, the following video shows pictures of slides I used in the presentation to the staff:

1. 21st Century Learner video: Edutopia's Welcome to the Digital Generation
2. What is a Digital Native?
3. Loss of Imagination? video clip: Edutopia's Digital Youth Portrait Cameron
4. Do you have an accent?
5. Students learn differently today
6. As educators, how can we support our digital learners?
7. Who owns the learning? video clip: Alan November YouTube - Who Owns the Learning?
8. Speak Up survey results
9. Top five gifts for teenagers
10. So, they've got the stuff...how do I use it in my classroom?
11. Poll Everywhere demo
12. 21st Century Learning video: YouTube - A Vision of K-12 Students Today
13. Example: iPods as learning centers and more!

The presentation was well received by the faculty, which was a sigh of relief for me. My plan is to continue adding technology integration resources and lessons to this blog, creating a hub for teachers and other interested followers. Continue to visit this blog weekly for updates - feel free to leave comments and suggestions. Here's to the beginning of a new school year and many new technology adventures!