Scenario 2: Becoming a critical user of the Internet

Task:

  • Read the following scenario, the guiding questions and the provided website resources carefully. The guiding questions are designed to help you marshal materials and ideas that will inform your overall final products.
  • Using the resources provided, clearly answer the guiding questions (providing examples when appropriate).
  • Write up your response in a Microsoft Word document (you should include the scenario and questions).
  • In completing each question you should clearly have identified important concerns and issues related to research and critical use of the Internet, as well as identified key strategies and procedures that you can utilize to prevent such issues within your own classrooms.

    Scenario:

    A 10th grade social class at Fluria high school is currently working on a research report focusing on the theme of time, continuity, and change. Students are expected to use a number of resources, such as the library and Internet (many students are using the Internet). There is a class discussion about each of the reports the students have finished. One young girl is writing a paper about how easy human cloning is. When questioned by her teacher, she explained how she had found numerous websites that support this point.

    Questions:

    1. What is the problem the teacher is facing?
    2. What responsibilities does the teacher have in this scenario?
    3. What strategies are available to help educate both the teachers and the students to be critical and responsible users of the Internet?

    The problem that the teacher is facing can be termed many things: validation, interpretation, authentication, et cetera. The idea is the same: information comes in all forms. Some of it is reliable, some of it is not. In situations where valid information is crucial, one must take steps to verify that the information is valid and reliable. A simple situation can illustrate this point. Let's take for example a diabetic person, who clearly has special medical needs. When they plan a trip, they must take precautions that certain facilities always be available or nearby. Not doing so can result in serious medical consequences. If a hotel promises that these facilities are available, the seriousness of the consequences dictates that their information must be verified, and validated, and not simply accepted at face value.

    The responsibilities of the teacher who assigns research work to be conducted using the internet can be divided into three phases. 1) Preparation, 2) Execution, 3) Reflection.

    1) Preparation: Before student engage in internet research they should be properly introduced to the concepts involved in authentication: site quality, author, purpose, et cetera. They should also supply the students with rubrics that help them evaluate web sites, and provide opportunities to use these and become proficient with them.

    2) Execution: While students are engaged in internet research they need to be required to engage in certain behaviors that periodically bring their focus to the concerns for information validation. For example this could mean that for every web site students cite they must fill out an evaluation form. An example form of this nature can be viewed here:

    Evaluation Form

    3) After the assignments are done and graded, the teacher must draw students' attention to where there has been successful information validation and also unsuccessful information validation. This will allow students to refine their understanding of the nature of information on the internet and work on becoming critical users of information.

    The strategies that I would advocate are the following. By far the most important strategy to master when interpreting on-line information is SKEPTICISM: all information should be viewed skeptically (i.e. as unreliable) unless there is good evidence to support its legitimacy.

    In reputable websites there is…

  • Evidence of Author's Credentials (education, contact info, organization membership…)
  • Evidence of Quality Control (peer review, professional organization…)
  • Evidence of Accuracy (grammar, spelling…)
  • Evidence of Audience and Purpose (persuasive, commercial, factual…)
  • Evidence of Reasonableness, Fairness, and Objectivity (generalizations…)
  • Evidence of Source Documentation or Bibliography

    Here is a Summary of The CARS Checklist for Research Source Evaluation which, along with more detailed information, can be found here:

    CARS Summary

    Credibility trustworthy source, author's credentials, evidence of quality control, known or respected authority, organizational support. Goal: an authoritative source, a source that supplies some good evidence that allows you to trust it.
    Accuracy up to date, factual, detailed, exact, comprehensive, audience and purpose reflect intentions of completeness and accuracy. Goal: a source that is correct today (not yesterday), a source that gives the whole truth.
    Reasonableness fair, balanced, objective, reasoned, no conflict of interest, absence of fallacies or slanted tone. Goal: a source that engages the subject thoughtfully and reasonably, concerned with the truth.
    Support listed sources, contact information, available corroboration, claims supported, documentation supplied. Goal: a source that provides convincing evidence for the claims made, a source you can triangulate (find at least two other sources that support it).