All right, in part one, I was just starting to talk about domain names. Usually, there
are three sections between the first slashes. Sometimes, there are only two, so that means
the first part will be the actual domain name. Okay, so this is the domain name.
Then you have lots of different extensions. Extensions like ".edu," ".gov" & ".k12" are
not available for purchase by everyone. Therefore, they tend to be more reliable. That's important.
All right? You have to realize that. Sites with other extensions might be good,
but you just have to think more carefully about them. So these are some examples. Of
course, there are foreign countries. There are ... dot com is the most common. Dot org
often are good, but, you know, again anyone can have a dot
org site or a dot net site. Dot mil -- not everybody can have those.
Dot biz, name, pro, info -- those are new ones coming out and those are mostly commercial.
And then, the question is, are you on a personal page.
Some personal pages are good, but remember, there are no outside editors or moderators
for personal pages. People can put or do anything or say anything on their personal pages. And
it's really important that we remember that.
Universitites often give professors personal pages. How do you know when you are on a personal
page?
Well, often you'll see their name, in the URL. Sometimes, you'll see a tilde in front
of their name. And a lot of times, just by reading it, you'll know it's a personal page.
This is the one that was used in "Teach Zach to Read." And it's Professor Butz's website,
on Northwestern University's website, but it was his personal website. So you can see
the tilde there and his name. That gives a clue. The "pubweb" we don't usually see that
too much any more. If you see that, then it's obvious that's a personal page also.
All right, so that's the anatomy of a personal website.
The other part, besides the web address, when you look at a website, look at the links.
What sites does this website link to? And if possible, what sites link to this website?
Okay, those are three quick ways for evaluating a site. I like November’s points and the
order of his points. But let’s look at a more detailed method called RADCAB from RADCAB.com.
RADCAB stands for relevancy, appropriateness, detail, currency, authority, and bias.
So let's look at this a little bit. Relevancy: students should ask themselves
whether the website has any clear connection to their topic. I would argue that if the
information is inaccurate, then it is irrelevant to the research. Therefore, students should
check the accuracy of the information also. Appropriateness: Does the information seem
appropriate for my age level? For my belief system and values?
Detail: is there enough information on this page for my research (even though I use other
sources)? For the author to know what they are talking about?
Again, I would argue that I also need to judge whether the details are accurate.
Currency: Is this information up to date? Do I know when it was published? Do I know
when the site was last updated? One big problem with the Internet is that information tends
to live forever even though it’s been abandoned. Authority: As mentioned before when discussing
the author, who is this person or organization? What are their qualifications? What is their
background? Bias: This is what November calls “purpose.”
Why was the information written? The big categories are to inform, persuade, entertain, or sell.
In my opinion, everyone has a bias. Mine, for example, is that technology is a great
tool that all teachers should include in their curriculum. It’s important to decide if
the bias of the site is within reasonable limits. Also, explain to students that they
can take the good, accurate and relevant information from a site, and leave more biased information
behind. They don’t have to “swallow it whole.” They can bite off pieces.