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Hello, ladies and gentlemen. I hope you are having an excellent day today. Today, we're going to be looking at teaching students to evaluate those online resources, really encouraging students to be the evaluators of what information they're getting online.
For today's lesson, I've chosen a quote by Abraham Lincoln, which says, "the problem with quotes found on the Internet is that they are often not true." Clearly, this is a little bit of a joke, right? Abraham Lincoln would not be quoting about the internet because the internet was not around when Abraham Lincoln was around. But I think it's a really kind of funny tongue-in-cheek example of what we need to be teaching our students, which is that just because it's online, doesn't mean it's a valid resource.
By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to review teacher responsibilities regarding students' online work and discuss how students and teachers can best evaluate some of those online resources. So, first, let's sort of review what the teacher responsibilities are in regard to online work with students. First and foremost, it's important to remember the International Society of Technology and Education's guidelines and standards for teachers and students when they're planning that instruction. Remember when we talked about those, we discussed that teachers should facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity, to develop digital age experiences and assessments, to really model good digital age work in learning, promoting that digital citizenship and the responsibilities involved, and really engaging as teachers in professional growth.
Teachers should also really be teaching students how to safely use digital resources, focusing in on what are the ways to protect ourselves when we're online. Teachers should really be teaching students to determine helpful versus unhelpful resources. And in a little bit, we'll look at a really good manner and way in which to do that. And teachers should be ensuring that students understand intellectual property. So let's take a look at those student evaluations of online resources.
One of the best mnemonic devices that's out there for students to help evaluate those online resources is using the CRAAP method. Now this is a little funny. And I think it's a good way to kind of get students involved because when they hear today we're going to use the CRAAP method, it kind of gets them giggling and maybe wakes a few of them up. But what this really does is help them independently engage with that material online and gives them a nice solid way to judge it.
The elements of the CRAAP method are as follows. The C stands for currency. Is the information applicable to what is happening right now with regards to whatever they are researching, or is this old information? Is it dated?
The R stands for relevance. Is this information important to what you are researching? Does it apply? Sometimes it's very easy for students to get off task because, ooh, look at this really cool picture or, wow, what a fun fact. But in reality when looking at the bigger picture, it doesn't actually apply to the information being collected.
The first A in the CRAAP mnemonic device stands for authority. What's the source of the information? Is it a good source? Am I quoting a doctor, a scientist, an educator?
Am I quoting a reputable website, or am I citing Wikipedia? Now there is a time and a place for it. But for the most part, we want to look is the source of information a reputable one?
The second A stands for accuracy. This goes right along with authority, right? Is that source and the information that that source is giving me reliable, truthful, and correct, right? Ideally, students will be looking at multiple sources and checking those sources against each other. Because sometimes if you're learning about new information, you don't necessarily know whether it's correct or truthful. We can use our brains, but it's always best to have multiple sources so that you can check.
And, finally, the P stands for purpose. What's the reason that this information exists? There is kind of a funny little joke that says a study was done by the Coke Corporation to see whether Coke or Pepsi were better?
Coke won, right? Well, clearly, if this information is being retrieved in order to help support people buying that Coke beverage, then we might want to question whether or not it's really legitimate since it was the Coke Corporation that put it out there, right? There is a specific reason for that information existing, and that reason helps us to determine the accuracy or the authority from where it came from.
It's important to note that even though this student evaluations, teachers can also use this strategy for evaluating their own online resources in planning and instruction. I have often said to other teachers there is no reason to reinvent the wheel. There are many, many, many, different resources online to help you as a teacher with lessons, and worksheets, and PowerPoints. But you as a teacher want to make sure just because someone else says, hey, I'm a teacher, here's this information on To Kill a Mockingbird, that doesn't necessarily mean that it's right. You need to be checking this own CRAAP mnemonic to make sure that your formation meets all of those standards.
Now that we're done with today's lesson, you should be able to review and reiterate some of those teacher responsibilities regarding a student's online work, and you should be able to discuss how students and even you yourself as a teacher can best evaluate those online resources we encounter. Now I would like to take just a moment for reflection. As you reflect on the information you've learned about ways in which students can evaluate those online resources, what are the challenges that you foresee as you start implementing these elements into your classroom? Feel free to pause the video for just a moment to reflect on that question.
Now to dive a little deeper and learn how to apply this information, be sure to check out the additional resources section associated with this video. This is where you will find links targeted toward helping you discover more ways to apply this course material. That's all we have for now. I hope you're having a wonderful rest of your day.
(00:00-00:52) Intro
(00:53-01:10) Objectives
(01:11-02:22) Teacher Responsibilities
(02:23-05:58) CRAPP Mnemonic
(05:59-06:19) Review
(06:20-06:56) Reflection
Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask
University of Berkeley Library resource for evaluating online sources. This site walks you through the necessary steps of evaluating an online resource. You can use this site and the steps as you instruct your students to evaluate online resources.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html
Evaluating Information – Applying the CRAAP Test
California State University online resource evaluation tool - This is a one page handout that walks students through the necessary questions to asks when evaluating sources. The acronym CRAAP is easy to remember, and requires students to check for Currency, Relevancy, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose.
https://www.csuchico.edu/lins/handouts/eval_websites.pdf
ISTE Standards
The Student, Educator and Leader Standards have been updated since 2016. To reference the Newest Generation of ISTE Standards and to see which states have adopted the most current version, visit:
https://www.iste.org/standards