Evaluating Websites: A Necessary Skill

Yesterday we hosted the Pre-AP ninth grade English classes in the library for a lesson and activity on the importance of evaluating websites before they are used in a research assignment.  Students must ask themselves questions like: Who is the author? What is the purpose of the site?  Can I verify the information?  Do the ads on the site detract from the information? 

And, believe it or not, students learned that there are other search engines besides Google and Bing!  We used Metacrawler, a search engine that searches Google, Bing, and Yahoo at the same time, to analyze their search results and SweetSearch, a search engine that only searches sites verified by research experts.  We also compared information found on the Internet with the information found in the Alabama Virtual Library.  Students were able to then find a website on their own and evaluate it to see if it would work for their research assignment about The Great Depression.

When you assign a research assignment, you should give students some guidance on what sites to use and how to evaluate the sites they find.  If you would like some assistance in this process please let us know!   By teaching students how to search efficiently, we can ensure that they are ready for the 21st century!