Oh, what a tangled web...

When you mention technology in schools, the first thing most people think about are computer networks used to access the Internet and students doing web research, so this is as good a place to start as any.

For educators, the availability of free, high quality multimedia resources for education obviously held a huge "wow factor" that helped technology establish a foothold in the K-12 environment. Students who had grown up with television, movies, computers, and video games were already more technology-literate than many educators who came from earlier generations, and were often more engaged in the learning experience when it was presented via this multimedia content.

While the value of the Internet to the K-12 student, their teachers, and the rest of the world's population with Internet access, is incontrovertible, it wasn't long until the reality set in that this valuable tool was not a panacea. Filters were put in place to help protect students from inadvertantly accessing inappropriate materials. Unreliable internet connections could ground a lesson plan centered on online research. Perhaps most challenging to always frugal schools is that technology is not inexpensive, and in an environment used to long-term purchases it was - and continues to be - an adjustment to deal with items that are "obsolete" in just a few years. Much ingenuity has been shown in schools to keep older equipment alive, and it is not unusual to find 12 year old (or older) computers that have been repurposed as terminal clients so they are still in production, delivering educational value to students.

It was also soon evident that students - and staff - needed to develop a critical eye when surfing the Internet. We had, perhaps, never fully appreciated the intrinsic preselection process in the materials found in the school media center. Printing books is expensive, so publishing companies were motivated to ensure the credibility and accuracy materials to ensure the book would be positively reviewed, academically accepted, purchased, and profitable. After surviving this first test, materials were further reviewed by school media specialists prior to purchase. As a result, materials students found in the school's media center were generally credible.

The great value of the Internet - it's extremely low "publication costs" that allow a much wider range of voices to be heard - makes it essential that we evaluate the materials found on the net with a critical eye. When doing research on the moon, you may find a very professional looking site done by an enthusiastic 8 year old. While that 8-year-old may be a "moon-savant," it is probably more important that we view the information it contains critically that information on NASA's web site.

Many tricks can be used to assist with web site evaluation, but all have unique drawbacks. For instance, you can limit your research to sites that have a .edu extension, as those are reserved for use by colleges and universities so may help confirm credibility. However, for elementary school students, the content level may be too high for comprehension, and many items of interest to them will not be covered at this academic level. Another trick is to do a whois search, which allows you to enter a web address and find information on the person or group to whom it is registered, which can give you an indication of the credibility of the site's content.

For guidance on how to evaluate web sites, please check out some of the sites below.


Cornell University's Olin & Uris Libraries

Cornell University's Olin & Uris Libraries' "Five Criteria for Evaluating Web Pages"

CyberBee, by a friend, Linda Joseph, an educator in the Columbus, Ohio area.

Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators

The Ohio State University's net.Tutor

UC Berkeley Library

Those with elementary level students may want to have them consult Eduplace's step-by-step tutorial on finding and selecting web sites.


This is just a sampling of hundreds of sites you can find with a simple Google search, where you are sure to find some to suit the needs of you and your students.

Good searching!