Evaluating information online.
- Is the information easy for us to read? Well organised with navigation guide, subheadings etc.?
- Does it use photos, videos etc. effectively?
- Does it help answer our questions?
- Is it reliable?
- Reading the Web
The Salyer article explains how to clearly teach about reading and comprehending online materials for children.
After participating in the whole class lesson today around information skills and online reading, find THREE websites around the topic of Australia that meet the following criteria. Link each on your blog with a short description of them and why they meet the set criteria.
- A website that has information about Australia that is clear, age appropriate (stage 3) and a good model for a lesson about note taking and reading online http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/our-countryThis website is a reliable government website that uses photo’s effectively (i.e. names the place or the animal) and provides information about Australia’s population, fauna, cities and attractions. The Subheadings make the website simple to navigate through.
- A short video (3 minutes or so) about Australia that is age appropriate (stage 3), which could also be used to model note taking using the visual and aural aspects.
http://splash.abc.net.au/home#!/media/598639/what-s-australia-day-all-about-
It was not easy to find a reliable, informative and age appropriate video on YouTube. I decided to use a video that I found on the ABC Splash webpage about Australia Day which includes information about Australia’s history and culture, although unfortunately not much about Australia’s population, fauna, cities or attractions. Despite that, at least we know that the ABC Splash page provide reliable educational resources, the video is used effectively and promotes note-taking.
3. A website that is poorly written (too long or complex) or has too little information or that only sells a product etc. about Australia to use as a contrast to the other sites in order to develop student’s analytical and critical skills.
http://www.coolkidfacts.com/australia-facts-for-kids/
This website is poorly written, has no access to an author and has information on it that is questionable. It has no link to a disclaimer or any form of contact information. It would be a good website to compare with the government one so that students can develop critical analysis skills when searching the internet.
Developing your photography skills – 20 minutes
Since photos play such a large role in communication, what types of skills can you develop and teach your students when they are taking their own photograph?
Read the Pakarklis, article and complete this short photography task.
- With a partner, experiment with taking photos using the rule of thirds described in the article. Post your most effective one.
Leading lines – find some nice examples of lines on campus – vines, edges, paths, spires etc. Use the lines to lead your viewers gaze. Post your best photo
Choose one other feature from the article and post your favorite shots, with a comment about what features you have used.
Social Media, News and critical literacy – 200 words
View the three websites linked below.
On what basis would you decide each one is a reliable source of news or information? Are these legitimate sites, satire, or simply fake news masquerading as actual news?
What principles would you teach your year 5 and 6 students when they are reading online, whether looking at current news or researching an area of history or science? Make a list of the criteria or principles you used and use these as the first part of your post about critical reading:
- Does it provide contact information?
- Credibility – Who is the author?
- Does it make reference to any credible authors?
- Layout and wording? does it seem professional
- Are they trying to sell you merchandise?
- What domain does it use?
- Does it uphold journalistic integrity?
- Is it factual or opinion?
- Does it have a disclaimer? If so, what does it state?
- What does it look like in comparison to the SBS News website?
- How current is the information?
This page seems to be legitimate at first glance, claiming to be a news site. However, it actually has a unrepeatable domain (.co) and actually led me nowhere as the link is broken and my web browser warned me that there was “No such file or director”.
This websites is not a reliable source of information.
The page is a blog site the author/s is not reliable nor credible. The layout of the page also seems unprofessional which can also lead you to question it validity.
This site is another unreliable one, claiming to be a news page but is really just fake news. One the ‘news’ articles consisted of a high-end swear word which tells me instantly that it is not valid as a valid site would chose their words a lot more wisely! The website also has an online store selling ‘the onion’ merchandise’ – again this tells that this is site is unreliable. The articles to not mention the reporter and therefore does not uphold journalistic integrity.
This site does hold a degree of validity as it provides an author for each article and provides links to journal articles. However, my skepticism remains as the site has it own store of merchandise, contains lots of opinion. As a disclaimer on the site states “All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech… It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice of any kind”. As such, it can be concluded that this site is not reliable.
I would use these sites in the classroom to enable students to compare the difference between them and legitimate and reliable news sites in order to develop critical analysis skills.
National Public Radio (like the ABC but publicly funded in the US) – A section from their education work. – Choose one or two key points and reflect on how you might develop critical media skills into your classroom in everyday reading and writing activities. You might like to use examples from the sites you viewed above to make your points.
http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/02/16/514364210/5-ways-teachers-are-fighting-fake-news
A Stanford Study showed that “The study showed that while students absorb media constantly, they often lack the critical thinking skills needed to tell fake news from the real stuff”. The article describes ways in which teachers help enhancing students media analysis skills. One lesson example is to get students to first determine the differences between real and fake news and then create the own fake news article based one what they have learnt. From this I think that a fun activity that I will be inclined to execute would be for students to examine and compare reliable (i.e. ABC or SBS news) and unreliable news sites using the criteria I set in the previous activity (i.e. The ones I examined in the previous task). Once they have an understanding of those differences, they will participate in a group activity where they have to independently find two real/reliable news articles and a fake one, tell them to the group who then need to examine for themselves and come to a decision on whether they think it is real or fake and justify how they came to that decision.
References:
Required Reading
Pakarklis, E. (2013). 11 composition tips for taking great photos with your iPhone. Retrieved February, 2016, from Parkalis photography
Salyer, D. (2015). Reading the Web. The Reading Teacher, 69(1), 35-39. 10.1002/trtr.1380 Accessed February 22, 2016 from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/trtr.1380/abstract
Glass, I. (2015). 573: Status Update. This American Life. Retrieved November 27th, 2015, from http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/573/status-update?act=0
Recommended reading
Schugar, H. R., Smith, C. A., & Schugar, J. T. (2013). Teaching with interactive picture e‐books in grades K–6. The Reading Teacher, 66(8), 615-624.
Accessed February 22, 2016 from http://www.readingrockets.org/article/teaching-interactive-picture-e-books-grades-k-6
Fair Dealing and Education – http://www.copyright.org.au/admin/cms-acc1/_images/169501865452392488546d3.pdf
Australian Copyright Council site for more information
http://www.copyright.org.au/find-an-answer/browse-by-a-z/
Further reading:
Online video –
Leu, D. J. (2009) New Literacies of the Internet. Teaching Reading 3-5. Accessed July, 2009 from http://www.learner.org/workshops/teachreading35/session5/index.html
Resources:
Nothing Beats the Real Thing website – resources for teaching about he media
http://www.nothingbeatstherealthing.info/resources
Persuasive language- activities and assessment ideas. http://www.nothingbeatstherealthing.info/persuasive-language-online-resource
Creative Collaboration & Why Copyright Counts- This resource includes a plan for one discrete lesson on copyright, piracy and digital citizenship, with an option for a second lesson to allow students to apply ‘fair go’ principles of social justice to create and edit a short film.
http://www.nothingbeatstherealthing.info/creative-collaboration-and-why-copyright-counts
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