Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators

Critical Evaluation Information

With the advent of the World Wide Web and the huge amount of information that is contained there, students need to be able to critically evaluate a Web page for authenticity, applicability, authorship, bias, and usabilty. The ability to critically evaluate information is an important skill in this information age.

To help you get started with this process with your students, I have designed a series of evaluation surveys, one each at the elementary, middle, and secondary school levels. Feel free to use them, and please provide me with any feedback as to their strengths and weaknesses.

Critical Evaluation Surveys

• Critical Evaluation Survey : Elementary School Level (PDF version)
• Critical Evaluation Survey : Middle School Level (PDF version)
• Critical Evaluation Survey : Secondary School Level (PDF version)
• Critical Evaluation Survey : Virtual Tours

  (PDF version)

Information by the Author

• The ABC's of Web Site Evaluation...article from Classroom Connect, 1/99
• Separating the Wheat from the Chaff: How to Tell the Good Sites from the Bad
  ...article by author in ITWFL, 3/98
• Evaluation of Internet Web Sites : An Annotated Bibliography
  ...an ERIC Digest by the author, 8/98
• Internet Curriculum : Brush Up on the Internet
• Find out about my book on evaluation of Web sites!

Critical Evaluation Information by Others

• Advertising and Sponsorship on the Web
  ...learn to critically evaluate marketing techniques on the Web
• Bibliography on Evaluating Internet Resources
  ...a comprehensive bibliography of sites that deal with this topic
• Critical Literacy : The WWW's Greatest Potential
  ...a rather academic rationale for information literacy
• CyberGuides
  ...criteria for teachers to use in evaluating sites for content and web design
• ED's Oasis Evaluation Guidelines
  ...criteria for evaluation of online instructional materials
• Evaluating Internet Sources
  ...a comprehensive set of evaluation criteria
• Evaluating Internet-Based Information: A Goals-Based Approach
  ...an interesting essay and evaluation form
• Evaluating the Quality of Internet Information Sources
  ...a compilation of many people's work
• Evaluating Web Resources
  ...a great site which looks at the different types of pages
• IMSE Science Web Site Evaluation
  ...questions for the specialized evaluation of science sites
• Infofilter's Web Site Review Template
  ...a cross between a citation and evaluation sheet
• Information Skills Rating Scale
  ...a sample rubric that may be used to assess students' research skills
• Internet Source Validation Project
  ...a project dealing with Web site evaluation
• Resource Selection and Information Evaluation
  ...covers further aspects of critical evaluation
• Selection Criteria for WWW Resources
  ...a checklist of criteria for assessing WWW sites
• 700+ Great Sites : Selection Criteria
  ...ALA's criteria for a "great" site
• Ten C's for Evaluating Internet Resources
  ...a narrative evaluation sheet with useful information
• Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources
  ...a critical evaluation essay

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