1:2:2 Authority – is the information true and correct?

Activity duration: 10-60 minutes

Using the internet provides pupils with access to an unlimited number of resources. It is important that pupils use information that is valuable and authoritative. They should be aware of the process for evaluating websites and empowered to identify reliable and safe information online.

The following website is a pupil-friendly way to show pupils how information has undergone a Quality Information Checklist that helps to ensure you and your students are using authentic websites and web pages.

• www.quick.org.uk
• www.quick.org.uk/menu.htm

It is recommended that teachers visit this website with their pupils and discuss the content and process for evaluating websites together.

• Get your pupils to search the World Wide Web using one specific (predetermined) keyword and investigate how different the results can be from the websites available. Discuss how different websites can be and how the information contained within them can differ.
• Review one of the websites found by discussing the following questions (based on QUICK):
  
  Did you like the website? Why? Why not?
  Who is the author? Was this easy to locate?
  What are the aims of the website?
  Has the website achieved its aims?
  Is the site relevant to what you wanted to find out?
  Can the information be checked?
  When was the site was produced?
  Is the information biased? If so, how?
  Did the website provide links to related material?

Note: If the pupils had difficulty answering the above questions or the majority of the answers were negative it is likely the website is inaccurate and not an authoritative source of information.

For further information on evaluating web resources, check out:

• Evaluating webpages: www.sc.edu/beaufort/library/pages/bones/lesson5.shtml