Sometimes the sites have been selected in advance, and sometimes students find their own on a topic of interest to them or relevant to a class project. We have successfully used two different sites with biographies of Ray Charles, one that we know contains inaccurate information. The different information and viewpoints in the two sites make it easy to spark a discussion of how to identify accurate information. After completing any of these exercises, we distribute a set of criteria that students can use to evaluate Internet sites. Here are some of the key criteria on the list.
Internet sites come from a wide variety of sponsoring entities and individuals.
The resulting content ranges from the definitive to the false. Therefore, only some of the sites located will be relevant to a given topic. Identify the source of the site. Web sites are rarely refereed or reviewed. The source of the information should be clearly stated, whether original or borrowed from elsewhere.