When teachers recommend a website for students to use they are putting a lot on the line. Any website, even some that seem harmless at first, may end up having offensive, explicit, or otherwise age inappropriate material. Before using a website in class you have to first keep in mind that everything on that website can be clicked on and followed, this includes even the advertisers. Prior to using the site you should navigate around the site clicking on EVERYTHING to see if any strange things pop up.
If you are using a site that has a search option it would be a good idea to see what things are returned if a student searches for material that you assign him/her to search for. It is sometimes surprising how an innocent search can return not so innocent results. It should also be kept in mind that some students may in fact want to find material that is explicit or pornographic, what can they find if they are looking?
More than just offensive material, we must also keep a look out for patently false information being passed along as fact. Anyone can post anything online and claim to be part of a foundation/organization/think tank/what have you. Look to see if there are any organizations that support them that are credible, or to find out who is the author and if he/she is credible.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
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