Search and Evaluating Web Resources: Student Sheet

Note: This student sheet is intended for use with the Information Literacy online unit
located at http://infolitwebresources.weebly.com/.
Name

Selena Bracamonte

Activity 2c: Write two paragraphs that address the following questions:

What information literacy skills do you think should be taught to K-12 students?
Why do you think these skills should be taught?
How do the National Education Technology Standards for Students and the
Common Core Standards address information literacy?
Students should learn how to find and retrieve information first then how to
analyze and use the information. When students search for information in school
for class projects pages and pages of information come up. Teachers should
teach students what search engines have the most relevant information for
students to use. They should also be taught how to use scholarly databases for
students in high school because in college when they need to be used there are
students who dont know how to access and find information. Students should
also be taught how to eliminate websites just by looking at the URL and teach
students ways to not get overwhelmed by the amount of information on the
search engine. These skills should be taught so students dont overspend time
searching for information and know knowing what websites they should and
shouldnt use.
The National Education Technology Standards for students address information
literacy that using technology is more than just being able to search for
information. Students should be creative in their search, be able to communicate
and share information with others, and use critical thinking skills to plan and
conduct research. The common core standards state students should be able to
gather, comprehend, evaluate, and synthesize information in order to solve
problems and questions. They should be able to use a high volume of
information and navigate through old and new texts and media.

Activity 3b: Think about the classroom scenario presented in the online unit.
Brainstorm at least three good questions that Sally can use to focus her quest for
information.

What was the importance of Martin Luther King Jr. in the civil rights movement?
Why did Martin Luther King Jr. become involved in the civil rights movement?
What is the meaning of the I Have a Dream speech?

Activity 4c: Using different search terms, phrases and/or search engines or directories,
conduct at least 3 searches on a topic of your choice and record your results. (Similar
to the example in Activity 4c in the online unit)
Topic: Physical Education
Search Engine or Directory Used: Google Chrome
Search terms (including keywords, Boolean logic and/or
exact phrases

Number of search results

1. Physical education

1. 12,800,000

2. Physical education + high school + AZ

3. Physical education + high school+ AZ+ Chandler

2. 13,200,000
3. 1,520,000

Activity 5e:
1. Enter martinlutherking.org into the easywhois search: http://www.easywhois.com/
2. Locate the registrant organization

3. Do a Google search on the registrant organization to find out more about the
organization
4. Answer the questions below
Who is the registrant organization of http://www.martinlutherking.org/? What is this
organization?
Stormfront
Stormfront is a major white supremacist organization. The organization is
founded by a man name Don Black. He operates the organization online from his
home in West Palm Beach, Florida. Its a meeting place for all types of white
supremacist to meet online and discuss recruitment, ideology, and upcoming
events. The sites logo is White Pride, World Wide. The site was created in 1995
as a hate site but now has radio broadcasts and blogs.

Activity 5f: Think about the classroom example presented in the online. Lets suppose
that after using specific search strategies, Sally lands on the following Web page:
http://www.america.gov/st/peopleplaceenglish/2008/January/20080117180904bpuh9.322757e-02.html.
Evaluate this Web site for use in Sally's research on Martin Luther King Jr. Use the
criteria and strategies you learned about it Activities 5c-5e in the online unit. Then, use
the space below to address the following tasks.
Record as much information as you can about the Web site. Use the questions in
Activity 5c of the online unit to guide your information quest.

What is your overall evaluation of this Web site? Is this a good Internet resource for
Sally to use for her research? Write 1-2 paragraphs responding to these questions.
The overall evaluation of the website is it has a lot of information that is credible. The
website is polished and professional looking. The links take you exactly where you want
to go and doesnt make you keep clicking a bunch of other links to get to a certain page.
Its an actual center located in Atlanta, Georgia. It has a lot of history about Marin Luther
King Jr. and his wife. It gives background into both of their lives. It has archives from
important aspects of the civil rights movement. The website is current and has video
archives and not all just reading stories it gives visuals and old footage. The website not
only has history but also gives a person an insight into what it means to be nonviolence
and the process Martin Luther King Jr. and other protestors went through. If a student
found they were more interested than they first thought there are ways they can get
involved and participate in events about Martin Luther King Jr.

Overall this would be a good website for Sally to use if she were focusing on the
biography of Martin Luther King Jr. and his family life. It has credible information about
his life that would be useful in her research. She could also learn about the civil rights
movement and learn about what it meant to be nonviolent. She could talk about the
techniques they used in their nonviolent protests. She could email a representative from
the center for more information. The video archives would be beneficial and good use of
technology and good way to see the information first hand from how it happened during
the civil rights movements instead of reading pages and pages of research.

Activity 6b: Reflect on what youve learned about information literacy, the information
provided in this unit, and questions you still have about the topic. Use the following
questions to guide your 3-4 paragraph response.

What is information literacy and why is it an important topic for K-12 students?
What specific skills (technology and non-technology skills) are necessary to
effectively find and evaluate Internet resources?
How does information literacy align to national and state standards and grade
level curriculum?
How do the ideas of information literacy relate to teaching strategy and
pedagogy?
How can a teacher help students acquire information literacy skills?
What questions do you still have about information literacy?
How helpful was this online unit in providing you with basic information literacy
skills?

Information literacy is a skill set that students use to find, retrieve, analyze,
and use information. Its an important topic for K-12 students because in
todays day in age technology is an important factor in life. Everything
revolves around technology and the use of encyclopedias is becoming a
thing of the past. Students are relying more on the internet for research
projects and they need to learn how to properly search for their sources on
the web. Teachers also need to be proficient with technology in order to

teach their students the proper tools and how to find and analyze the data
they find.
Technological techniques students should have are how to evaluate websites
such as using key words and terms when searching for websites to find
specific information. It helps students narrow down their search and find
more sources related to their topic. It also helps students narrow down their
search instead of trying to write about a broad topic.
Information literacy relates to teaching strategy by having students practice
and work on their critical thinking skills. Teachers break down information
when teaching and dont give out as a whole. It helps with their pedagogy by
teaching students how to break down information just like a teacher breaks
down information for their students in order to learn. Teachers can help
students acquire information literacy before they even get on a computer.
They can use different lessons for example teaching a soccer lesson could tie
into information literacy. The teacher can show soccer as a whole and it
could be overwhelming at first. Then they can break into different parts and
direct students into different directions depending on what they want to
know about the sport. Its the same way they can teach information literacy
its skill set students will need for a lifetime.