Get REAL: Validating Web Information

Reflecting on the past eight weeks of study in Supporting Informational Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom through Walden University, I am very much drawn to helping students validate Web materials through a process identified by the acronym REAL. Before this aspect of my class became my work, I was not totally aware of the crucial need to be not only careful about the information read on the Web but also knowledgeable about the tools and skills needed to think critically about what is being read. Internet information can be as fictional as it can be nonfictional! It can be as leading as it can be misleading!

The REAL process offers validation of Web materials. The “R” instructs to read the URL and analyze it for information on the site, its publisher and its relationship to other sites. The “E” instructs to examine the content to see what is actually being said, to look beyond the colors, pictures, cool flash animations and graphics and to think critically about the information on the screen (November, A., 2008). The “A” instructs to ask about the author and owner of the Web site in an attempt to establish credibility and respect for the Web site topic. The “L” instructs to examine both the forward and backward links for the quality of the information.

Because there is a world of misinformation designed to mislead and possibly control the thoughts of others and because too often I have heard this misleading information passed on by word-of-mouth among both students and other adults, my knowledge of and experience with the REAL process will enable me to help others, not just my students, to validate the information found on the Web. Others will be guided to think critically about Web information. Accepting nothing at face value, the REAL process will keep it real for the partakers of Web information.

To enhance my professional growth and ability to integrate technology into my English classroom, I am taking on the goal of becoming more competent with validating Web information, a technique implanted by this class. As I pursue this goal, I will gain a better understanding of the grammar, syntax and cross-referencing owned exclusively by the Internet. To accomplish this goal, I will take the knowledge that I have gained and practice with it using many scenarios and the practices in Chapter 3 of Web Literacy for Educators until my confidence is well-developed. Then, I will pass my newly acquired competency or skill on to my students as we jointly forge into the twenty-first century classroom and continue to gather those skills dubbed as skills of the 2.0 classroom!

Reference:

November, A. (2008). Web literacy for educators. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.