Critical Website Evaluation

1
Critical Website Evaluation Can Be a
SNAP! Evaluating Websites using Critical
Thinking Skills
2
Definitions of Critical Thinking

• .. reflective and reasonable thinking that is
  focused on deciding what to believe or do.(Ennis
  1985)
• .. mental processes or strategies - people use
  to solve problems, make decisions, and learn new
  concepts. (Strenberg 1986)

3
The Necessity of Website Evaluation

• Nature of the W W W
• Information Reliability

4
Relevant TA TEKs

• (6) Information acquisition.
• A. Determine and employ methods to evaluate the
  electronic information for accuracy and validity.
• B. Resolve information conflicts and validate
  information through accessing, researching, and
  comparing data.
• C. Demonstrate the ability to identity the
  source, location, media type, relevancy, and
  content validity of available information.

5
How to use Critical Thinking-
Its a SNAP

• S Source
• N Nature
• A Appearance/Accessibility
• P Page Content

6
SNAPSource

• Who created the site?
• Expert, governmental agency, business, layman
• Do they represent a credible organization?
• What is the expertise of the individual or group
  who created this site?

7
SNAPNature

• Why does this site exist?
• Sales pitch, scholarly, factual news report,
  author bias
• What is its purpose?
• Inform, persuade, advertise,

8
SNAPAppearance/Accessibility

• Does this site function efficiently?
• Loading time, active links, navigation ease
• Is the appearance aesthetically pleasing?
• Text easy to read, grammatically correct,
• Do the icons or graphics represent what is
  intended?

9
SNAPPage Content

• Is the information accurate and reliable?
• Updated recently, offer unique information,
  consistent with other sources, use words such as
  always, never
• Is the information useful?
• Is there an email contact for the site?

10
Applying SNAP

• http//www.arborday.org/
• http//www.melatonin.com/
• http//www.improbable.com/airchives/classical/cat/
  cat.html
• http//www.dhmo.org

11
SNAP
Information for this presentation was adapted
from Deneene Henderson (Dallas Public Schools)
and Joann Lickteig (UNT Libraries)