Basics for Evaluating Valid and Reliable Information on the Internet

There are basic steps to understanding the Internet. It begins with understanding the structure of the web, its punctuation and its grammar which is mentioned by November (2008). November pointed out that there procedures individuals can follow to assist in thinking critically about the information we access on the Internet. He pointed out that it starts with understanding the domain name. The domain name consists of two sometimes three components: the owner of the site is the first component and the groups or categories are the second component. The third component is a subdomain always separated by a dot from the other components. For example, support.microsoft.com, the subdomain is support; the owner is Microsoft; and the category is .com.

Once you type in an URL address and have approached the home page of the site you would notice additional links. These links allow you to navigate and surf to related sources of information. The links are usually underlined, highlighted, or identified as a graphic. When you place your cursor over the link, the cursor will turn from an arrow to a hand. Then you will see another URL appearing on the status bar at the lower left of the browser.

Reading Web addresses is often an essential to validating the authenticity of a Web site. Corio affirms that educators need to rethink comprehension strategies to better prepare students for critically evaluating content on the Internet. Below is a link where I have recorded my experience of evaluating a website. The website that I have reviewed is martinlutherking.org. My experience has revealed, that after applying the basic steps to evaluating information on the Internet, this is a website that I would not trust the information to be reliable.

Coiro, J. L. (2003). Rethinking comprehension strategies to better prepare students for critically evaluating content on the Internet. New England Reading Association Journal. 39(2), 29-34.

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