Post #3 MAPping and Delicious

MAPping:
I was interested in reading about "MAPping" and evaluating information from web sites. I have come across many a site with my classroom students, as well as during my personal web surfing, that I questioned the validity of the information. MAPping - Meta-Web information, Author, Purpose - provide me with the strategies I need to ensure that the web site information is authentic. This activity is very beneficial to anyone who uses the web to search for information. It was disturbing to read that a site about Martin Luther King could contain such biased and misleading information. Especially when many students do searches on this famous person. I find myself becoming more skeptical about anything I read on the Internet.

I have bookmarked into Delicious the tools from this week's ETEC 524 technology lesson for checking the validity of web sites so that I can use them for future online searching. Three of these tools are Search Engine Watch, Easy Who Is, and Generic Top Level domains listed in Wikipedia. I also made notes from these sites and I noted the link command information to use when checking out the validity of sources. I will pass along this information to my students and my co-workers. I have already informed my husband about these site checks.

I feel that if we don't share with our students how to evaluate sources online, then students will become victimized with erroneous information. We, as educators, must teach students NOT to accept everything they read on the Internet, but to take the time to search out the truth.


Delicious:
I have used Delicious before but I found out some new things in this week's lesson. I learned that I can network with other users and add their bookmarks to my account and; I learned how to make the most of the tags. I tag my bookmarks but this lesson enlightened me that the purpose of tags in to organize my bookmarks - and I need all the organizing I can get!! Now I can find the bookmark I need in a snap! The biggest advantage of this order is that it saves time and frustration. No more scrolling through an endless list to find the bookmark I'm looking for. I also took some bookmarks from Dr. Wickersham, and it was so simple to find the ones I was interested in because her tags were in order. I wanted those sites related to technology and there they were, under the Technology tag. I am currently adding to my collection of bookmarks and I will continue to so that I can use them as future references in my classroom or library. I also appreciate the fact that Delicious is online so I can pull or add bookmarks anywhere, anytime, - a huge convenience for busy educators... or for anyone.