ThinkAloud

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments. b. Engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources This think aloud helped me out as becoming a teacher because it gave me a big idea on something that I could do as a teacher. The way it makes you learn is such a good tool for teachers to use. It gets your students more involved in the activity and its interesting to see what they pick up in looking for stuff like that. I know that this assignment helped me out so much in getting ideas on what to do in my classroom. Hopefully this kind of thing will still be useful when I become a teacher.

Information Literacy

Summary of Bias


The author didn't leave out many facts, if any. Ms. Welsh did a fine job collecting ideals and opinions from both sides of the debate.
Personally, I would have liked to read more statistics about other schools in America, and across the Globe, that have armed teachers working on their campuses.
I don't feel that Ms. Welsh's article itself had words that created positive, or negative reactions. However, there is a comment section attatched to the article and in it are anonymous people who are posting furiously about their opinions. A few "fighting words" in the comment section are anything to do with bringing up mental health, the "extra cost" of gun training, and any person who has a mispelled comment in the section gets smited.
Ms. Welsh's article doesn't seem to have any bias in it at all, she articulated herself well and presented both sides of "armed teachers" very well.

Is there an author? Is the page signed?	Yes there is an author for this web article.  Teresa Welsh.
Is the author qualified and/or reputable? An expert?	Yes her credentials are listed, but she is only an intern at US News. This is an opinion based article.
Who is the sponsor?	Sponsored by US News. Yes there is an “about” link.
Is the sponsor of the page reputable? How reputable?	Yes, the sponsor is a reputable news source. Highly reputable
Are there links that take you outside of the site?	There are “related articles”, but they are all US News articles and do not take you to different websites.

Accuracy

Reliable and error-free information. Conformity to fact. Precision; exactness.

Questions to Ask	Clues to Look For
Is the information reliable and error-free?	Yes there are no grammatical errors, the information seems very reliable. No bias.
Is there an editor or someone who verifies/checks the information?	Teresa Welsh.
Where doubt exists, can the information be cross-checked with a reliable source?	Yes, she has links to her sources and to her in text citations. The people she quotes are also valid sources.

Objectivity

Judgment based on observable phenomena and uninfluenced by emotions or personal prejudices

Questions to Ask	Clues to Look For
Does the information show a minimum of bias?	Ron Paul posted a link to this site. (see "AUTHORITY")
Is the page designed to sway opinion?	The page is not designed to sway the opinion of the readers, but the article gives a clear, unbiased view point from both sides,  and then the writer leaves room in a comment section for opinions to be shared.
Is there any advertising on the page?	Yes there are a few outside advertisements to Target. The Canadian walmart!

Currency

Belonging to the present time, being in progress now: current negotiations, prevalent, especially at the present time.

Questions to Ask	Clues to Look For
Is the page dated?	The page is dated December 20th, 2012.
If so, when was the last update?	No updates listed.
How current are the links? Have some expired or moved?	They still work, they are current and related links.

Technical Strategies for Evaluating Web Sites

1.       Study the URL

The URL seems to be a legitimate and working URL. It is from a well-known news source and world news producing website.

3. Where are you on the web? 

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2012/12/20/should-teachers-be-armed

4. Does the page have overall integrity and reliability as a source?
Yes, I would say the webpage has a well meaning integrity and over all is very reliable on its topics.

5. Who owns the domain name?

US News

Wikipedia Reliability

Wikipedia Reliability Worksheet Student: Ryan Leishman Article title: Illuminati Answer the following questions to see how reliable a Wikipedia article is. Start with the main page. Does it have any cleanup banners that have been placed there to indicate problems with the article? (A complete list is available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Template_messages/ Cleanup.) Any one of the following cleanup banners means the article is an unreliable source: This article or section has multiple issues.      This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.  X The neutrality of this article is disputed. The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. This needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone or spelling. This may contain material not appropriate for an encyclopedia. This article only describes one highly specialized aspect of its associated subject. This article requires authentication or verification by an expert. This article or section needs to be updated. This article may not provide balanced geographical coverage on a region. This is missing citations or needs footnotes. This article does not cite any references or sources. Read through the article and see if it meets the following requirements: Is it written in a clear and organized way?   X   Is the tone neutral (not taking sides)?  X Are all important facts referenced (you're told where they come from)?  X  Does the information provided seem complete or does it look like there are gaps (or just one side of the story)?  X Scroll down to the article's References and open them in new windows or tabs. Do they seem like reliable sources? Reliable references: The Illuminati Order Possibly unreliable references: "The Enlightenment, Freemasonry, and The Illuminati" Definitely unreliable references: "The Barack Obama Illuminati Connection"   Click on the Discussion tab. How is the article rated on the Rating Scale http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_History/Assessment#Quality_scale  (Stub, Start, C, B, GA, A, FA)? What issues around the article are being discussed? Do any of them make you doubt the article's reliability? Some of the topics being discussed do make me feel like it could be unreliable, but then again you could say that these people are putting their own opinions in and one discussion was how to join the Illuminati so you know that it could be unreliable.   Based on the above questions, give the article an overall ranking of Reliable, Partially Reliable or Unreliable. You may use a Reliable article as a source (but remember that even if a Wikipedia article is reliable, it should never be your only source on a topic!) You may use a Partially Reliable article as a starting point for your research, and may use some of its references as sources, but do not us it as a source. You should not use an Unreliable article as a source or a starting point. Research the same topic in a different encyclopedia. How did you rank this article (Reliable, Partially Reliable or Unreliable)? Give at least three reasons to support your answer. 1.      I rank this article as partially reliable because not all of the sources on it were accurate sources. 2.      There was one source on it that was completely outrageous and had no true meaning to what the topic was about 3.      The other sources when you check them give you better information and more expanded information on the matter, but then you had those few that were just completely out there.