Week 12 · Theme 2, Lesson 5 How to Check Whether Information Online Is True · 3 lessons
1
True or not? Checking a website
ICT P4 Term 1, Theme 2: pp. 62–65
GoalUse four checks to decide whether a web page can be trusted.
New words
reliable · can be trusted because it is correct and has been checkedsource · the place where information comes fromopinion · what someone thinks, which is not a proven factauthor · the person who wrote something
Explanation
The internet has countless pages, and almost anyone can put something on it. So not every page is true. Social media pages, wikis and blogs can be useful, but they often mix facts with opinions, mistakes and sometimes lies. We do not say they are always wrong. We say: check before you trust. A good way is to ask four questions about a page. Is the date recent? Who is the author, and does this person know the subject? Is it well written, with almost no mistakes? Does the page look careful and professional? Ask a teacher or a family member to help you check. One page is never enough for an important fact: find a second reliable source that says the same.
Check
Question to ask
Date
Is it recent enough?
Author
Who wrote it, and do they know the subject?
Writing
Is it clear, with almost no mistakes?
Design
Does it look careful and professional?
Worked examples
Seif finds a page with the school bus timetable. The page is dated three years ago. The times may have changed, so Seif asks his teacher for the new timetable.
A blog says that eating ice cream before a match makes you run faster. It has no author and no proof. It is just one person’s opinion. Mariam does not trust it and asks her sports teacher.
Two pages tell about the Red Sea. Page A names an expert author, has a recent date and is clearly written. Page B has no name, no date and many spelling mistakes. Karim chooses page A, and still checks a second source.
Class activity
Page detectives. With a partner, write two short pretend web pages on paper about the same animal. Make one page careful (a date, an author, clear writing) and one careless (no date, no author, some mistakes). Swap them with another pair. Use the four-question table to decide which page is more reliable, and tell the other pair which clue helped you most.
Practice
1
Name the four things to check on a page.
The date, the author, the writing and the design.
2
Why can a blog be an unreliable source?
Anyone can write it, and it can mix facts with opinions, mistakes or lies.
3
A page about football has no author, no date and many spelling mistakes. Can you trust it? Why?
Probably not. We cannot tell who wrote it or when, and the mistakes show little care.
4
Two pages are about healthy teeth. Which page would you trust more? Say the letter.
Page
Clues
A
no author · no date · lots of CAPITAL LETTERS
B
named author · recent date · clear sentences
B. It has a named author, a recent date and clear sentences.
