Teachers directing pupils to websites must first test that website's content for reliability and evidence of bias as the information posted is not necessarily accurate and may not be suited to view.

The attainment target at Level F of the 5-14 ICT National Guideline in the Searching and Researching strand states "make critical evaluation of websites and search engines" which means that a teacher must draw pupils' attention to some websites which hold information contrary to the accepted view so that they are aware that the information is not always to be trusted.
Doing so also helps the pupil to develop an informed attitude (a strand from 5-14 ICT) to the Implications of ICT so that s/he knows and understands the positive and negative benefits of universal access to knowledge and the accelerated interchange of ideas and information.

Teachers can carry out this preparatory work by first viewing the websites being considered as part of a class lesson or self-study programme for pupils; yet it would be helpful if some pointers as to what to look for were highlighted.

Introduce the need to know about the structure of a web address to determine its authenticity - this is known as Internet Literacy.

This point is explained in articles from Alan November's website that cover the use of how search engines function and note how to be aware of their source. Open the first link opposite and select "Information Literacy Materials" from the choices. The second address opposite takes you direct to an example used by Alan in conference speeches.

http://www.anovember.com/

http://www.anovember.com/articles/zack.html

• Know how the internet functions by asking key questions such as
  • Who is the author?
  • What is the source?
  • Is this a personal view?
  • Which sites are linked to the site being viewed?

These questions and many more are posed by the William Davies School in New York State, USA. Visit their very informative website in order to pursue this topic further.

A child-friendly alternative is the Quality Information Checklist website.

2. Be aware of how search engines operate and why entering the same search request on different search engines results in a different set of websites appearing on the first page.

3. Remember that most browsers only look at the first few hits and companies hosting websites are very much aware of this fact, therefore they will strive to make their site the most popular which, in turn, will permit them to charge higher advertising fees.