It is interesting to pause and reflect on the learnings from Module 2, in light of how I have previously evaluated websites and their usage for teaching and learning. I had been made aware of readability tools back in the Resourcing the Curriculum unit, to check appropriateness of websites for inclusion in the curation of sustainability cross-cultural priority resources. It surprised me how complex some websites were, that were supposedly ‘designed’ for a younger audience. What I noticed though, were minor differences between readability checker websites, when required to enter a URL as opposed to a text ‘cut and paste’. What I interpret from my observations of readability scores is that frequently the other generalised text on the page contains less complex and technical vocabulary that is otherwise found only in the particular article for evaluation; meaning that the article can be overall more complex than the website in general.
The readings/video clips on the SIFT strategy and also lateral reading were somewhat new to me. I have previously utilised the CRAAP test and I think the acronym has much appeal for students with the ‘novelty’ of the word – so can be quite effective in that regard. However, it was useful to consider the relevance of engaging with a particular website in the first place, with the introduction of these new strategies. I think the key takeaway is that wide reading across various websites is imperative in teaching students’ information literacy and research skills – as opposed to a simple deep dive into one website in particular.