Peer Review

Civic Online Reasoning | Stanford History Education Group

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Reviewed:: May 26, 2022 by ICT Literacy

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:: Stanford University developed lessons and assessments of civic online reasoning to use for the classroom. This website will continue to add lesson plans for middle and high school students.
Type of Material:: learning object repository
Recommended Uses:: The lessons can be done as homework before or after class discussion, depending on the objective (e.g., as a diagnostic or a formative assessment).
Technical Requirements:: works on Windows browsers
Identify Major Learning Goals:: Reason about online content: who is behind the information? What is the evidence? What do other sources say?
Target Student Population:: High School, College Lower Division
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: basic ICT literacy skills

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:: The website offers an exceptional variety of well written lesson plans and assessments; activities are short, clear and on target. Materials are research-based, current and relevant. The introduction explains the task, and suggests what students should learn. The website also provides video based training for educators. The material can be used in several disciplines and with several instructional strategies. Links are accurate and appropriately attributed.
Concerns:: The materials focus on assessment; as such, the concepts are very briefly discussed. The specific source of the information is not always noted.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

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Strengths:

The learning objectives are clear, and reflect core ICT literacy standards. Materials are stand-alone learning objects so can be incorporated into lessons very flexibly. Several lesson plans are thematic in nature and allow for an immersive experience in the process of fact-checking online information. Students can learn specific concepts quickly but will profit from debriefing and discussion. Material use is very applicable to academic and daily life.

Concerns:

Materials are loosely clustered, but do not build on each other; they are stand-alone activities.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

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Strengths:

The site is generally easy to navigate independently, and is searchable. Some materials (mainly the rubrics) are linked to Google Docs. Materials and layout are professional looking. The site is very engaging, and the lessons require active learning and interaction. The user can contact the site for help.

Concerns:

One must register to access the materials. The site is sometimes a bit confusing for locating appropriate information. The site does not appear to be ADA-compliant.

Other Issues and Comments:

The site also links to history lessons and professional articles.

Creative Commons: