SCG 451

Doing Practitioner Research in Education &

Research Methods and Disciplinary Inquiry
Article Review Form
Articles title

Judging the Credibility of Internet Sources: Developing Critical

and Reflexive Readers of Complex Digital Texts (Social
Education)

Authors name
Reviewers name

Mark Baildon and James Damico

Andrew Rocca

Professional
Goals

Find a job teaching

in CPS at a high
school upon
graduation.

Review date
Why did you select
this article?

Paper evaluation

February 11, 2016

E-mail

Further my

education within
the field of history
(either another
Masters or a Ph.D.
not sure yet) to be
able to teach the
content at a postsecondary level.
andrew.rocca1@gmail.com

I was sent this article by a friend of mine who teaches social

studies at a secondary school in Toronto, Ontario and really liked

the way that it dealt with the issue of credibility amongst Internet
sources. The use of internet sources has helped bring a lot of new
material into the field and as a history teacher, it is my job to judge
the credibility of these sources when presenting them to my
students.
Innovative (i.e., theory, practice, method and conclusion.)
5
4
3
2
1

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(Please mark a to
indicate your
selected grade)
1Poor
5Excellent

Progressive (Whether it adheres or surpasses international and domestic

levels of quality.)
5
4
3
2
1
.
Logic and rational (Whether reasoning is precise and conclusion is
credible and meaningful.)
5
4
3
2
1

Format (Whether articles organization is appropriate, has a definitive

abstract, glossary is accurate and comprehensive, references and citations
meet format conventions, charts and pictures are clear.)
5
4
3
2
1

Language (Was accessible and compelling.)

5
4
3
2
1

Overall
recommendation

Highly Recommended for other education professionals to read and

consider.
Recommended for other educational professionals to read and consider,
but with some hesitation.
Not recommended for other educational professionals.
BE SURE TO FULLY EXPLAIN YOUR RATIOANLE BELOW IN AT
LEAST TWO TO THREE PARAGRAPHS.

Readers
comments
(Please attach any
additional
comments to this
form)

Baildon and Damicos article, Judging the Credibility of Internet Sources:

Developing Critical and Reflexive Readers of Complex Digital Texts,
analyzes the strengths, weaknesses, and challenges involved with using
digital texts within the classroom. The authors claim that while the
Internet has provided social studies teachers with accessibility to a huge
array of primary and secondary sources that they can use within their
classrooms, one of the glaring challenges when dealing with these types of
sources is in determining the credibility of the source. Baildon and
Damico suggest that, due to the multifaceted nature of digital texts (ability
to include images, sound, and text on one document), as well as the ease
in which one can create and share a source online, teachers should provide
students with activities that are based around sourcing (finding who wrote
the source, when the source was written, etc.) and determining the context

SCG 451

in which the source was written. The authors maintain that by engaging
students in these types of activities, they will not only develop researchbased skills which are necessary within the field of social studies, but will
continue to develop their critical thinking and analytical skills in the
process.
With so many sources and texts available online for social studies
teachers, the article deals with rather a rather progressive and modern
topic. Being able to provide evidence to support claims is one of the most
important standards to note within the field of social studies. As such, the
article presents an innovative perspective on the issue of credibility
amongst internet sources, while also raising the question of how exactly
students are supposed to engage with this challenging internet sources. It
should also be noted that the article provides direct solutions for how
students are supposed to engage with digital texts, further demonstrating
the authors attempt at developing a theory/method that can be utilized
when analyzing digital sources within a classroom setting.
The formal organization of this article is done in a way that allows the
reader to easily follow along with the big ideas that the author is trying to
explain. The article itself is structured in a way that provides the reader
with a concise overview of the topic at hand within the introduction, while
successfully wrapping up and summarizing the key points within the
conclusion. The article utilizes images in an appropriate manner, and
provides readers who may be looking for more information about the
topic with a thorough list of notes and references.
I would highly recommend this article to my colleagues within the field of
social studies for two reasons: (1) the article deals with a prominent issue
in our field of teaching (credibility and digital sources); and (2) the article
provides actual solutions/recommendations for how to implement
credibility-seeking processes within the classroom. All of the successful
social studies teachers that I have witnessed throughout my time in the
high school tend to stray from the school issued textbook, and in doing so,
bring in outside sources for their students. While some of these sources
are from other books or resources that a teacher may own, the majority of
these sources are digital texts that come from the Internet. The notions that
the authors raise within the article hit directly upon these practices and as
such, I believe that this article would benefit the majority of social studies
teachers who are looking to compliment their lessons with digital texts
and other sources from the Internet.

SCG 451