Evaluate authority, date, and evidence
Judge whether a source is current, relevant, transparent, and supported enough for the decision at hand.
Evaluating Digital Sources
From Discovery Education. Watch here or open it on YouTube .
During the course primer, listen for ideas that change how you approach “Evaluate authority, date, and evidence.” Pause once to capture a useful point, then apply it while producing a source-quality table for five opportunity or training claims.What this lesson is really solving.
Judge whether a source is current, relevant, transparent, and supported enough for the decision at hand. This is lesson 2 because later decisions depend on a source-quality table for five opportunity or training claims. Trust is not a feeling; it is a comparison of source, date, scope, evidence, and incentives. Use your own numbers, files, environment, and constraints so the result survives outside the course.
Understand the idea before touching the steps.
Trust is not a feeling; it is a comparison of source, date, scope, evidence, and incentives.
Follow these steps in order.
Take the action in each step; then use the deliverable below to prove the lesson is finished.
- 1
Identify who published the information, what they know, when it was updated, and what they want the reader to do.
- 2
Open the original source behind a summary and compare the exact claim, definition, population, location, and exception.
- 3
Mark each item as verified, plausible lead, outdated, unclear, or not applicable and explain why.
See the standard in context.
Ari sees a ‘free training’ post, follows it to the provider’s current page, and finds a fee and a different enrollment date than the post stated. The learner saves a source-quality table for five opportunity or training claims and notes the evidence or assumption behind the choice so it can be reviewed and improved later.
Inspect before you move on.
- The finished work visibly includes a source-quality table for five opportunity or training claims.
- You tested the work against this common failure: Treating a polished page, testimonials, likes, or a recent-looking search snippet as evidence of eligibility or outcomes.
- Another person could verify this mastery standard: You can state what a source supports, what it does not support, and what must be checked next.
Your deliverable
A source-quality table for five opportunity or training claims.
Watch for this
Treating a polished page, testimonials, likes, or a recent-looking search snippet as evidence of eligibility or outcomes.
Prove it—don’t just recognize it.
You can state what a source supports, what it does not support, and what must be checked next.
Quick knowledge check
Answer from the lesson—not from confidence alone. Score at least 2 of 3 to unlock completion.
This curriculum-aligned check is scored automatically and stored with your account when signed in. It is an objective learning signal, but it has not yet been independently validated as a standardized assessment.
Tools, templates, and references
Pass the knowledge check above first.
Completion unlocks after a score of 2 out of 3. Then confirm that you produced the lesson deliverable.
Go to the knowledge check