Anyone can publish anything on the Internet, and for far too many people, "If it is on the Internet, it is true." Many schools teach students how to search for information on the Internet, but then fail to teach them how to validate what they find. If schools expect students to use the Internet as a research source, it is also vitally important that they teach them how to validate the information they find. That is the purpose of this activity.
Check out these three Web sites: (Divide into three groups, with each group
being assigned one of the three sites below.
Take 5 minutes to explore and discuss
your site with students in your group. Then explain your conclusions to
the other students in class.) (Note: Apparently the Old URL's
have become unavailable, possibly for legal reasons, but they are left here for
discussion purposes.)
1. Mankato, MN Home Page: Old URL: http://www.lme.mankato.msus.edu/mankato/mankato.html
Alternative URL1:
http://descy.50megs.com/mankato/mankato.html
Alternative URL2:
http://city-mankato.us
Is this the legitimate home page for Mankato? How can you tell?
2. New Hartford, MN Home Page: Old URL: http://www.lme.mankato.msus.edu/NewHartford/newhtfd.html
Alternative URL1:
http://descy.50megs.com/NewHartford/newhtfd.html
Alternative
URL2:
Is this a real city? Is the information
truthful? How can you tell?
3. Feline Reactions to Bearded Men: http://www.improbable.com/airchives/classical/cat/cat.html
Is this real research? What convinced you
of your decision?
Check out these opposition Web sites: (Either individually or in small
groups, examine the two sites below. Be prepared to explain to the rest of the
class your conclusions.)
1. Hair Analysis: http://www.nutritionevaluation.com/hair%20analysis.htm
2. Commercial Hair Analysis: http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/hair.html
Which site is giving you the truth about
hair analysis? Can you tell? How?
Now, a true story about Zack:
Please go to Alan November's web site: The Web -- Teaching Zack to Think.
http://www.anovember.com/articles/zack.html Read through all the information
in the article and visit some links that are of interest to you. Pay particular
attention to what Zack could have done to think critically about Arthur Butz's
website (purpose, author, meta-web information). Be sure to check out the link
command in Altavista to search on Arthur Butz by following the instructions in November's article.
Activity: What have you learned? (worth 10 points)
Based on what you learned during this activity, particularly what Alan November
stated on his web site, write a short explanation (about half a page, single spaced) of important things you would tell
a group of 7th and 8th grade students concerning how they should go about
determining whether information they locate on the Internet is valid
information. In other words, what can a person do to check out the validity of
information found on a website. Send your results
to your instructor as an email attachment using the words Critical Thinking
in the subject line.