Over the course of the last eight weeks I have learned so much about the web that I can now call myself "web literate". I have always been able to read for understanding and write factually -- even with a bit of scepticism. But now I can say I am educated enough about web grammar, search engines, and domain names; about the content standards in New York state that address internet and technology use; and even about the nature of inquiry itself and what makes a great question.
I have become fascinated by the teachings of Alan November in his book Web Literacy for Educators and have joined in his Building Learning Communities project. I have made is a personal professional development goal to expand my knowledge in this area and to implement web-based technologies in all my classes in order to develop a community of learners. I plan to attend the summer conference called BLC 10 in Boston this summer from July 14-16. (Maybe I'll see you there.)
The most striking aspect of my learning has been the idea of focusing on the ethical use of information found online. My students are masters of cut and paste assignments. They can construct a powerpoint presentation that would blow your mind - even if they understand very little of the content. As detectives, they can put facts in sequential order--facts they have never verified nor written themselves. By framing web assignments as ethics assignments where students ethical use of another's writing or image will be examined and graded, students do remarkable better on these same powerpoint presentations. They, themselves become more expert on a topic when researching it through this lens. I think it is brilliant. And it is in many ways one of the most important aspects of Web literacy.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Web Literacy
For learning and instruction of both the basics and the specifics of web source evaluation, there is no better example web site to use than the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus page found at the url: http:// zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/. After a lesson on search engines, in which the criteria for search results are explored, a google.com search on the term octopus will lead you right to this web page. Type octopus as a search term in the google search box. It places ninth in the search results listed so it is a very well-linked and well-liked web page.
Following the link takes you to a beautifully designed web page. Diagrams, aesthetically pleasing colors, and a plea to save the endangered creature draw you into reading the page. Tabs near the top make the page easy to navigate through and, look, there must be a thousand words of content. On first glance, there are several links on the page, news stories with recent dates, and ‘old’ advertisements depicting the creature in the 1920’s. Before we can believe the content, though, we should carry out an evaluation as suggested by November (2008).
Begin by reading the web address of the page: www.zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/. By truncating this address back to the first forward slash by hitting the back spare key, the domain name of the homepage for this information is found to be www.zapatopi.net. This is not an educational site ending in .edu or even a wildlife organization ending in .org. Navigating over to this shortened web address takes us to its home page, shown to the left . The home page contains mainly a blog dedicated to entertaining diversions by a person named Lyle Zapato. So simply Reading the url leads us to believe the content could be false. We could get distracted by all the links and content on this page but, lets stay focused on our evaluation.
Back at the tree octopus page, we should examine and evaluate the content shown. It seems legitimate. There is a photograph of an octopus in a tree – its coloring described by the text on the page and a believable map of areas where the creatures are found. Hovering over the darker green text changes the pointer to a hand, showing that these words are links to other web pages. But, examining the text, we read that the tree octopus is not actually on the endangered species list and further, that one of its predators is the mythical creature, the sasquatch.
Next, we also need to analyze the authorship of the web page if we are to trust its (now doubtful) content. Who is Lyle Zapato? No credentials are listed on his home page, nothing is mentioned about his expertise as either a biologist, a historian, or even a journalist working for a news outlet requiring fact checking. No problem, we have search engines at our command, so type in “Lyle Zapato” biography into a google search box and voila – the name shows up on a list of hoaxes maintained on the Wikipedia site. We see that, indeed, this site is a hoax.
Just for fun and the educational value of it, return to the tree octopus page to study the links. The first link, on the term Temperate Rainforest, takes us to a Wikipedia page whose neutrality is in dispute. A link on the photo of an old magazine cover showing a tree octopus hat from the 1920’s takes you to another webpage from the zapatopi home page. This is a great way to show students that links that keep you in the same web domain do not independently verify the legitimacy of the content they show. You just end up in a closed loop. There are also a few very clever News links on the tree octopus page like the link shown below.
2009-11-12 Steinhart Aquarium Successfully Breeds Dwarf Cuttlefish (Zoo & Aquarium Visitor)
Anchored to an algae-covered rock in a 120-gallon tank at the California Academy of Sciences' Steinhart Aquarium, a cluster of inky-colored cuttlefish eggs is beginning to swell -- evidence of success for the Academy's new captive breeding program for dwarf cuttlefish, Sepia Bandensis.
We are not to be fooled by these News links as anyone may link their web page to these pages. The Steinhart Aquarium does not mention a tree octopus nor does it link back to this web page. A different link on a logo with a name that is similar to the real conservation group Greenpeace turns out to be a false one that displays the message
”Sorry! We could not find www.greenpeas.org. It may be unavailable or may not exist. Try using the suggestions or related links below, or search again using our web search. “
The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus website is a well-designed site. It is a very witty, entertaining site which can also be very helpful in learning and educating others about the legitimacy of information found on the web. I believe students will appreciate the colourful page design and be convinced of its authenticity simply by virtue of all the pages and pages of content. Many students, even older secondary school students, actually surf the web. They skim read and scroll through text looking for terms to use or information to quote without actually verifying facts with an independent site. The half-truths claimed can be convincing. The map of the Washington state area and likely photo shopped image of the octopus in tree branches are partially real, just manipulated in ways a sceptical web-surfer would be suspicious of.
Many web searches turn up blog pages as results. My high school science students have used information from web logs in past research projects and were confused as to why their information was questionable. Students must be able to recognize blog postings as opinion and determine whether they should risk believing the information they report. A blog posting can lead to an actual verified fact about the research topic, but the verification must first be undertaken.
Following the link takes you to a beautifully designed web page. Diagrams, aesthetically pleasing colors, and a plea to save the endangered creature draw you into reading the page. Tabs near the top make the page easy to navigate through and, look, there must be a thousand words of content. On first glance, there are several links on the page, news stories with recent dates, and ‘old’ advertisements depicting the creature in the 1920’s. Before we can believe the content, though, we should carry out an evaluation as suggested by November (2008).
Begin by reading the web address of the page: www.zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/. By truncating this address back to the first forward slash by hitting the back spare key, the domain name of the homepage for this information is found to be www.zapatopi.net. This is not an educational site ending in .edu or even a wildlife organization ending in .org. Navigating over to this shortened web address takes us to its home page, shown to the left . The home page contains mainly a blog dedicated to entertaining diversions by a person named Lyle Zapato. So simply Reading the url leads us to believe the content could be false. We could get distracted by all the links and content on this page but, lets stay focused on our evaluation.
Back at the tree octopus page, we should examine and evaluate the content shown. It seems legitimate. There is a photograph of an octopus in a tree – its coloring described by the text on the page and a believable map of areas where the creatures are found. Hovering over the darker green text changes the pointer to a hand, showing that these words are links to other web pages. But, examining the text, we read that the tree octopus is not actually on the endangered species list and further, that one of its predators is the mythical creature, the sasquatch.
Next, we also need to analyze the authorship of the web page if we are to trust its (now doubtful) content. Who is Lyle Zapato? No credentials are listed on his home page, nothing is mentioned about his expertise as either a biologist, a historian, or even a journalist working for a news outlet requiring fact checking. No problem, we have search engines at our command, so type in “Lyle Zapato” biography into a google search box and voila – the name shows up on a list of hoaxes maintained on the Wikipedia site. We see that, indeed, this site is a hoax.
Just for fun and the educational value of it, return to the tree octopus page to study the links. The first link, on the term Temperate Rainforest, takes us to a Wikipedia page whose neutrality is in dispute. A link on the photo of an old magazine cover showing a tree octopus hat from the 1920’s takes you to another webpage from the zapatopi home page. This is a great way to show students that links that keep you in the same web domain do not independently verify the legitimacy of the content they show. You just end up in a closed loop. There are also a few very clever News links on the tree octopus page like the link shown below.
2009-11-12 Steinhart Aquarium Successfully Breeds Dwarf Cuttlefish (Zoo & Aquarium Visitor)
Anchored to an algae-covered rock in a 120-gallon tank at the California Academy of Sciences' Steinhart Aquarium, a cluster of inky-colored cuttlefish eggs is beginning to swell -- evidence of success for the Academy's new captive breeding program for dwarf cuttlefish, Sepia Bandensis.
We are not to be fooled by these News links as anyone may link their web page to these pages. The Steinhart Aquarium does not mention a tree octopus nor does it link back to this web page. A different link on a logo with a name that is similar to the real conservation group Greenpeace turns out to be a false one that displays the message
”Sorry! We could not find www.greenpeas.org. It may be unavailable or may not exist. Try using the suggestions or related links below, or search again using our web search. “
The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus website is a well-designed site. It is a very witty, entertaining site which can also be very helpful in learning and educating others about the legitimacy of information found on the web. I believe students will appreciate the colourful page design and be convinced of its authenticity simply by virtue of all the pages and pages of content. Many students, even older secondary school students, actually surf the web. They skim read and scroll through text looking for terms to use or information to quote without actually verifying facts with an independent site. The half-truths claimed can be convincing. The map of the Washington state area and likely photo shopped image of the octopus in tree branches are partially real, just manipulated in ways a sceptical web-surfer would be suspicious of.
Many web searches turn up blog pages as results. My high school science students have used information from web logs in past research projects and were confused as to why their information was questionable. Students must be able to recognize blog postings as opinion and determine whether they should risk believing the information they report. A blog posting can lead to an actual verified fact about the research topic, but the verification must first be undertaken.
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