Journal 10

Find the Truth about the Pacific Tree Octopus

Ferrell, Keith. "Find the Truth about the Pacific Tree Octopus." Learning and Leading. 39.1 (2011): n. page. Web. 8 Dec. 2011. <http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/issues/Learning_Connections_Find_the_truth_about_the_Pacific_tree_octopus.asp&xgt;.

Summary: This article was short and straight to the point. Even though the article was short it held a lot of information that many educators probably do not think of when teaching students how to navigate and search for content online. Keith describes a lesson plan that he conducted with his students. Instead of showing students the proper sites to look for content he instead gave the students two topics (“The Tree Octopus” and “All About Explorers.”) and then told each of the students to conduct research online of each topic and share their findings with one another. Immediately the students chose to open up Google as a search engine and began clicking on links that Google generated for their search term. When the students were finished with their findings and began sharing their information the findings were all so different! None of each others information was the same nor was it truthful. The students were all surprised with their findings and couldn't believe that the internet could lie to you! Once this assignment was complete Keith continued to teach his students how to properly look for reputable sources on line and to double check the sources before believing the information provided. I am sure that a lot of educators conduct assignments that require students to do research online. It is important for educators to teach students how to find reputable sources and to make sure their findings are in fact truthful. I was really impressed with this article.

Question 1: How can educators incorporate this lesson into their classroom?

Answer: Teachers can start any topic off by having students blindly research topics and then once they all have different findings teach them how to look for reputable sources just as Keith did before. You can have students work in groups or individually. I think this is the best way for educators to demonstrate that there are sites online that are not trust worthy. This will be a lesson students will keep with them for a life time.

Question 2: How can we help students find reputable sources for future assignments?

Answer: It would be helpful if educators could type up a list of reputable sources that provide research on various topics and then provide students with this list. It would be a great way for students to go home and book mark the various sites to their home computers. This would allow for all future research assignments to go smoothly and students will feel confident that they have accurate information!