Today with 6th graders I worked on several topics–bias, evaluating websites, and a slick plug for DISCUS. My 6th grade teaches had been working with me on their standards of “informational text” and “recognizing bias.” We had found many newspaper and magazine articles to match up with the standard, but we decided that so many kids hit the Internet for their informational needs, we’d use it today for a lesson on locating information online.
So today I showed the kids the infamous MartinLutherKing.org site, asking them to decide if they would use it. First we googled for it (using the search string Martin Luther King), and i was NOT disappointed that it was the sixth hit in the list for the first 2 classes, and then the fifth link for the third. (I suppose me hitting it helped move it up in the algorithms that rank links listed for searches.) Many kids were wowed by the site, but then I began having them really read just the content on the sites home page. (I got this site from Alan November years ago at EdTech, and again recently when he was at SCASL.)
My kids were shocked at what was there, and I warned them NOT to talk about the reference to “illicit sex” that the site has on the home page UNLESS they could clearly explain what they learned–that rhe site was biased and basically BOGUS. Now I’m worried that this will totally be spoken out of context at many supper tables tonight–egads!
We then went to Mankato, MN to see a “Sclare/Far fissure” created Tropical Mecca vacation Spot in Minnesota–some kind of freak of nature phenomenon that makes an area of Minnesota have tropical temperatures all year round. Of course by this time the students were keen to the sites I was sharing being bogus. The Mankato, MN website had a weird disclaimer at the top that one of the my last students pointed out to me–the disclaimer referenced the site being hijacked by a person named Sheikh Yarbouti (which phonetically pronounced is “Shake your booty.”) We had a huge laugh over that.
I used this discussion to discuss again the need to critically evaluate websites, and then followed up by guaranteeing the students if they would use DISCUS, our state virtual library of funded subscription databases, they could be assured that they would NEVER see sites such as the ones we looked at today. (Of course one little over-achiever said yes we probably could if we searched Discus for bogus sites!) I also reminded them that in our MLK google search, the MLK site was number 6 for 2 classes, and number 5 for the last one, out of about 17,600,000 sites! They could not count on a highly ranked site not being bogus.
Upon completion, as the teachers and i reflected on the lesson, I told them about the site and how it got its high ranking. I explained that many teachers and media specialists use the site for exactly the same reason we did-to teach about web evaluation, and that keeps it pretty high in its ranking. I did not share this with the kids (but probably should have.) I did share that the site is a site made by a hate group though. They talked about it being a good example of bias, a difficult to teach concept.
It was a fun lesson that was filled with shock, indignation, and a lot of laughter today. So now I’m looking for a webquest or a treasure hunt for webquest evaluation for these kids. I’d like to continue our discussion on critiquing websites for authority, accuracy, and all the elements users should evaluate websites with. Do you have any? Please share.
Published by Cathy Nelson, NBCT, Teacher Librarian
Attribution:
Image: ‘No Known Restrictions: Martin Luther King Press Conference by Marion S. Trikosko, March 26, 1964 (LOC)’
www.flickr.com/photos/39735679@N00/507645615
Joyce Valenza (uber-teacher librarian, SLJ’s Neverending Search ), who will be joining us at the SCASL conference is a scheduled guest on one of my favorite web shows, the Women of Web 2.0 this coming Tuesday night. She and the Director
of Media and Technology Doug Johnson (Blue Skunk Blog fame) of Mankato, Minnesota (another oneof my favorites!!) will be visiting the 2.0 ladies (hence the name of the show Women of Web 2.0, known to many as WOW 2.0.) There is a planned Ustream, and the EdTech Talk website that hosts the live program offers an AWESOME chat for the virtual participants. Someone from the show watches the chat, and always brings our comments into the mix. Plan to join the show on EdTech Talk (or Ustream–they will share details about the Ustream as we get closer to Tuesday.) The show is on just about EVERY Tuesday night at 9:00 PM. EST.
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