MaPping Activity

Blog Reflection #5

I found the MAPping activity to be interesting. I will admit, I have always assumed that if the site’s content came from a credible source, such as an educational institution, that the information was reliable.  I analyzed the information on the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus website. This website appears to be a hoax because it has a gift shop and also fine print at the bottom that states the website is not associated with any educational organization; however, a student might not register these as red flags concerning credibility of information. I learned how understanding the different parts of the URL help determine the type of site and furthermore, its reliability. Then, I used AltaVista to analyze links embedded in the website and external links. This further supported my intuition that this website was a hoax. I utilized www.archive.org to see how the site looked throughout the years. This tool shows the website’s past information and who is behind the website; this helps gain a better understanding of the site’s objectives. Going forward, I will definitely validate websites I am acquiring information from in my own research by utilizing sites like www.easywhois.com  to gather more information about who is behind the sites I am referring to. I will also continue to rely on databases such as EBSCO in teaching my students how to find reliable sources when researching.

If we fail to teach our students the proper way to search the internet they are likely to find inaccurate information and will be lead to believe it is correct. Students may then use this information for important educational purposes and be misled when they learn their background knowledge is inaccurate. Even though some schools may block access to certain sites, many students complete projects, papers, and assignments on their personal computers at home, which can enable students to seek inaccurate information. 

After completing the information literacy quiz, I realized I am not as “savvy” as I thought. This activity gave me a lot of new valuable information to think about when using the internet for information. I will now check the URL for specific extensions and I will check to see if it is a “personal page”. After gaining this knowledge I am not very confident about the information I have used in the past. I know there had to be sites that were not reputable sources. Even though I am sad to admit this, I am glad that I now know a new way of searching the internet, which will better my chances for the future.    

Web 2.0 is a revised web 1.0. It is just like all the other facets of technology...always changing. Web 2.0 is the next step in the web. The new approach to the web that characterizes Web 2.0 is obviously something that our students need to understand, not because I think that they need to inherently be a part of global thinking, but because they are going to have to be competitive in the world which is become dominated by such technology. As long as it exists, we can use it to teach our students about how to manage information and how to be knowledgeable, responsible users and contributors to the world of information around them.