Critical Internet Literacy

Images above: A castle on a stack? The power to manipulate images

Related links
Geogsplace
Socialsense
Thebarton Senior College Moodle
Spatialworlds
Geographical thinking Scoop.it  
Spatial literacy Scoop.it  
History and geography Scoop.it

Email contact:
manning@chariot.net.au

Critical Internet Literacy

Recently at our faculty meetings we discussed the issue of Critical Internet Literacy.  This posting provides some information on assessing the validity of online resources and a range of bogus sites that have been created to peddle nonsense or falsity on purpose. As students are using Internet sources more and more, it is imperative that students develop critical literacy to determine the veracity of any site, regardless of its professional appearance. In fact, the technological and economic ease anyone can now develop a really professional and seemingly official site makes Critical Internet Literacy more important than ever.

Evaluating a site for veracity

The attached article suggests the following tips to avoid being ‘conned’ by ‘suss’ internet sites:

•  Check for additional sources before you share anything
•  Learn which websites not to trust
•  Unfollow any websites that lies to you
•  Use common sense.

A more detailed listing involves examining the site for:

1. Accuracy (Is the information reliable? Are the links accurate? Sources cited? Information believable?)
2. Authority (Who is the author of the site? What are his/her qualifications? Is the site sponsored by an organization? Is the organization reputable or legitimate?)
3. Objectivity (Does the information reveal a bias? What is the point of view of the author? Is the information trying to sway you? Do the links also reflect a bias?)
4. Currency (When was the site last updated? Is the information kept up to date? Is the publication date indicated? Are the links up to date?)
5. Coverage (How is the information presented? Heavy use of graphics, text, statistics? Topic coverage cursory or in-depth?) 

Here are some even more detailed questions to check out a site are:

1. The source of the page

*Who wrote the page?

*Can you contact him or her?

*Does he/she list his/her qualifications?

* Is this person qualified to write this document?

*What type of organization provides the page? Is it:

Government:       .gov

Education:           .edu

Business:            .com

Organisation:      .org

*What country is the page from?

2. Purpose  
What is the purpose of the document? 

To:

* Inform

* Entertain

* Share information

*Advertise or sell a product or service (business/marketing)

* Influence views, beliefs 

* Personal enjoyment

 

3. Structural features

Identify some of the structural features of the web page eg

• use of colour
• font size and style
• graphics
• video or animation
• tabs 
• links

  4. Audience
  * Who is the audience?
  * What features have been included to appeal to this audience

• Structural features
• Language features

5. Objectivity of web documents
* How detailed is the information?
* What opinions (if any) are expressed by the author?
* Can the information be checked from other sources?

6. Currency of web documents
* When was it produced?
* When was it updated?
* How many dead links are there?
* Is the information up to date?
* How much advertising is there?

Check these sites out for veracity

Checking out the following sites are a useful (and fun) way for students to use the questions above to check out the veracity, reliability, usefulness and bias of a site.

The buy dehydrated water site

http://www.moonmovie.com/moonmovie/default.asp

http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus.html

http://www.rythospital.com/

http://zapatopi.net/afdb.html

http://www.umbachconsulting.com/miscellany/velcro.html

http://www.genochoice.com/

http://www.dhmo.org/

http://www.improb.com/airchives/classical/cat/cat.html (scroll down)

http://haggishunt.scotsman.com/


http://www.hetracil.com/

http://ding.net/bonsaikitten/

http://havidol.com/

http://www.modernplasztika.co.hu/audioful_eng.html

http://www.icrwhale.net/

http://savetherennets.com/

http://www.geoffmetcalf.com/bread.html

http://www.petroldirect.com/

http://www.sandman.com/telco.html

Enggeog!

 Image above: The Global words site. The fifteen units of work in Global Words have been produced by World Vision Australia and the Primary English Teaching Association Australia (PETAA) to integrate the teaching and learning of English and Geography with global citizenship education

Related links
Geogsplace
Socialsense
Thebarton Senior College Moodle
Geographical thinking Scoop.it  
Spatial literacy Scoop.it  
History and geography Scoop.it 

Email contact: 
malcolm.mcinerney@thebartonsc.sa.edu


The English-Geography link

People often talk about the quite obvious link between Geography and History. This posting highlights the synergy between the learning area of English and Geography. Although the materials are focussed on upper primary and junior secondary, some may be quite relevant to some of our students (particularly ex-NAP). In 2010, the Primary English Teachers Association Australia (PETAA) have helped along this link by producing a resource called Global Words with World Vision Australia. This excellent resource facilitates the teaching of geography though English.

Global education topics in Global Words units of work are approached through a range of texts and texts types. Topics are covered across the three educational levels of junior Primary, upper Primary and junior Secondary include:

• Refugees and migration
• Indigenous peoples
• Neighbours and the Asia Pacific region
• Sustainability

Recently PETAA and World Vision have updated the resource by releasing an additional three units of work which integrate the teaching and learning of English and Geography with global citizenship education. 

* We are similar but different - Year 3

* A diverse and connected world – Year 6

* Water in the world – year 7
 

As is said on the site:

"At the centre of both global citizenship education and the study of English is the aim of supporting students to become ethical, thoughtful and informed citizens, predisposed to take action for change. The Global Words units, and the supporting resources, aim to build the essential knowledge, skills and values young people need to participate actively, critically and creatively as global citizens."

PETAA are also running free professional learning sessions in Adelaide, Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, Darwin and Melbourne over the next three months.

Instant feedback from students

Image above: Straw Poll website for contestable geography or pre-knowledge testing.


Related links
Geogsplace
Socialsense
Thebarton Senior College Moodle
Geographical thinking Scoop.it  
Spatial literacy Scoop.it  
History and geography Scoop.it 

Email contact: 
malcolm.mcinerney@thebartonsc.sa.edu

Where am I??  
Adelaide, Australia: S: 34º 55' E: 138º 36'


An easy and quick polling option to get geographical discussion underway

Further to the Spatialworlds contestable geography posting on PollEverywhere, here is another useful inter-active polling site for students to share their views on geographical issues. The website is called Strawpoll (www.strawpoll.me) and is a great website that enables you to create short polls for students to complete. This then generates a website that students can go to in order to answer the questions. Responses can then be displayed on the interactive white board in real time in the form of a Pie Chart.  Here is a video showing how to use it, showing the tool is not time consuming at all and very easy to use. It is even easier that PollEverwhere but more simplistic. A really impressive aspect of this site is that no software is required and students can easily access the poll. A really good option for the quick, on the spot poll in the classroom.