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Welcome This is a WIKI about Digital Natives and technology in the classroom in relation to Fake Sites (legitimate or hoax).

There is a topic that desperately needs to be discussed for the sake of younge researchers. Children are being asked to do research projects but are not being given proper instruction on how to determine is a website is giving them the correct information or not. There are fake site out there that are posing as legitimate information but only give misinformation so be careful what you read. In an article by Paul Piper of Western Washington University, he described a boy in eighth grade who was researching his topic on the internet because no libraries were open. He found out a lot of interesting information about his topic that he had never heard of before. He was very excited because he felt his paper was going to get an A. He was sorely mistaken. What the boy found on the internet was misinformation about his topic. This is very unfortunate and it is why an informational page needs to be written to help the Digital Natives of today realize what a fake site is and for the teachers of today to teach what is a legitimate site when they send their students to do work using technology.

What does Digital Native mean? Digital native is a term used to describe the new wave of learners in schools today. A digital native is a student who has grown up with technology. They have learned from Sesame Street, Leap Frog, baby Einstein, and video games. They are aware of how to use lap tops, cell phones, ipods, and cameras. Digital natives have been conditioned to learn interactively and through technology. Marc Prensky discusses how digital native's brains have developed differently and how they analyse and understand information in a unique way. Educators are striving to feed digital natives the information necessary but they can not do it quick enough as digital natives are used to getting it at a much higher speed. Digital natives are used to high speed internet that can essentially answer any questions they may have. The internet provides digital natives with information at their finger tips and educators are playing catch up. Educators are learning while the students already know. Digital natives are questioning the importance of topics in class as they feel they should be learning more about technology because that is where their future is. All in all a digital native is a student who is hooked on technology and wants lessons to be taught at a pace similar to how fast they get information on the internet.

Click here for a video about digital natives.

What is the affect of technology in the classroom on digital natives? Technology in the classroom is seen as the new way of capturing the student's attention. Technology is how students have been learning since they where little and it has become familiar to them. Technology in the classroom can provide opportunities to create and imagine. Technology in the classroom is seen to have a positive effect on digital native but it is up to the teacher to provide them with the information quick enough. With technology in the classroom students may be expecting the teachers to provide quick information but teachers are still figuring out how to go from teaching step-by-step to just giving the students the information to figure it out for themselves. Digital natives have learned by doing and not reading the instruction manuals, according to Marc Prensky. This is a dilemma for teachers today but they are attempting to learn the language of technology to conquer this new learning style and new type of learners. Digital natives however will have to wait patiently as some teachers fumble through the use of technology.

What affect does this have on teachers?

Most teachers today are attempting to provide technologically enhanced lessons but they may be faced with a few barriers. According to Klopfer, Osterweil, Groff and Haas, technology not only affects digital natives but also affects the teachers. There are many factors that work against technology in the classroom. For these reasons the education system could be affecting how digital natives learn. First the schools division should have a policy about how the internet and various technologies are used in the classroom. The school wants to protect the children therefore a policy should be in place before anything is brought into the classroom. If this has not happened already then one teacher may not have the influence to get it started up quickly. The second thing that Klopfer et al. found was that the school might not have the resources to provide the new technology as it is very expensive. The teacher however does have control over the technology that is present in the school and should take advantage of it as much as possible. Then again the teacher might not be that proficient with the technology and the students may find it confusing. Therefore when using technology in the classroom one needs to be open minded, always test to see if it works before bringing it into the classroom and realize that everyone has a different learning curve.

Click here for a video about teaching digital natives.

How does a fake site affect students learning? From the example at the beginning students can learn the wrong information about the topic they are searching. Wikipedia is a common place to search for information about a particular topic but is it necessarily legitimate? Did you know that anyone can edit Wikipedia if they have an account? A lot of information comes from Wikipedia but how can students know if the information is correct. Wikipedia does have the potential to be validated by simply checking the information with another legitimate site. Watch the video below to see the effect that technol​ogy has on today's student's.

Click here for a video about technology and digital natives.

What did you think? Students are searching for answers and the internet provides them quickly. Teachers can not be with student all the time but the understanding to think critically about a website can be. Here are a few things to suggest to students before they begin a research project.

How to tell if a website is a hoax.

The internet provides numerous ways to identify if the website is a hoax or not. Cornell University Library lists five simple indicators to identify if the website is legitimate. They say to look at accuracy. Look at the spelling and grammar of the website is it correct? Look at authority. Who is giving the information and what organization are they from? Note how current the information is and when it was last updated. Look at the objective of the website and if they are ultimately trying sell something. Then finally look at the information covered. Is the information adequate, does it match other information you have read, and is the information clear or vague? By taking a quick look at the site it will be easy to identify a hoax from a legitimate site. For a more indepth look follow this link to a video from Trident Technical College.

Now take a look at this website @http://www.buydehydratedwater.com/ Using the information above is this a hoax or legitimate?

An Example Lesson Plan for Teachers

Use the five criteria discussed above to create a lesson plan.


 * Needed Resources are**: computer lab with internet access, a website evaluation form, and a place to write where all the students can see.

For beginning students, explain to the them the internet can be used to find useful information and give examples of some information they can find. Show them different search engines that help them find the information. Ask them to type their name into Google, did they find themselves or someone else? If possible show them via a computer projector.

Second or the beginning for more advanced students, ask them to type in @http://www.buydehydratedwater.com/. Ask them to take a look at the site. Read it, and then decide if it is real or not. -Ask them to raise their hands if they think it is real, ask them why. -Ask them to raise their hands if it is not real, ask them why. -Depending on how insightful the students are this might create a controversy which helps illustrate the next exercise.

Now go through the list of five indicators. Ask the class. -How accurate is the site, are there any spelling mistakes on the website? -Is the information coming for a credible organization, what is their authority on the subject? -Are they trying to sell something, what is their objective? -How current is the information? -How thorough is the information presented, is it vague and does it match other information that you have read about the subject?

These questions can be made into a worksheet or can be discussed as a class. Have the class fill out or answer the questions and help them come to a conclusion about the website. Now again, is the website a hoax or legitimate?

Ask the class if there is anything else that can help us identify if the website is a hoax. -Discuss

Tell them about the domain name. Take a look at different government sites (.gov), school sites (.edu), and then show them sites that are posing as government or school sites. They will be able to see that it is a (.htm or .com).

Now once the students understand the concept of identifying an unreliable website have them complete a project.

__Project__ Give them a historical topic (research the Prime Minister, World War One or the unit you are currently discussing) and have them write a 3 page report (this can vary such as: a power point, wikispace, a blog, any multimedia they wish to present even a homemade video or a video that best describes their topic) including the main events of the topic. Students should provide a list of 10 resources (6 good and 4 bad). In the paper have them contrast the information presented on the good and bad sites and indicate how they identified the 4 bad sites. In conclusion have them write a personal paragraph identifying what they learned and how they can apply it to future research.

Idea from @http://www.jobdoer.net/candlewood/safety/LESSON_PLAN_IS_IT_REAL.pdf

Personal Statement

Understanding what information is legitimate is very important for students today to understand because they will not always take the time to look at multiple sites. If they can quickly identify if the website is correct then they would be helping themselves succeed. It would be very unfortunate for a student to study information that was incorrect and perform poorly on a test. Also I found that this is very important for university student to know because they are researching all of the time. I feel that this topic is a necessity for the students of today because we live in an information world. We need to understand it and be able to identify right and wrong.