Use Fake Facts on Explorers to Teach Internet Research

If you Google the explorer Ferdinand Magellan, one of the top results youll get is a web page from the website  All About Explorers  that states: In 1519, at the age of only 27, he was supported by  several wealthy businessmen, including Marco Polo, Bill Gates, and Sam Walton, to finance an expedition to the Spice  Islands. While some facts in this information are accurate -namely the year of Magellans expedition to the Spice Islands- there are others that might set off alarms. Educators would know that Microsofts Bill Gates or Wal-Marts Sam Walton would not be around for another 500 years, but would students? There is recent research that suggests that many students in our middle schools, high schools, or  college would not question the information given about the life of this 15th Century explorer. After all, this website  looks  like a credible source! That is exactly the problem that the  Stanford History Education Group  (SHEG) discovered in a report titled  Evaluating Information: The Cornerstone of Civic Online Reasoning. This report released November 2016 tracked the research skills of students in middle, high school or college using a series of prompts. The study prototyped, field tested, and validated a bank of assessments that tap civic online reasoning. (see 6 Ways to Help Students Spot Fake News) The results of SHEGs study indicated that many students are  not prepared to distinguish accurate from inaccurate accounts  or  decide when a statement is relevant or irrelevant to a given point. SHEG suggested that  when it comes to evaluating information that flows through social media channels, they are easily duped  pronouncing  our  nations  students ability to research in one word: bleak.   But that  AllAboutExplorers website  is one bogus website that  should not be shut down. Use The AllAboutExplorers Website  for Internet Research Practice Yes, there is plenty of misinformation on site. For example, on the webpage dedicated to Juan Ponce de Leon, there is the reference to  an  American multinational cosmetics, skin care, fragrance, and personal care company that was founded in 1932:   In 1513 he was hired by Revlon, a cosmetic company, to search for the Fountain of Youth (a body of water that would enable you to look young forever). In truth, the  misinformation on the  AllAboutExplorers  website is intentional, and all of the misinformation on the site was created to serve  an important educational purpose-to better prepare students in intermediate and middle schools to understand how to research accurately and completely using evidence that is valid, timely, and relevant. The about page  on the site states: AllAboutExplorers  was developed by a group of teachers as a means of teaching students about the Internet. Although the Internet can be a tremendous resource for gathering information about a topic, we found that students often did not have the skills to discern useful information from worthless  data. The AllAboutExplorers  site was created in 2006 by educator Gerald Aungst,(  Supervisor of Gifted and Elementary Mathematics in the Cheltenham School District in Elkins Park, PA) and Lauren Zucker,(Library Media Specialist in Centennial School District). Their collaboration 10 years earlier confirms what the SHEG research has recently concluded, that most students cannot tell  good information from bad. Aungst and Zucker explain on the website that they created  AllAboutExplorers in order to develop a series of lessons for students in which we would demonstrate that just because it is out there for the searching does not mean it is  worthwhile. These educators wanted to make a point  about  finding useless information on a site that was designed to look believable. They note that  all of the Explorer biographies here are fictional and that they purposefully mixed facts with  inaccuracies, lies, and even downright absurdities. Some of the absurdities that have been mixed with facts on famous explorers on this website include: Lewis Clark:...in 1795, they became the charter subscribers to the National Geographic Magazine. Both were so mesmerized by the stunning color photographs in the glossy publication that they determined–completely separately–to become world-famous  explorers. It wasn’t until 1803, when Thomas Jefferson saw an intriguingly brief posting by Napoleon Bonaparte on Craig’s List for a large tract of  land:  For Sale:  Louisiane, a tract of land in the middle of the North America. Acreage unknown. Contains the fourth longest river in the world. â‚ ¬60,000,000 OBO, local shipping included. Serious inquiries  only.Christopher Columbus: He  knew he had to make this idea of sailing, using a western route, more popular. So,  he produced and appeared on infomercials  which aired four times daily. Finally,  the King and Queen of Spain called his toll-free number  and agreed to help  Columbus. The authors have provided readers the cautions not to  use this site as a source of reference for research. There is even a satiric  update on the site that mentions a lawsuit settlement on a  (fake) claim that the information unfairly caused failing grades for students who used the information via the website.   The authors can be followed on  Twitter: aaexplorers.  Their website confirms SHEG reports that states there  are scores of websites pretending to be something they are not. In addition to the elaborate hoaxes on explorers there are more serious and credible  lesson plans designed to introduce students to the skills and concepts of good Internet researching: Just Because Its Out There Doesnt Mean Its GoodSo How Do You Find the Good Stuff?Google, What?Where Exactly Am I?How Could They Be So Wrong? Research Standards for Social Studies Research is not exclusive to any discipline, but the  National Council for the Social Studies has outlined specific standards for research in their  College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards: Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History   There is the standard:  Dimension 4, Communicating Conclusions  for grades 5-12,   the intermediate and  middle school grades levels (5-9) that could benefit from the lessons on the  AllAboutExplorers: D4.2.3-5. Construct explanations using reasoning, correct sequence, examples, and details with relevant information and data.D4.2.6-8. Construct explanations using reasoning, correct sequence, examples, and details with relevant information and data, while acknowledging the strengths and weaknesses of the explanations.D4.1.9-12. Construct arguments using precise and knowledgeable claims, with evidence from multiple sources, while acknowledging counterclaims and evidentiary weaknesses.   The European explorers are generally studied in grades 5 as part of American Colonial History; in grade 6 7 as part of European exploration of Latin and Central America; and in grades 9 or 10 in the study of colonialism in global studies classes.   The website AllAboutExplorers provides educators an opportunity  to help students  learn how to negotiate the Internet in research. Teaching students to better explore the web can be improved by introducing students to this website on famous explorers.