This is the information age. The Web is a fast track to continuous volumes of information. When your students type a few search terms in Google’s search bar and click enter, the biggest hurdle is not the amount of information that appears in their search results. Instead, the biggest hurdle is sifting through the masses of websites, wikis, blogs, microblogs and more for reliable, quality and trustworthy facts. So, while a wealth of knowledge is at students’ fingertips with just a few small clicks, it’s important for us to help each student think critically, dig deeper and decipher between fact, opinion and fabrication.
Information Spreads Quickly
After the recent earthquakes in Japan, my sister received a compelling and highly persuasive email about Doug Copp’s Triangle of Life Theory, which encouraged people to find safety in voids next to large objects during earthquakes.1 Wanting to inform her loved ones, she forwarded this email on to me and several friends. Upon reading this email, I did the same. In a short period of time, this email reached countless inboxes as it spread across the web of our social groups. Shortly after, my daughter sent me an email with the official response from the American Red Cross in regards to Copp’s Triangle of Life Theory. This response, from a reputable source, debunked the myth and reinforced consistent safety guides to find cover during earthquakes.2
This is just one example of how information can appear to be a reliable source and spread incredibly quickly. In this case we spread opinion and personal experience vs. vetted, researched facts. The source seemed credible – it was the Rescue Chief and Disaster Manager of the American Rescue Team International – and we did not question the information by checking sources or by searching for counterarguments. Let’s talk about ways you can teach your students to think critically about the information they read or hear.
Don’t Accept Information at Face Value
In my example above, several of us took Copp’s Triangle of Life Theory at face value when we chose to pass it along to our friends and family. Yet, it’s foolish to immediately believe everything that’s read on the Internet or in an email. Students need to synthesize and evaluate information before making decisions from it or including it in a research project. The first step in doing so, is checking the source.
Check the Source
When researching or hearing various bits of information, your students should first ask: Is this a reputable source? The next step is understanding the difference between a reputable and unreliable source. In my example, Doug Copp was an unreliable source, while the American Red Cross was reputable. Below are a few quick ways to determine whether a source is reputable:
- An individual’s level of experience or merits
- An author’s reputation in an area of study
An organization’s past reputation and expertise - The web address (.edu, .gov, .mil or .org)
- The website’s purpose (i.e. to sell a product, for educational benefit, for non-profit, etc.)
- The website’s documentation
- A way of contacting the website managers, creators or contributors is provided
When searching on the Web for research papers, a good rule of thumb is to check if the URL ends in .edu, .gov, .mil or .org. Oftentimes websites that do end in these domains are more reputable sources, such as academic institutions, government sites, military sites or non-profit organizations. Yet, when researching for personal use it isn’t always that simple to go with these sources. We need to teach students (and ourselves) to not take information at face value and cross check for conflicting information or counterarguments.
Conduct Cross Checks
The next step is to do a cross check of the information. A web search or trip to the library can oftentimes expose counterarguments to theories, news or ideas that we read or hear. It’s important to see what others say or the reasoning behind information. In my example, a simple Google search with the terms “traingle of life” would have exposed the outright myth behind this seemingly plausible theory to us.
Yet, not every fact or bit of knowledge is as easy to debunk as Copp’s Triangle of Life Theory. Some scientific ideas and economic theories are debated every day from various reputable sources. For example, very reputable sources long ago once told us the world is flat! So, the point is to question the source of knowledge and check for counterarguments. Upon doing so, your students will gather enough information to formulate a decision or opinion of their own.
Teach Students the Importance of Quality Information
We need to teach students to think critically about the information that they encounter, consider the sources, do a cross check and make an educated decision about the validity of ideas that they read or hear. It’s important to equip students with these skills, because moving forward in the information age, students’ biggest hurdle will be in deciphering the validity or truth to anything they read or hear.
How are you teaching students to think critically about the information they encounter?
Mona Westhaver
President and Co-founder, Inspiration Software
- “Triangle of Life.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 22 Apr. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_of_Life>. [↩]
- “American Red Cross Response to “Triangle of Life” by Doug Copp.” BARRON PARK ASSOCIATION of Southern Palo Alto. Web. 22 Apr. 2011. <http://www.bpaonline.org/Emergencyprep/arc-on-doug-copp.html>. [↩]
