Exploring the Web

     This past week, my class has been getting used to using online search engines and really figuring out how to find the information we need and make sure we can trust and use it. We learned tips on how to search for information and tips for how to tell whether or not a source is real and trustworthy. 

     The fist activity my class did was a Google a Day. A Google a Day is an online activity and the goal of it is to find answers to the questions they give by searching on the website. By doing this activity, I learned more tricks on how to search things through google to get the results I want. For example, putting quotation marks around certain words will ensure that they will be in the results. I also learned that you may be given a question and have to search other topics before you can answer the question because you may need background information about things in the question. I found this activity to be fun because I liked being in a competition with my classmates. However, it did get frustrating at times when you felt like there was nothing left to look up and you didn't know how you were ever going to find the answer. I still do recommend this activity and if you would like to check it out, click HERE. 

     Accuracy, authenticity, and reliability are all important things a source should have to be trusted and used for gathering information. Accuracy has to do with the correctness of the information displayed. Authenticity is how true and genuine something is. Lastly, reliability is the ability to be depended on. To test our knowledge on these three key terms, we tested a website to see if it was accurate, authentic, and reliable. The website is titled "Help Save the Endangered Northwest Tree Octopus". We found this website to be authentic because it told us exactly what it was supposed to tell us about the tree octopuses, but it wasn't accurate because the information was false and there are no such things as northwest tree octopuses, and it is not reliable either because the author and organizations linked with this site aren't credible. All in all, the website should not be used for school work. To go to this site and check it out click HERE.

During this week, I learned how to be a more productive researcher. 

 
A picture of the so called "pacific northwestern tree octopus".
Link to picture is HERE. (also used as the link above)