iPads, MakerEd and More in Education

"As adults we (hopefully) know that not everything online is true. For our students though, this is a concept they need to learn.

Students can use Google to quickly find millions of websites matching their search request, but are they able to determine which sites actually contain information that is accurate, unbiased, up to date, and written by someone with authority?

One step in helping our students identify quality information online is to introduce them to the exact opposite… websites that pretend to be truthful but actually are full of intentionally incorrect information.

Such “fake” websites can be a great way to show students that just because something is online, does not mean it is true. You can ask students to do research on one of these sites as part of an assignment and then see how many were able to realize the site was not authentic. This can be a fun and engaging way to begin a lesson on website evaluation."

Q. I was browsing online and noticed a small letter “i” in a circle. What does that mean? I use the Chrome browser.

A. The web is full of sites that do not use the strongest security, and some browsers — including Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox — now warn users when the page they are visiting may put their information at risk. In Chrome, that “i” symbol indicates a site may not be secure because it is using an unencrypted connection to exchange data with your computer. When you click the “i” on the left side of the Chrome address bar, you can see more information about the site, adjust some settings and possibly see a “Your connection to this site is not secure” warning.