Find the Hoax

It is important to offer students plenty of practice sleuthing not just for site authorship but for different forms of misinformation. In an online slide presentation at her website, Kathy Schrock lists the following as common causes of misinformation:

• Data changes
• Out-of-date information
• Removing information from context
• Pranks

The last item on her list-the prank or hoax-provides an entertaining and effective tool for helping students hone their "truth detective" skills.

According to Handler, the important thing is to create teachable moments in which the students "accidentally" discover a hoax site. One example is described by Canadian educator Keith Mack at the Media Awareness Network's website.

Mack asks his students to help him do background research for a promotional site for their community. In order to see how other communities promote themselves, he directs them to the following sites: New Hartford, Minn. and Whitemouth, Manitoba.

Only after the students have perused the two sites, taking notes for their own community project, does Mack announce that one of the two sites they have been visiting is a fraud. Not surprisingly, many of his students respond with disbelief and comments such as, "I saw it, Mr. Mack. It was on the Internet-it has to be true!"

Other hoax sites can be used to create such moments of cognitive dissonance. You will want to pair them with similar, non-hoax sites - and a believable scenario - in order to avoid giving away the hoax. The idea is not only to ask students to guess which one is the fake, but to challenge them to prove it. Try it yourself; it's not easy!