Thanks to Richard Thompson over at Cul de Sac, I have an excellent comic to use with my students when we talk about finding legitimate sources.
Ernesto here has all the trappings of a legitimate guide: The hat, the bullhorn, the official maps and the GPS. But Petey rightfully expresses his doubts as to Ernesto’s ability when he points out that his materials aren’t what they seem. And I also hope Petey recognizes that Ernesto’s hat is a cylinder of construction paper held together by some tape at the back. Ernesto has all the trappings, but upon closer inspection, Petey would be better off being guided by an errant butterfly as he searches for his portable classroom than this self-appointed expert who really is no expert at all.
The Internet leads us to all sorts of different sources of information. Some of it is good. Some of it is patently bad. But it’s up to us, even when we’re looking at something “good” to find evidence to support our good feelings or to find the tells of propaganda being passed off as information, or something even worse being passed off as information.
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