It must be true, I read it on the Internet: Elusive 'tree octopus' proves how gullible web generation is



Fake: The tree octopus that researchers fabricated to test the evaluation skills of students

When it comes to the Internet, it seems kids will believe anything.

But it was thought that something as absurd as an octopus that lives in a tree might be enough to cast some doubts in their minds - it wasn't.

A creature concocted in a research 'laboratory' has exposed shocking Internet illiteracy among students, with a leading expert warning it could mean a learning crisis in schools.



Donald Leu, a researcher from the University of Connecticut, conducted a study among the Facebook generation of students - deemed 'digital natives' due to their online savviness - to try to prove they will believe anything they read on the internet.



He directed students to the website http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus, where they found details about the fabricated endangered Pacific Northwest tree octopus in order to test students’ ability to evaluate information they find online.

It detailed the creature's appearance and habits, including how it uses its suckers to move along tree branches in a form of 'locomotion' and steals eggs from the nests of birds.

It even claimed that it was endangered mainly due to the penchant of wealthy 'fashionistas' to use the tree octopuses as ornamental hat decorations.

The students not only believed all of the fabricated information, but also insisted on the existence of the octopus, even when researchers explained all the information had been made up.

Mr Leu, founder and director of the New Literacies Research Lab at the university, warned that students were unable to discern between fact and fiction online and said this would lead them to graduate without the proper thinking skills needed to meet college and workforce demands.

He said: 'Most students simply have very little in the way of critical evaluation skills.

Fake: The tree octopus that researchers fabricated to test the evaluation skills of students

'They may tell you they don’t believe everything they read on the Internet, but they do. It's a cause for serious concern.

'Anyone can publish anything on the Internet, and today’s students are not prepared to critically evaluate the information they find there.'

Study: Professor Donald Leu, left, and the imaginary habitat of the tree octopus he invented for his research



He also claimed that among the students who do depend on search engines for research, many do not know how to use the results.

'Typically, students will click on the first listing at the top of the results page and take a quick look, then continue down the list without studying the source of the website to figure out whether it’s the best source of information,' he said.



'Often they pass right by the website they should be looking at because it doesn’t look like the website they have in their mind.



'The challenge is we’re not preparing kids in the classroom for these new online reading skills. If kids are largely going to use the Internet now and in the future, these skills for online comprehension must be included in what teachers teach.'



The study also found that students shun search engines in favour of typing what they think is the right site directly into the address bar, such as Georgewashington.com.

Mr Leu said: 'When they did use a search engine, they skipped right over legitimate pages because it didn’t look like what they had in mind.



'That’s what children do with their rock stars and their other cultural stars. They are accustomed to typing in the name and adding .com. That often doesn’t work for real academic research.'





An earlier version of this article stated that University of Connecticut researcher Donald Leu created the site http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus for the study. The site was in fact created by Lyle Zapato. We are happy to clarify this.





