The case of the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus

Year 5 to 10 students and teachers

Long before 'Fake News' became two words on every one's lips, the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus was already swimming its way through cyberspace. The unusual creature even has its own website, not because it is the only known cephalopod to climb trees, but because it is almost extinct. At least so the story goes, but we have to look deeper and test the validity of this online resource. In Digital Whispers, the students in Team Savv-i's class come up with their own acronym to remember how to do this:

R = Reputation - Who made it?
A = Audience - For Whom was it made?
P = Presentation - How does it appear?
P = Purpose - Why was it made?
E = Effect - Who gains and who loses?
R = Real - How do you know this is true?

If you apply RAPPER to the octopus' website, you come up with some interesting answers. See if you can find the author's name and while you’re at it, check what else (s)he has written. Go through every letter of RAPPER and you will have have thoroughly evaluated this website. You can do this with everything you come across online and even offline! Is it true? Do a search on 'tree octopus' and scroll the results.

Question: Apply RAPPER to your favourite website. What did you find out that surprised you?

Casper Pieters PhD Dip Ed is an author and educator who uses adventure narratives to enliven the ICT curriculum for young people. www.casperpieters.com