Hey everyone,
So my niece told me her teacher said that websites ending with ‘.org’ are always reliable sources. She’s taking it as gospel, but honestly, isn’t that a bit of a stretch? I mean, anyone can buy a ‘.org’ domain for like 10 bucks. It seems like a risky thing to teach students. Do you think this teacher’s view is rare in the US education system? Should there be some kind of professional development to address this issue?
Thanks for your thoughts in advance.
No, they do not. Anyone can register a .org domain. There’s no verification, no official requirement that a .org domain must belong to a legitimate organization. It costs $12 and takes five minutes to register a .org domain on Google Domains. It’s straightforward and doesn’t involve any stringent checks.
This idea likely comes from when the teacher was in school, and it used to be common advice. However, anyone can get a .org domain, so it’s not always a sign of reliability. You can discuss your concerns with the teacher and share resources about evaluating domain suffixes for research. Also, keep in mind that a middle school student might have misunderstood the teacher, who may have given a more detailed explanation about assessing online information.