4/2/2021 0 Comments Fact or Fake?This week in our EDTC 300 course we have been exploring the topic of "fake news". As we move to online learning (especially right now living and teaching during a global pandemic) and learning the new ways to introduce technology into the classroom to enhance our teaching and better engage our students, we have to be careful. When we enhance our teaching by providing technology for our students, it is important to teach them about their own personal digital citizenship (see blog post). Couros & Hildebrandt (2018) suggest we also need to "approach news and information with a critical eye in order to identify intentionally misleading sources". It is important our students are prepared and fully understand how the online world works. As the Thompson Rivers University Library shares, fake news is referred to as, "a type of hoax or deliberate spread of misinformation with the intent to mislead in order to gain financially or politically. Fake News is related to propaganda whose purpose is to spread information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view" (2019). As a child, I remember being in line at the grocery store with my Mom and there would be rows and rows of reality magazines displayed. The headlines would be outrageous but still caught my Mom's attention. While we were waiting for our groceries to get rung up, my Mom would skim through a magazine and close it while shaking her head whispering, "just junk in these magazines". This is probably the first time I was really aware of fake news being around me. Image retrieved from: https://images.app.goo.gl/unJ1AKsgcWpT3VxA8 As an article shares, people "fall" for fake news because we have our minds set to trust the media and government, the amount of editing makes images look realistic, links can get mixed up between friends and family with similar if not identical-looking links across the web, lower attention spans and it often appeals to our emotions. Lindsay Matts-Benson from the University Libraries shared: As a future educator, some tips I will remember to look for are: 1. Be critical of images 2. Investigate the URL/site 3. Read beyond the Headline 4. Verify the Author 5. Track down original source 6. Watch out for new technologies For more information based on how to self-check the news for fact or fake, I suggest looking at this site and this one. If you need a visual or are still unsure of what is fact or fake, this "7 types of mis- and disinformation" can provide additional help when distinguishing between the two and the different types: Indicator B and C caught my attention. There are many ways you could approach teaching healthy decisions and information/misinformation in the community. One way that I think is important to teach young students is allowing them to understand the difference between fact/fake and information/misinformation while online. I have found a few resources that share ideas about how to teach about fake news and help foster critical thinking in the classroom. One learning activity that I liked for this grade level was looking at this website as an example for misinformation/fake news. The students can observe and note what they read and the information they find and state whether or not they think this site provides information or misinformation. From their findings, the teacher can then teach what to look for when looking at online resources and how to spot fact vs. fake information.
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