Welcome to Blog Post #2 where I will be discussing how information literacy, technology and digital/media intersect, as well as my information diet and the information diet I will hope to have as a school librarian.
The Module 3 lecture, by Mx. Dreeszen Bowman, challenged me to think about misinformation, what information is, and my information diet. I was reminded that my job as a school librarian is to help others distinguish between information that is reliable and is not. While I have heard the terms misinformation and disinformation, this week I learned the differences between the two. Misinformation is incorrect/misleading information that is presented as fact, although the person giving the information may not mean to be misleading. On the other hand, disinformation is incorrect information given with the intention to deceive. I was reminded of the importance of using tools like triangulation to find news in variety of sources.
This week, I also had the opportunity to explore several readings and additional resources. In Joyce Valenza's article, Truth, truthiness, triangulation: A news literacy toolkit for a "post-truth" world, in reference to news literacy, she states "We need to teach important lessons of everyday civics for new consumption and production landscapes. These lessons involve sustained critical thinking, a practice to engage in regularly as we read and view and inquire with learners of all ages across disciplines." Valenza also touches on fake news and the variety of flavors that it comes in. It is noted that most news is not fake or true. Although journalists may fact check, they are not completely bias-free. This article highlights "Some Rules of Thumb" for considering news, which include interrogating urls, suspect the sensational, go back to the source, go back to the story again, think outside the reliability box, triangulate, identify the type of reading or writing, check your search attitude and biases, use a little energy, stop before you forward, and be suspicious of pictures.
I really enjoyed the resources for building a news literacy toolkit. Below are the links to a few that you may want to check out!
Factcheck.org - reducing the level of deception and confusion regarding U.S. politics
Snopes - dispelling urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation
Does This Website Smell Funny to You? - a protocol for helping middle school students evaluate websites by the Journal of AASL
The Liturgists Podcast regarding Fake News and Media Literacy opened my eyes to the ways humans perceive news and media literacy. There is discrepancy over what fake news means. Some important points were raised, such as thinking about where the news is coming from- is there an author listed? (people should be listed by name), is there a date of publication?, are specific sources cited? Around the 36 minute mark of the podcast, they discuss conspiracy and fake news, with a quote from a book they read that states, "its the awareness of our ignorance that gives science its reliability." Science is always questioning itself. If better evidence comes along, it's always replacing it. Science is the best we have at determining what is true. I think this is definitely something to ponder.
Towards the end of the podcast, Clay Johnson speaks to information diets and how they compare to food diets. He refers to the concepts of an upstairs and downstairs brain. Clay Johnson: A Software Toolkit for Your Information Diet highlights the best way to have a healthy information diet. He notes that having a healthy information diet will help you live longer. I think that I can benefit from one piece of software that he mentions using- rescuetime.com, which measures your intake, like a food journal for your computer that helps you take control of your time. I will be able to see how many hours I have spent scrolling Instagram or Facebook or other outlets. Overall, my information diet is healthy. I do not get completely absorbed by ads or media that are introduced to me. I think as a future school librarian I will have to really work to fact check and make sure that I am using techniques like triangulation to find a variety of sources. I look forward to helping my future students critically think to distinguish between real and fake news and information.
I learned a great deal of information this week and hope that you all did too!
References
Bowman, J.D. (2022, May 13). Module 3 intro [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HWmTrsakfw
Gungor, M. (Host). (2017, March 7). Fake News & Media Literacy. [Audio podcast episode]. In The Liturgists Podcast. Spotify. https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-liturgists-podcast/episodes/Fake-News--Media-Literacy-eutfrm
Johnson, C. (2012, May 26). Clay Johnson: A Software Toolkit for Your Information Diet. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2Ea3gtbEyI
Valenza, J. (2016, November 26). Truth, truthiness, triangulation: A news literacy toolkit for a "post-truth" world. School Library Journal. https://blogs.slj.com/neverendingsearch/2016/11/26/truth-truthiness-triangulation-and-the-librarian-way-a-news-literacy-toolkit-for-a-post-truth-world/
Hi Emily,
ReplyDeleteI also learned the distinct difference between misinformation and disinformation this week. I agree with your point about students needing to participate in sustained critical thinking. This is something I find my students like to avoid, as it's easier to just get an answer and move on. It's difficult for them to analyze a source for reliability as that's not something they inherently practice, with information literally at their fingertips. Thanks for sharing your additional resources for news literacy. I'll be adding them to my toolkit as well!
Hi Emily! Thank you so much for sharing your resources on news literacy. I have added those to my toolkit as well! I believe that one of my biggest take away from the podcast was very much like yours. Asking those important questions like who the author is or when and where was the source of information was published is a fast and easy way to give our students pause when deciding to use the source or not. Students are very quick to just find the answer and move on. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI love snopes! The guardian put out a few "Real or Fake" news quizzes that I like to do with my kids! Here is a link to one of them. We talk about looking at who published the article and if it is from a reputable publication. We really enjoyed taking this! https://www.theguardian.com/newswise/2021/feb/04/fake-or-real-headlines-quiz-newswise-2021
ReplyDeleteEmily, I love your suggestion as a placed to begin the conversation about fake news as well as both misinformation and disinformation. I will definitely try this idea with my students next school year.
DeleteHey Emily. Its Kay Brooke Davis. I enjoyed reading your post and I, too, learned a lot this week. You mentioned bias and how students should be able to see that even factual information can have bias in it. I try my hardest for my students to see this in our social studies lessons. Yes, the textbook has facts, but the author is most likely Caucasian and tells the story from his or her vantage point. Because of this, I try extremely hard to have my students see our history lessons from the perspective of the people and groups involved. Thank you for sharing these resources as well. I can't wait to look into them and utilize them in the future.
ReplyDeleteThank you also for the resources that you shared. I too learned alot more about the difference in misinformation and disinformation and how those affect how we perceive things. Thank you for the resources that you shared. I plan to look into rescuetime.com because I know I waste too much time on reading news from social media that is either not real, exaggerated, unreliable, or simply a waste of time. It will be interesting to see the results and use the findings to help me better teach me students. I think the one of the keys that you brought up was triangulation, finding multiple sources of reliable information before deciding that it is true as well as the "Rules of Thumb" when considering news. Thanks for all the great information in your posts!
ReplyDelete