Digital literacy as we all know is an important skill for everyone to have. It can save people lots of human hardships or even save their lives and their families. Being digitally aware can help take stress away from people knowing that their posts or photos will not be taken for other purposes. It is our job as future teachers to educate ourselves properly on this topic, to help keep our students and their parents out of harms way in the social media world.
While reading It’s Easier to Call A Fact, A Fact When It’s One You Like I was learning how a study was conducted, to see if people would agree with the facts (that were all true) if they liked the fact or if they would use their own beliefs to disprove the fact. This reminded me of the Gabby Petito case. Many people through social media had their own beliefs regarding where Gabby’s missing finance was or what had happened to Gabby before the police released any news. There were multiple videos posted online when Gabby’s fiancé Brain went missing, that someone had found him in the woods, even though it really was not him. Sometimes people no matter the fact believe what they want to believe, especially if they like the fact no matter how “wrong” it is.
I think that as future teachers we need to take students beliefs into account, as it might harm factual points in our teaching about digital literacy, or anything within that matter. Which brings me to fake news… During class when we were trying to spot fake news, I realized how incredibly bad I was at it. Even though I have been on social media since I was 13, I am not a pro at spotting fake news. But by showing students how to fact check properly, and do the fake news quizzes we are one step closer to teaching good digital literacy skills.
Teaching digital literacy can be scary or daunting especially with the younger students. I am in the elementary years program, which consists of Pre-K to Grade 5. I believe starting off small in grade two or three would be the best option. I think showing cute videos aimed at for students with tiny facts, such as not talking to strangers and being mindful of what people are posting on social media would be the best start. Having more freedom, leads to having to be more careful and mindful of what you are posting. This would also be something to remind older students, and to not be constantly on your phone checking news articles to get false information.
I think we can make this world a safer place for students on social media as long as we work together. I think creating something that the older students could present to the younger students would encourage all ages to participate in being safe online. It is cool to be safe!
