In today’s world and overreliance on technology for all of our new information, it is hard to identify what is true and what is false. Digital literacy is extremely important to teach and an aspect of it has been added into the Saskatchewan curriculum. It is not as thorough as the NCTE framework but it lays down a foundation for teachers have some creativity with how they teach there students.
Since digital literacy is such a growing concern for students as technology begins to advance, and trolls on the internet become harder to recognize, there has been many lesson plans, worksheets, and information to help spread information on how to identify fake news.
The article Teaching Digital Literacy Now by the School Learning Journal talked about different ways of evaluating an article. They go into depth about:
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- Rethinking how we teach evaluation
- Read laterally
- Keep it non-political
- Talk about social media more
In my field placement, the teacher would always do an activity related to the subject we were about to. For example, doing a Wordle before English. You can start off a class with an activity such as spot the troll. We did this activity in class and I think it would be a fun and educating tool to help students determine who is real and who is fake on social media.
My major is Physical Education, and currently I see a lot of videos on my social media about “getting abs in a week”, or the “take this supplement and lose 30 pounds in a month”. I really liked this worksheet bias in the news to be able to educate students on identifying information that is valid. I may have to tweek it so that is related to physical education, but I think that it would be an awesome tool for teaching digital literacy.
Hey Carson!
It’s indeed difficult to know which information online is real or fake. I’m delighted that this topic can be discussed in classrooms to guide the students. Introducing the worksheet “Bias in the News” will be a great start in educating your students on this topic. Great job! on your post.
Inemesit
Carson,
I think it is important for kids to know that what they read online may not always be the truth. Lots of ads on websites, tiktoks, YouTube videos, and social media platforms can be littered with untruthful or fake news regarding fitness journeys and weight loss. This is an easy hole to fall into and scams can be found all over the place. As a phys ed teacher, you can easily implement digital literacy into some assignments regarding creating fitness goals and workout plans.