Hey, fellow educators!

In our fast-paced digital world, it’s crucial to equip our students with the skills to navigate the sea of information and tell fact from fiction. Let’s dive into the ever-present issue of fake news, a challenge we can overcome by boosting our collective digital literacy.

In a world where misinformation spreads like wildfire, teaching digital literacy isn’t just a duty; it’s a necessity. We, as educators, stand at the forefront of this battle. Integrating digital literacy into our subject areas empowers our students to be savvy consumers of information.

You know those traditional checklists we’ve been using or our teachers have been using? It’s time to shake things up! As Dr. Alec Couros and Katia Hildebrandt emphasize in “How do we teach students to identify fake news?”, it’s about moving beyond these checklists to advanced investigative techniques. Let’s turn our students into savvy fact-checkers using tools like Google’s “search by image” and reliable sites like Snopes.

“Prioritize helping students develop investigative techniques where they become familiar with information verification websites (e.g., FactsCan.org, Snopes, and Hoax-Slayer) and tools like Google’s ‘search by image’ feature or the VerificationHandbook.com resource.”

Wondering how to fit digital literacy into your subject or grade? I have taken inspiration from “Librarians on the Front Lines,” where librarians play a key role in teaching media and news literacy. This isn’t exclusive to librarians; every subject can contribute.

“In the push to sharpen students’ critical thinking and analysis skills, Cyndy Scheibe, executive director of the Project Look Sharp media literacy initiative at Ithaca (NY) College, says, ‘Librarians are always our front line’ and adds that the attention to fake news reinforces the importance of librarians having the training they need to teach media and news literacy.”

Another gem from the same article is using tools like a media bias chart. We can imagine incorporating this into our English or Social Studies class. Students learn not just about content but also about the perspectives that shape it.

“Teach students to identify bias using tools like a media bias chart, which provides a starting point for them to understand that all sources come from a particular perspective.”

In “The Smell Test: Educators can counter fake news with information literacy. Here’s how,” librarians take the lead in information literacy, aligning with the NCTE framework and focusing on developing critical readers and effective communicators.

“Librarians have an opportunity to take leadership in the current crisis. As proven authorities on information literacy, library professionals can help students analyze news authenticity. It’s time to step up to the plate.”

These articles show that teaching digital literacy is a collaborative endeavor that transcends subject boundaries. By infusing these principles into our curriculum, they remind us that we need to empower our students to become savvy consumers of information, ready for the challenges of the digital age.

We need to embark on this journey together, recognizing that the time has come to move away from the traditional and embrace a curriculum that conveys knowledge and equips our students with the skills they need to succeed in the digital environment. I believe that the better equipped our students are with digital literacy, the better equipped they will be to navigate the complexities of our information-rich world, don’t you?

Take a peek at this comic whenever it crosses your mind! And here’s something beyond fake news for you:  #StayInformed #ComicBreak