Digital literacy is much more complex than what anybody would assume. In the quizzes, I was incorrect as much as I was correct. We can all admit, that most conspiracy theories come with ‘receipts’. Some have very compelling information, and what appears to be ‘facts’. A video was shown in one of the classes in the school I am employed as an Education Assistant, and it was very eye-opening, as well as very informational about how theories with very legitimate-seeming evidence can still be completely fabricated. The video talks about the conspiracy theory of Paul McCartney’s supposed death in 1966, and all the evidence that exists to legitimize this claim, as well as the true information and how it becomes irrelevant to people who already have their opinions, solidified in their minds. Often when people are so convinced one way, any information that contradicts it is seen as fake, false, or a cover-up, and completely ignored. I could relate to this in some ways, as my opinions on certain things will never sway, and information contradicting them will be ignored, an example of this being my distaste for Donald Trump.
I also enjoyed playing around with the interactive graph of news outlets and the biases they demonstrate. I found Infowars being the furthest right and also the most unreliable source quite humorous. Still, it again makes me think about what else needs to happen for people to stop trusting these highly biased and damaging sources. I think learning about what bias is, where most news outlets stand, as well and two quizzes (Spot the troll and MediaSmarts) to identify false information online would hopefully give my students some critical thinking skills when it comes to absorbing information found online.