Having a good sense of digital literacy is a great way to find the truth throughout the lies on the internet. Articles are posted on a daily basis and lots of these articles can be completely fabricated in order to draw attention and get people spreading false information. Much like my previous post where I highlighted that I would like to teach lessons based on digital citizenship the same goes for digital literacy as it falls under the umbrella. Teaching digital literacy means helping students develop the skills to find, evaluate, and use information online effectively and responsibly. This is essential because, with so much information available, it’s important to know how to tell what is trustworthy and what is not. The article on SLJ written by Linda Jacobson has a quote that really caught my attention, “Our ‘digital natives’ may be able to flit between Facebook and Twitter while simultaneously uploading a selfie to Instagram and texting a friend, but when it comes to evaluating information that flows through social media channels, they are easily duped” I am especially bad for this however lots of people are in the same boat where we believe things we see online without much question so by having the skills to identify what is real and what is not can be key tools in our day to day lives.

For me (hopefully) being a physical education teacher at the high school level, I need to find interesting ways to engage my students in different activities that show off digital literacy skills. Fake news is everywhere and can come in many forms, in the new York times article titled Evaluating Sources in a ‘Post-Truth’ World: Ideas for Teaching and Learning About Fake News, there is a quote from Sabrina Tavernise that goes “Fake news, and the proliferation of raw opinion that passes for news, is creating confusion, punching holes in what is true, causing a kind of fun-house effect that leaves the reader doubting everything, including real news.” This can be said for health-related topics that present themselves through social media. Class time is limited for physical education teachers however for a grade 10 wellness class I could tie this into a lesson about diets and supplementation. My students could be tasked with finding a fitness influencer that sells some sort of supplement or is promoting some sort of diet. They would then use this information and do some research into different ingredients and what they actually do for your body or look into these diets and see if they are credible or not. I have seen plenty of fad diets in the past that die off quickly but have people chained to the idea that this will actually help them. A build up to this could be done with the use of some of the quizzes we were presented in class; these could be fun ways to get the students engaged and give them a little bit of an understanding of what they are going to be doing. Spot the troll, Break the fake.

To incorporate the goals of the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) framework, I would ensure that our digital literacy lessons include several key elements. First, we would focus on developing students’ ability to critically analyze texts, which aligns with the NCTE’s emphasis on analytical skills. We would also incorporate the NCTE’s goal of promoting ethical participation in digital spaces by discussing topics like digital etiquette and the impact of spreading misinformation. By focusing on these aspects of digital literacy, we can help students become more discerning consumers of information and more responsible participants in ever growing digital world.