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Information Literacy

Do you want to know...

Remember, all I'm offering is the truth... nothing more.

The Matrix could be an excellent allegory for finding truth in the chaos of disinformation. It could be about breaking an information bubble we may live in and choosing the right path. Unfortunately, we cannot load the skills like Neo could. Fortunately, our information and fake news Matrix is not as grim as the one in the movie...or is it?
“You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe.  You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”  ~ Morpheus, The Matrix 
I hope you choose the knowledge, aka the red pill. So, here it goes: 

Information literacy is more than possessing information. Information literacy is the ability "to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate and use effectively the needed information." (ACRL, 2000)

Developing information literacy skills requires a combination of tools, educational resources, and critical thinking practice.


Play and save for later: 
To help students see how easily fake news can be created, try a media literacy activity using online generators that mimic real headlines and articles. Pair this with a discussion on the ethical use of media and information to help students think critically about credibility, intent, and impact.
What practical steps can you and your students take to critically evaluate information found on the Internet? How can we protect them and ourselves from fake news, scams, and phishing?

  • Read about those Facebook 'Like' Scam Posts - what are those and how to spot them

  • Watch the short video from Commonsensemedia.org about 5 ways to spot fake news. Look around the Common Sense website. Notice organizational tabs for Parents, Educators, and Advocates. Add useful links to your bookmarks or pins collection.

  • Read Stephen Downe's post about Principles for Evaluating Website

  • What is a Filter Bubble? How does it isolate you? - watch this short video (2.37min ) explaining just that!

  • Browse and bookmark (pin?) for later - Fake news and misinformation advice hub from internetmatters.org where you can learn about fake news, how to spot it, and how to empower children to recognize what fake news is and how to stop the spread of it

  •  Can you spot when you’re being phished? Take this quiz to find our phishingquiz.withgoogle.com/ 
How to check the credibility of controversial information?
  • Browse, test, and bookmark: Pick a controverisal topic and test how it is presented in the following fact checking websites:
    • snopes.com - a reference source for urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation.  
    • Fact Check Tools -from Google labs 
    • AllSides.com: Balanced News from the Left, Center, and Right
      Look for resources about media bias, and check the incredibly well-developed       resources for schools!
    • poynter.org - The Poynter Institute is a non-profit journalism school and research organization dedicated to strengthening democracy by improving the relevance, ethics, and value of journalism through training, fact-checking initiatives like PolitiFact, and media literacy programs. 
    • factcheck.org -  a nonpartisan, nonprofit website operated by the Annenberg Public Policy Center that monitors the factual accuracy of major U.S. political figures and advocacy group
    • opensecrets.org - follows money in Politics 
    • hoax-slayer.com - The goal is to provide fact-checked information about internet hoaxes and to educate users about online security issues like scams and spam. Brett M. Christensen started Hoax-Slayer in Australia after being tricked by a fake virus warning. He runs the site with help from his sons.

Learning (and teaching) today is much different than it used to be. So, it is logical to look for new learning theories!

Connectivism is a relatively new but mighty theoretical framework for understanding learning in a digital age.  
  • It is a theory that argues that learning is not just about memorizing facts but about how you connect those facts together. It's like building a network of information in your mind, where each piece of knowledge is a node, and the connections between them are what help you understand and navigate the world. So, instead of just storing information, you're actively creating a web of understanding. It will be important to keep in mind when building your Personal Learning Network (PLN)
  • Connectivism acknowledges that learning is a social process and individuals bring unique perspectives and experiences to the learning process. Interacting with diverse viewpoints enriches understanding and fosters creativity and innovation.
Watch this short video explaining the theory of Connectivism (3 min). This will be further discussed in the lecture. 
What strategies could students adopt to make decisions or solve an information problem?  
  • Analyze the Big6 and Super3  process models of how people should solve information strategies. S per 3 is a simplified model for the youngest students. 
    • Connect it to the ISTE Student Standard #5: Computational Thinker: Students develop and employ strategies for understanding and solving problems that leverage technological methods' power to develop and test solutions.
      • 5b Students collect data or identify relevant data sets, use digital tools to analyze them, and represent data in various ways to facilitate problem-solving and decision-making.
      • 5 c Students break problems into component parts, extract key information, and develop descriptive models to understand complex systems or facilitate problem-solving. 
Consider pinning or bookmarking the resources for future use (build that PLN!

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Additional resources (not required; to use, bookmark, or pin for later):

Helping students understand the biases in generative AI - materials on this page are intended to help instructors and students analyze and discuss the biases and ethics of generative artificial intelligence.

Strawberry Problem -  How Overconfidence in AI Responses can perpetuate misinformation and create a feedback loop, and on how GenAI desire to satisfy the user may not be the best thing.

Chat GPT for media literacy -an interesting article about why using AI could be a great media literacy instruction tool.

Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning (pdf) provides a conceptual framework and broad guidelines for describing the information-literate student.

Ground.news  - is a Canadian news aggregator that counters media bias by presenting coverage of a story from sources across the political spectrum, allowing readers to compare viewpoints and see their own media blind spots

Siemens and Downes theory of Connectivism


sourcewatch.org - a collaborative resource for  documented information about the corporations, industries, and people trying to influence public policy and public opinion

domaintools.com - a collection of domain name ownership records in the world (also look easywhois.com)


ISTE Standards for Students connection:

Standard # 3: Knowledge Constructor: Students critically curate a variety of resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others.
  • 3a. S udents plan and employ effective research strategies to locate information and other resources for their intellectual or creative pursuits.
  • 3b. S udents evaluate the accuracy, perspective, credibility, and relevance of information, media, data or other resources.
Standard #2 Digital Citizen: Students recognize the rights, responsibilities and opportunities of living, learning and working in an interconnected digital world, and they act and model in ways that are safe, legal and ethical

Standards #5: Computational Thinker: Students develop and employ strategies for understanding and solving problems in ways that leverage the power of technological methods to develop and test solutions.
  • 5b Students collect data or identify relevant data sets, use digital tools to analyze them, and represent data in various ways to facilitate problem-solving and decision-making.
  • 5 c Students break problems into component parts, extract key information, and develop descriptive models to understand complex systems or facilitate problem-solving. 

ISTE Standards for Educators connection:

Standard #2: Leader: Educators seek out opportunities for leadership to support student empowerment and success and to improve teaching and learning
  • 2c. Educator model for colleagues the identification, exploration, evaluation, curation, and adoption of new digital resources and tools for learning.
EdTech fastest growing minor - fake yahoo news
Standard #3: Citizen: Educators inspire students to positively contribute to and responsibly participate in the digital world.
  • 3b. E ucators establish a learning culture that promotes curiosity and critical examination of online resources and fosters digital literacy and media fluency.
  • 3 c mentor students in safe, legal and ethical practices with digital tools and the protection of intellectual rights and property.
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Activities during the lab (we will work on them together)


Quote from The Matrix movie: There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path

Using Stephen Downe's Principles for Evaluating Websites, lecture, and resources above, analyze the resources below.

  • Can you find an argument to support or discredit the legitimacy of your resource? It is not enough to use "gut feeling" or common knowledge.
  • How can you prove it? 
  • Can you see the purpose of the resource? 
  • Could you use it in your classroom?

Exhibit A: (elementary):
http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/

Exhibit B:
https://mousetrapnews.com/breaking-marvel-theme-park-coming-to-disney-world/
Exhibit C:
https://insttech.uni.edu/3600/images/infliteracy-vaccinate.jpg

Exhibit D:
https://insttech.uni.edu/3600/documents/mail_SlowDance.pdf


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