Following up with what we have discussed in class these past weeks, our digital literacy is one of the most important tools to have, especially in today’s world. The technology and social media platforms we use and see around us today are becoming more advanced then every. Having the ability to have technology at our fingertips can be dangerous in many ways. With having these privileges of being able to do research, get food or to shop online by just a push of a button comes with a lot of responsibility. With kids in today’s society becoming younger and younger going on social media it is important that they understand that there could be false information out there and to make sure that sources are credible that they are reading. For educators I think it is important to remind students about digital literacy so that they can have the knowledge to detect false news and show that the students can control what they are posting and seeing with responsibility. To be able to fully understand technology there is a lot of information that students will need to know. From the article “Digital Literacy and Composition” they talk about how digital literacies are constantly growing and influencing the process of reading, writing, research and interpretation of data, which allows for them to create knowledge within these varied disciplines. I think this was a great point to have because it shows that even if they learn about it in grade 8, by the time they are in grade 12 a lot will have probably changed. With the advancing of technology, it will also allow the students to practice their communication of complex topics that they may encounter in these varies subject areas. Students need to be able to communicate with teachers or friends what they are seeing on social media and be able to talk about it on their own social media platforms and with teaching them about digital literacies and the importance of it, they will be able to contribute to today’ society. There are also many ways that students can demonstrate their comprehension of digital literacies the article states a few from, presentations, blogs, reports, and discussion forum, and I am sure there could be many more options. The article ends on a note that is interesting to me because at the very end they comment that the students will learn that delivering inaccurate information can be dangerous, and like we talked about last week in class having a clean digital footprint is important to have which can connect to understanding digital literacy. There can be several ways to identify misinformation and the article “7 Types of Mis- and Disinformation” shows us own to identify it. They begin with sharing the 6 types of Misinformation. Starting with the first it is false connection, this can be through headlines, visuals or captions that don not support the content. A lot of the time articles will over exaggerate titles to get more reads or views but the information in the article has nothing to do with the title and this can lead to angry people who are mislead. The second is false context, this can be the stuff inside the article, so it is genuine content but is combines with false background information. Third is manipulated content, this is one information or images are changed to mislead the human eyes. Forth is parody, there is usually no intention to do any harm, but it can lead to fooling many people. Fifth is more misleading content, which is used to frame an issue or individual. And finally, is imposter content, this can be when people are impersonated, or information is mocked in a certain way. Overall, this article gave great insight to what to look for are the internet but lacked examples of what some of these issues could lead to and cause. I think this is a good starting point for students to start at but as they grow so does their digital literacies and they will need to be able to understand more full concepts. Now onto the teaching aspect of all this. How are we going to teach our students about digital literacy? There are many resources out there to help us approach this topic with our students in our weekly plans. In the Article “How do we teach students fake new?”, they state that fake news can spread rapidly through mainstream media sources and social networks. I could not agree more with this especially with today’s society, news spreads really fast through networks and I think students need to be aware of the causes of this because it could be potentially life changing. They also mention that fake news is meant to do harm, but it will only do harm if people share it and poke at it. This are all good reasons why we should be teaching students about their digital literacy, so that they can go forth and educate others as well. It is our job has teacher to help students prioritize their development in investigating techniques and becoming familiar with information verification websites, with this also comes with helping them understand that people have biases and they will post accordingly to their own biases, so the information can be very one sided. While teaching students about this it is important to remember the 5 C’s from the video “Helping Students Identify Fake News”. The 5-step process includes context, credibility, construction, corroboration and compare. It is important to remember all these steps because it can help students become critical thinkers so that they can approach the world around them with a healthy sense of skepticism to avoid being misled or scammed. All in all, teaching students the importance of digital literacy will be very effective for there future and they will gain an understanding of the responsibilities to the digital world that surrounds them.
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Hannah MagnussonI hope to become an amazing teacher. And hopefully some day complete my Inclusive Education certificate. |