Verification Handbook for Investigative Reporting Craig Silverman is the founder of Emergent, a real-time rumor tracker and debunker. He was a fellow with the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University, and is a leading expert on media errors, accuracy and verification. Craig is also the founder and editor of Regret the Error, a blog about media accuracy and the discipline of verification that is now a part of the Poynter Institute. He edited the Verification Handbook, previously served as director of content for Spundge, and helped launch OpenFile, an online local news startup that delivered community-driven reporting in six Canadian cities. Rina Tsubaki leads and manages the "Verification Handbook" and "Emergency Journalism" initiatives at the European Journalism Centre in the Netherlands. With close to 18,000 followers, the Twitter account @ShamiWitness has been a major source of pro-Islamic State propaganda. Channel 4 set out to investigate who was behind the account.
Teaching Information Literacy Now Last week, a new study from Stanford University revealed that many students are inept at discerning fact from opinion when reading articles online. The report, combined with the spike in fake and misleading news during the 2016 election, has school librarians, including me, rethinking how we teach evaluation of online sources to our students. How can we educate our students to evaluate the information they find online when so many adults are sharing inaccurate articles on social media? While social media isn’t the only reason for the surge in fake news over the last 10 years, it’s certainly making it harder for information consumers of every age to sort through fact and fiction. As articles about the Stanford study get shared around Facebook, I have two thoughts. In follow-up lessons, we use the CARS strategy to evaluate other websites in order to rank their usefulness. Rethinking how we teach evaluation Read laterally. Keep it non-political. Talk about social media more. Switch it up.
Information Literacy Access and Evaluate Information Access information efficiently (time) and effectively (sources)Evaluate information critically and competentlyUse and Manage InformationUse information accurately and creatively for the issue or problem at handManage the flow of information from a wide variety of sourcesApply a fundamental understanding of the ethical/legal issues surrounding the access and use of information Additional resources: 1. ALA | Information Literacy AASL provides leadership for the development of dynamic, student-centered school library media programs. 2. 21st Century Literacies Curriculum The 21st Century Literacies Curriculum presents the process and essential skills for embedding information literacy strategies across all areas of the curriculum.
FREE -- Teaching Resources and Lesson Plans from the Federal Government What Essential Web Literacy Skills are Missing from Current Learning Standards? by An-Me Chung and Iris Bond Gill Our lives — and work — are moving online. Are current learning standards addressing the essential web literacy skills everyone should know? Increasingly, every job will become a digital job — whether field worker, designer, engineer or educator. Employers, education, and other institutions are looking for those with the agility, skills and know-how to participate and thrive in the 21st century. As an organization driven to build a healthy, safe and open internet that is a public resource for all, Mozilla has assembled a set of standards for web literacy and 21st Century (21C) skills. Crosswalk We examined the following workforce and learning standards to better understand what essential web literacy skills were included or missing. This analysis shows that some of the concepts embedded in the Web Literacy Map are being addressed in current standards. The analysis also highlighted critical gaps in the standards outlined above. U.S. U.S.
HeadlineSpot.com: US Newspapers Online News Headlines, World News, Current Events. 7 resources for much-needed information literacy skills Fake information is everywhere online. After all, everyone has a Facebook friend who elicits eye rolls when he or she shares a sensational news article that is fake or from a heavily-biased site promoting an agenda. But can today’s students tell the difference between what is legitimate and what is false? As today’s students grow up in a digital world, they must learn information literacy skills if they are to effectively evaluate information sources and become truly informed. Why is it critical? A BuzzFeed analysis found that in the last three months of the U.S. presidential campaign, the most-viewed fake election news stories on Facebook elicited more reader engagement than legitimate top stories from sources such as the Washington Post, the New York Times, and NBC News. Facebook was heavily criticized for what many deemed an inadequate attempt to remove fake news stories and false information from the site. (Next page: 7 information literacy resources; a Stanford U. study)
Educational Resources Global Temperatures In this activity, students create graphs of real temperature data to analyze climate trends by analyzing the global temperature record from 1867 to the present. Long-term trends and shorter-term ... Electricity data browser The Electricity data browser allows individuals and organizations to create, download, or view graphs, reports and tables based on energy data sets for 2001-2013 from the US Energy Information ... Marine Air Temperature This is a graph of marine air temperature anomalies over the past 150 years. Climate Wisconsin Ice Cover This is an interactive graph that involves records of ice cover in two Wisconsin lakes - Lake Mendota and Lake Monona - from 1855-2010. Power Metering This activity focuses on applying analytic tools such as pie charts and bar graphs to gain a better understanding of practical energy use issues. Sea Ice Yearly Minimum in the Arctic This series of visualizations show the annual Arctic sea ice minimum from 1979 to 2010.
USA Today: Students need to know this for media literacy Students today are increasingly turning to online new sources to meet their research needs. Because of this, it is important for educators to teach students about trustworthy news sources and separating real news from fake news—but how can teachers impart these media literacy skills when trends in journalism are constantly shifting? In “Media Literacy: A Crash Course in 60 Minutes,” hosted by edWeb.net and sponsored by Mackin Educational Resources, Michelle Luhtala, Library Department Chair at New Canaan High School, CT, interviewed Greg Toppo, the National Education and Demographics reporter for USA Today, about today’s shifting trends in journalism and how teachers can help students identify reliable sources. Know 4 Qualities of Good Journalism “Is there such a thing as objective journalism?” “If you can be complete, honest, accurate, and fair, objectivity shouldn’t even matter,” he said. Consider How the Content is Sponsored (Next page: The role of social media in media literacy)
Social Media Superstar Finalists Announced! Acknowledging the role social media plays in school library promotion, AASL has launched a new recognition program – Social Media Superstars. Nominated and endorsed by their peers, the program will recognize school library professionals who enrich the profession and its work on behalf of students by sharing information, expertise, ideas, encouragement, dialog and inspiration widely via a variety of social media channels. After an open nomination period, the Social Media Recognition Task Force is proud to announce the following finalists in each category. Through April 14, members of the school library community and the public are invited to post endorsements of their personal superstar by leaving a comment on each category’s post. Be sure to visit each of the seven hyperlinked category postings to read information about all the finalists and get links to their social media platforms. We want to hear from you! Sensational Student Voice Advocacy Ambassador Tech Troubadour Program Pioneer
Google Applied Digital Skills Review for Teachers The Google Applied Digital Skills curriculum is great for teachers updating an old-school computer skills class. With an emphasis on creativity, collaboration, and personal interests, this ISTE-aligned curriculum really focuses on modern technology skills. In recent years, digital citizenship and coding skills have gotten a lot of airplay, and for good reason, but often at the expense of some other critical tech skills. Google Applied Digital Skills strives to address college- and career-ready skills, plus life skills like planning a vacation, hosting an event, and making a budget. The pace may be a little fast for some learners, though students can repeat modules, or teachers can develop extension activities.