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Creating Discerning Digital Citizens
Creating Discerning Digital Citizens
The Internet has created an explosion of information the likes we haven't seen since the printing press in the 14th century. At that time, academics were very concerned at the idea that any 'ole Joe could easily publish a book of information with poor academic integrity or worse... no academic worth at all! While not an unwarranted reaction, I think most of us can agree the spread of information benefited society as whole in the centuries to come. However, they were on to something about verifying the author or the source of the book. This is the challenge our students face today with online resources and it remains important they discern the good from the bad when absorbing information they come across online.
This JiTT lesson aligns with ISTE's Knowledge Constructor standard 3b to evaluate information online and could be useful in a history or social studies classroom setting. It focuses on giving student groups a number of topics to find and evaluate articles of using the TRAAP or IMVEIN research methodologies (Heidelberg Beeghly Library, 2017; Stony Brook Center for News Literacy, 2012). For example, students could be ask to find the latest statistics on the Coronavirus, an hot topic right now with many resources. Be sure to choose topic that are age appropriate and as well age appropriate search tools.
Once the students have a topic picked, they are to go home and work on finding several resources and complete a chart (see below) of 10 questions for establishing credibility. When the students come back to class, they should be ready to report their findings in an informal classroom discussion. Who found the most credible article? What information can they use to back their claims up?
Once a victor has been declared, we are now free to bring students to our at a glance resource. While the 10 question chart could be referenced, it isn't ideal for quick pulse-checks and reference purposes. So similar to the last lesson on Digital Citizenship Scenarios, Common Sense Education has a number of posters that deal with this very topic at different grade levels.
References:
Common Sense Education. (2014). Classroom Posters. Retrieved from: https://www.commonsense.org/education/posters
Heidelberg Beeghly Library. (2017). The Traap Test: Evaluating Information. Retrieved from: http://libguides.heidelberg.edu/eval/traap
ISTE (2016). ISTE Standards for Students. Retrieved from: https://www.iste.org/standards/for-students
Standage, T., & Stevenson, S. (2018). Secret History of the Future - Infinite Scroll. Retrieved from: https://slate.com/technology/2018/11/tools-to-manage-information-overload-tables-of-contents-indexes-encyclopedias-slack.html
Stony Brook Center for News Literacy. (2012). Evaluating Sources using IMVAIN with the Middle Schoolers at New York’s IS303. Retrieved from: https://digitalresource.center/resource/evaluating-sources-using-imvain-middle-schoolers-new-york%E2%80%99s-is303
All images sourced legally through Pixabay.
Common Sense Education. (2014). Classroom Posters. Retrieved from: https://www.commonsense.org/education/posters
Heidelberg Beeghly Library. (2017). The Traap Test: Evaluating Information. Retrieved from: http://libguides.heidelberg.edu/eval/traap
ISTE (2016). ISTE Standards for Students. Retrieved from: https://www.iste.org/standards/for-students
Standage, T., & Stevenson, S. (2018). Secret History of the Future - Infinite Scroll. Retrieved from: https://slate.com/technology/2018/11/tools-to-manage-information-overload-tables-of-contents-indexes-encyclopedias-slack.html
Stony Brook Center for News Literacy. (2012). Evaluating Sources using IMVAIN with the Middle Schoolers at New York’s IS303. Retrieved from: https://digitalresource.center/resource/evaluating-sources-using-imvain-middle-schoolers-new-york%E2%80%99s-is303
All images sourced legally through Pixabay.
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