Digital Literacy in the Library
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Are We All Narcissists? Viral Social Media Campaigns

Are We All Narcissists? Viral Social Media Campaigns | Digital Literacy in the Library | Scoop.it
Following the pattern here would make an intriguing assignment for secondary students. Campaign goes viral, campaign gets criticized, campaign gets forgotten or breaks down horribly? Are those always the steps? I know we saw it with Kony 2012 and Invisible Children. I doubt we'll see that kind of public flame-out from the good people at the ALS Association, but it's certainly worth studying viral campaigns.

Is this slacktivism at its best, and does it matter, since money is allegedly being ...
Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

I'm going to spend more time focusing on social media with students this year. This is a great example that they can all relate to! Digger deeper with critical thinking is key.

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Find image licensing information on Google Images

Find image licensing information on Google Images | Digital Literacy in the Library | Scoop.it

Francois Spies writes: "After collaborating closely with image creators, stock image providers and digital content associations, we’re launching several new features on Google Images to address this need. These features will make finding the right image to use, as well as guidelines for how to license an image for your business or personal project, much easier than before."

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

My students love to search Google for images, no matter how many other options I give them. So, to reach them where they are, I created a short video to explain how to use the new licensing search (and other search features, too!) The simplicity of two choices instead of the five Google used to have will hopefully prompt students to use the Creative Commons licensed images. 

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6 steps to being a smart searcher

6 steps to being a smart searcher | Digital Literacy in the Library | Scoop.it

Dan Russell, Senior Research Scientist at Google, writes: "There are six simple steps that I teach my students—people of all ages—to help them quickly find the information they are searching for."

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

I tell my students to have more than one search engine in their research tool box. It's also important to have more than one research strategy. I share several acronyms on searching (SIFT, TRAP) and will also share this short article. The more ways students here about smart and efficient internet searching, the more likely it is that something will stick!

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Isn’t it time to stop Wikipedia shaming?

Isn’t it time to stop Wikipedia shaming? | Digital Literacy in the Library | Scoop.it

Joyce Valenza writes: "Might it be time to stop Wikipedia shaming and bring its academic usefulness into the light? Is this shaming preventing the potential for scaffolding a variety of approaches to Wikipedia for its use at different educational levels and at different points in the research workflow of our students? Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales himself is famously quoted in response to students who get in trouble for their use of the resource, “For God sake, you’re in college; don’t cite the encyclopedia” (Young, 2006)."

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

I talk about Wikipedia every time I work with students on research projects! Sometimes it's a great path to get students to primary sources. It's also a great way to narrow down a research topic quickly, or to improve searches by suggesting keywords.

 

I'm fairly confident that almost all of my students know Wikipedia wouldn't be something to cite, but a great place to mine for information. And for those teachers who complain about getting research papers with information copied and pasted from Wikipedia? I suggest you change your assignment so that can't happen! If students can copy and paste their way to a passing grade, I don't think there's much learning going on.

 

Joyce's article also gave me something new to emphasize when doing research instruction. The term "container collapse" is one I hadn't hear before, but it's something I plan on using when I discuss investigating your sources. (And for that, I also thank Joyce for the link to Mike Caulfield's updated Four Moves!)

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On Instagram, the kids are alt-right - The Boston Globe

On Instagram, the kids are alt-right - The Boston Globe | Digital Literacy in the Library | Scoop.it

Julie Scelfo writes: "By building a platform where anyone can publish anything, social media companies have made it easier to propagate humanity’s darkest impulses."

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

A good summary of why we need to teach media literacy! (And a great example of a click bait headline!)

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Thread by @samwineburg

Thread by @samwineburg | Digital Literacy in the Library | Scoop.it
Thread by @samwineburg: "1/13 Last week I attended a convening by @icivics that deliberated on how to strengthen democracy. I was given 2 min the audience & tried my best to be brief. Several people have asked for my remarks. Here they are. (Bewa […]"
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Stop. Think. Check - Be Media Smart

Information is everywhere and sometimes it can be difficult to judge how accurate or reliable information is.
Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

Another quick checklist to share with students. I am all for whatever will get them to think critically about sources! A three step checklist is better than no review at all. 

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Escaping Google's stranglehold

Escaping Google's stranglehold | Digital Literacy in the Library | Scoop.it

Jamie McKenzie writes: "It is essential that schools teach students how to escape this stranglehold that Google creates. While helping visitors to find the information they need, Google effectively limits and narrows their searches - steering them toward the obvious and the conventional."

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

This would be an excellent introduction to using keywords when researching. Have students read a short biography, then have them choose three or four words from the biography to add to their search. In Jamie's example, [Isadora Duncan AND critics] led to information that probably wouldn't show up on Biography.com! When I tried [George Washington AND critics], I also found richer resources.

 

The key to this is that students would need some basic knowledge in order to determine which keywords to use! Likewise, Jamie's "questions of import" are great, but I know if I asked students to use them, the first thing they would do is Google the exact question, then complain that nothing came up:) 

 

I'd love to do this as a stand alone library lesson: a short introduction, then time to read a short online biography, choose the keywords to add, and discuss their findings. It certainly would help students become more thoughtful about their research!

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How Much of the Internet Is Fake? Turns Out, a Lot of It, Actually

How Much of the Internet Is Fake? Turns Out, a Lot of It, Actually | Digital Literacy in the Library | Scoop.it

Max Read writes: "How much of the internet is fake? Studies generally suggest that, year after year, less than 60 percent of web traffic is human; some years, according to some researchers, a healthy majority of it is bot."

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

Can we tell what's virtual and what's real? After highlighting fake news, fake businesses, fake content, fake numbers, Read notes: "Where does that leave us? I’m not sure the solution is to seek out some pre-Inversion authenticity — to red-pill ourselves back to “reality.” What’s gone from the internet, after all, isn’t “truth,” but trust: the sense that the people and things we encounter are what they represent themselves to be."  

 

Well worth your time!

 

 

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Introduction to Crash Course Navigating Digital Information #1

We love the internet! It's a wealth of information where we can learn about just about anything, but it's also kind of a pit of information that can be false or misleading. So, we're partnering with Mediawise and the Stanford History Education Group to make this series on Navigating Digital Information. Let's learn the facts about facts!

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

This is going to be a helpful series for our upcoming media literacy unit!

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Bad News

Bad News | Digital Literacy in the Library | Scoop.it
Drop all pretense of ethics and choose the path that builds your persona as an unscrupulous media magnate. Your task is to get as many followers as you can while slowly building up fake credibility as a news site.
Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

Fascinating way to look at disinformation! This game is more appropriate for high school and college students. There's an educator's worksheet that provides links to some excellent resources on each subtopic. 

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Why California's New Media Literacy Law for Schools Could Backfire

Why California's New Media Literacy Law for Schools Could Backfire | Digital Literacy in the Library | Scoop.it

Valerie Strauss writes: "California Gov. Jerry Brown just signed into law a bill intended to promote the teaching and learning of media literacy in public schools, making it one of a handful of states that require such instruction.

The California law requires the state Department of Education to help teachers by providing resources on the subject on its website by the end of 2019. The decision of who should get this instruction and how would be left to school districts."

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

Hmm, I see a big opportunity for library staff to step up! This law, which goes into effect in 2019, doesn't require school districts to provide this instruction. I think if we're not teaching digital and media literacy, we are failing our students and creating another gullible generation who share fake news stories as soon as they finish scanning the headline.

 

Sam Wineburg, the lead author of the Stanford study that showed how abysmally students did when distinguishing fact from fake on the Internet, is quoted in the article: "Forget that kids (and the rest of us) lack the patience to slog through lists of questions. There’s a larger problem. In an age of cheap templates, creating an official-looking Web page or listing a contact are features laughably easy to game. The last time a .org designation meant something was when dial-up modems were state of the art."  

 

Teaching students to read laterally, to determine who is behind the information on the page, is more important than providing a checklist that kids complete with little thinking.  And I was so happy to see the Wikipedia technique I share: mine the Wikipedia contents box for the external links, because they can be gold when looking for primary sources! 

 

It's time to throw out the acronyms (I'm looking at you, my beloved CRAB handout) and worksheets, and show students how to grapple with information using critical thinking strategies. 

 

 

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Sergei Skripal and the Russian disinformation game

Sergei Skripal and the Russian disinformation game | Digital Literacy in the Library | Scoop.it

Joel Gunter and Olga Robinson write: "A loosely-defined network of Russian state actors, state-controlled media, and armies of social media bots and trolls is said to work in unison to spread and amplify multiple narratives and conspiracies around cases like the Skripal poisoning. The goal is no longer to deny or disprove an official version of events, it is to flood the zone with so many competing versions that nothing seems to make sense." (Italics added)

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

A fascinating look into the Russian disinformation campaigns. In the past, a single version of disinformation was shared. Now, multiple sources provide multiple stories over multiple social media platforms. One expert observed that these campaigns mean a person who Googles for information finds so many conflicting versions of an event that they often give up searching, either accepting misinformation or just not following the story anymore. While this story focuses on the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skirpal, it's easy to see how the disinformation campaigns can be used to create confusion around the approaching US elections. 

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10 of the Most Useful Digital Age Skills Every Learner Needs

10 of the Most Useful Digital Age Skills Every Learner Needs | Digital Literacy in the Library | Scoop.it

Lee Watanabe-Crockett writes: "Digital age skills are skills for learning and for life. Here are some of the most versatile and useful ones you can encourage students to always work on."

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

We work on most of these in our library. I'm not convinced middle schoolers need to brand themselves, but we do talk about how to present your authentic self online. This article includes different sites to build each of the skills, which I appreciate. I'm always telling students the skill is what's important, not the specific site they use. 

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It's Time To Go Mobile While Teaching News Literacy

It's Time To Go Mobile While Teaching News Literacy | Digital Literacy in the Library | Scoop.it

Jennifer LaGarde and Darren Hudgins write: "In November 2019, The Pew Research Center released its findings related to the devices Americans use to access news. As in previous years, Pew found that news consumers overwhelmingly turn to their mobile devices, rather than to a laptop or desktop, to catch up on the news of the day. And yet, when we visit schools around the country to help teachers and librarians develop media literacy lessons, we find the exact opposite to be true. In school, the vast majority of news literacy instruction still takes place with the devices that our kids are least likely to use when they leave our buildings." (Emphasis added.)

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

Wow, think about that last line in the quote from Jennifer and Darren's article! I usually think librarians are the most likely to be teaching the most current technology, yet I would bet most of us teach media literacy using desktop examples. 

 

I can't wait to share this with my 8th graders during their research unit. Yes, when they're researching in class, they're on their Chromebooks, but I want to survey them to see how many do research on their phones outside of school. When we ask students to analyze sources for trustworthiness or bias, we must understand what they're looking at. 

 

 

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California Today: The Internet at 50: ‘We Didn’t See the Dark Side Emerging’

California Today: The Internet at 50: ‘We Didn’t See the Dark Side Emerging’ | Digital Literacy in the Library | Scoop.it

 

Jill Cowan writes: "On Oct. 29, 1969, in a windowless room at U.C.L.A. a message was sent to the Stanford Research Center from a very large machine.

It was supposed to be “login,” but only the first two letters transmitted. So, the message was, simply, “lo.”

“We had no idea — we had nothing ready, because all we wanted to do was to log in,” Leonard Kleinrock, one of the men who sent that message, told me last week. “But we couldn’t have asked for a more succinct, more prophetic, more powerful message than, ‘lo.’”


 
Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

Great article to share with students. The growth and uses of the Internet were unfathomable even to its creators. (Although I imagine everything as being commercialized by someone, so it's hard to believe none of these engineers thought of that!) I'd love students to interview grandparents to discuss the pre-Internet era: what's different about how we socialize, gather information, etc.? 

 

This quote  would be a good starting point for discussion:" And if everyone’s talking at an equal level, [Mr. Kleinrock]  said, it’s natural that extreme ideas would command the most audience." He also points out that  he told people a few years ago that the Internet was in its "disobedient teenage years" and that it would outgrown this. Has it? 

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The Making of a YouTube Radical

The Making of a YouTube Radical | Digital Literacy in the Library | Scoop.it

Kevin Roose writes: "Over years of reporting on internet culture, I’ve heard countless versions of Mr. Cain’s story: an aimless young man — usually white, frequently interested in video games — visits YouTube looking for direction or distraction and is seduced by a community of far-right creators.

Some young men discover far-right videos by accident, while others seek them out. Some travel all the way to neo-Nazism, while others stop at milder forms of bigotry.

The common thread in many of these stories is YouTube and its recommendation algorithm, the software that determines which videos appear on users’ home pages and inside the “Up Next” sidebar next to a video that is playing. The algorithm is responsible for more than 70 percent of all time spent on the site."

 

Photo by Szabo Viktor on Unsplash

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

I repeatedly tell my students about search engine and social media algorithms. We often talk about the rabbit hole of distraction when doing online research, especially when they're trying to find a video. Even so, I was stunned to read that 70 percent of YouTube views are via their recommendation algorithm. It can be concerning when you spend an hour or two watching every corgi video YouTube suggests on the sidebar, but it can be dangerous when students--or anyone else--soak up conspiracy theories, bogus wellness claims, etc. that viewers can easily be diverted to by the algorithm.

 

A quote from the article by Tristan Harris, a former "design ethicist" at Google that addresses this:

 

"There’s a spectrum on YouTube between the calm section — the Walter Cronkite, Carl Sagan part — and Crazytown, where the extreme stuff is. If I’m YouTube and I want you to watch more, I’m always going to steer you toward Crazytown.”

 

Instructing students about social media marketing should begin in primary grades. Some of the success of an anti-smoking campaign in Florida is attributed to teaching students about teen-targeted marketing campaigns. It's essential that we make students aware of the subtle and not so subtle ways that social media work to keep their eyes on their screens. 

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How to Be a Better Web Searcher: Secrets from Google Scientists

How to Be a Better Web Searcher: Secrets from Google Scientists | Digital Literacy in the Library | Scoop.it

Dan Russell and Mario Callegaro write: "Search engines are amazingly powerful tools that have transformed the way we think of research, but they can hurt more than help when we lack the skills to use them appropriately and evaluate what they tell us. "

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

A good overview to share with teachers and students. I've been sharing the concept of lateral searching with students this year. Several have reported how helpful it is when they're researching controversial topics, especially when they find blog posts at the top of their search results. They now look up the blog'a author before continuing to read the post itself. In many cases, they've found no information on that author, which makes them think twice about using that source!

 

 

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What Is Fake News?

What Is Fake News? | Digital Literacy in the Library | Scoop.it

Alison Caporimo writes: "Not all news is created equal, and now you can learn all about how to spot and how to stop fake news. From the term's true definition to websites that are notorious for the fake news coverage, this article has everything you need to know about fake news. Read on to understand how to determine fake news and how you can stop misinformation from spreading."

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

Good summary written for teens on what fake news and tips for spotting it.  (The  use of "WTF" in the second paragraph means I can't share it with my middle schoolers, alas.)

GwynethJones's curator insight, March 25, 2019 8:10 PM

 Alison Caporimo writes: "Not all news is created equal, and now you can learn all about how to spot and how to stop fake news. From the term's true definition to websites that are notorious for the fake news coverage, this article has everything you need to know about fake news. Read on to understand how to determine fake news and how you can stop misinformation from spreading."

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Don't get fooled: 7 simple steps - News Literacy Project

Don't get fooled: 7 simple steps - News Literacy Project | Digital Literacy in the Library | Scoop.it

"Use the steps and questions below to avoid being manipulated, fooled or exploited by viral rumors, misleading memes, impostor news sites and fake images."

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

A good set of questions to add to a media literacy toolkit for students.

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In France, School Lessons Ask: Which Twitter Post Should You Trust? 

In France, School Lessons Ask: Which Twitter Post Should You Trust?  | Digital Literacy in the Library | Scoop.it

Adam Satariano and Elian Peltier write: "France is coordinating one of the world’s largest national media and internet literacy efforts to teach students, starting as early as in middle school, how to spot junk information online."

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

In the past two weeks, I've had discussions with adults who turned to Twitter to check a news story. As a lifelong newspaper reader, I was baffled by this. We discussed how going directly to a news site would provide a less biased view, less of a self-created filter bubble than checking Twitter. I don't think I convinced them, as they countered with the fact that my news sources might be considered a filter bubble, too!

 

I do like Sandra Laffont's point about going back to the basics: "what’s news, who makes it, how do you check the sources." It certainly ties in with what we do daily in our libraries!

 

 

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Why Do People Fall for Fake News? 

Why Do People Fall for Fake News?  | Digital Literacy in the Library | Scoop.it

Dr. Gordon Pennycook and Dr. David Rand write: "What makes people susceptible to fake news and other forms of strategic misinformation? And what, if anything, can be done about it?

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

The key takeaway: "But this “rationalization” account, though compelling in some contexts, does not strike us as the most natural or most common explanation of the human weakness for misinformation. We believe that people often just don’t think critically enough about the information they encounter." [Italics added.]

 

Critical thinking is so vitally important. Why isn't it the basis of everything we teach? 

Gary M. James's curator insight, February 17, 2019 12:21 PM
Although this is not an article about book lists or selection processes for the library, I am still listing it here because its a good article detailing "fake news." I feel that in determining acquisitions we must be careful as to evaluate materials based on their authenticity. In short , I feel like we have to try to eliminate fake news within our media centers as much as possible. Or, better still, we need to teach our young adults how to spot "fake news" and how to determine credible sources.  
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Skim reading is the new normal. The effect on society is profound 

Skim reading is the new normal. The effect on society is profound  | Digital Literacy in the Library | Scoop.it

When the reading brain skims texts, we don’t have time to grasp complexity, to understand another’s feelings or to perceive beauty. We need a new literacy for the digital age writes Maryanne Wolf, author of Reader, Come Home

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

This is a fascinating article. And yes, I had to print it out to grapple with it. The implication that digital reading diminishes our ability to critically analyze text should give us all pause. As Wolf writes of this loss, "It incentivizes a retreat to the most familiar silos of unchecked information, which require and receive no analysis, leaving us susceptible to false information and demagoguery."  Please don't tl;dr this one! 

Matthias Depypere's curator insight, February 10, 2019 3:11 AM
Skim reading and its consequences
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Older People Are Worse Than Young People at Telling Fact from Opinion

Older People Are Worse Than Young People at Telling Fact from Opinion | Digital Literacy in the Library | Scoop.it

Alexis C. Madrigal writes: "Americans over 50 are worse than younger people at telling facts from opinions, according to a new study by Pew Research Center.

 

Given 10 statements, five each of fact and opinion, younger Americans correctly identified both the facts and the opinions at higher rates than older Americans did. Forty-four percent of younger people identified all five opinions as opinions, while only 26 percent of older people did. And 18-to-29-year-olds performed more than twice as well as the 65+ set. Of the latter group, only 17 percent classified all five facts as factual statements."

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

It would be an interesting discussion to pair this article with the coverage of the Stanford History Education group's research on students' inability to determine which online resources are credible. Obviously schools do a great job teaching about fact versus opinion. Now we need to step up our instruction on credible sources, using critical thinking skills. I'm placing my bet on the students--the future would be too bleak otherwise.

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The Disproportional Power of Anecdotes

The Disproportional Power of Anecdotes | Digital Literacy in the Library | Scoop.it

Shane Parrish writes: "As humans, we make decisions emotionally, and justify them rationally. And nothing helps us do both quite like the anecdote. It gives us the push we need to make the decision we want, and  data to feel good about it."

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

Fascinating article with so many points I'd like Shane to expand on. I'd love to read more about the impact of WEIRD beyond polling. For example, do those poll results affect educational policy decision, even though those polled are not representative of ALL students? (And I'm going out on a very short limb and assuming that the W could stand for White as well as Western.)

 

I'd also love to read about the impact of anecdotes on health decisions. I have an acquaintance who won't wear a seat belt because her brother survived a car accident because he got thrown clear of his truck. Other people still smoke because grandpa smoked a pack a day and outlived all his nonsmoking siblings. As Shane writes, these anecdotes give us "the data to feel good about [our decisions.]" How do we confront the emotional decision making with facts? Perhaps weaving facts into anecdotes of our own? Certainly this is another example of the power of storytelling! 

 

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Can You Spot the Deceptive Facebook Post? - The New York Times

Can You Spot the Deceptive Facebook Post? - The New York Times | Digital Literacy in the Library | Scoop.it

Keith Collins and Sheera Frenkel write: "Facebook has been plagued with disinformation posts placed by foreign operatives. Can you tell the difference between a real post and one designed to fool you?

Mary Reilley Clark's insight:

I doubt many of my middle schoolers use Facebook, but there are great examples here to show why critical thinking, finding multiple sources, and above all, not mindlessly sharing or liking things that appear in your feed are so important. I want these skills to become second nature to my students!

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