Levin, K., 2020. The Remedy For The Spread Of Fake News? History Teachers. [online] Smithsonian Magazine. Available at: <https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/remedy-spread-fake-news-history-teachers-180961310/> [Accessed 6 December 2016].
Source 1: Article
Summary:
This article talks about how the internet can be potentially a good and bad source for people to learn about their history. This article quoted another article saying that they had their child had an assignment on the civil war. On the internet, he found a website that contained false information about how there were black Confederate soldiers. What some historians discovered is that the website was made by the sons of confederate veterans to try to help them distance their history from slavery. On the other hand, the internet can also be a great place for finding out about history. At the end of one paragraph, Levin talks about how with the internet he can introduce his students to lesser-known historical figures that people normally wouldn’t find in textbooks. Another reason that the internet can be a good place to learn about history is that people can do their own research for as long as you want. If you find yourself researching online, then double-check to see if the source they used is credible or not.
Reflection:
I agree with author Levin’s opinion on the subject. For people that don’t know how to do research on the internet properly, it can be very dangerous to them because false information can lead to unnecessary problems in the future. To go back on the example I used in the summary if enough people believed that there were black Confederate soldiers then there could be a lot more people that the confederacy did nothing wrong. This can lead to even more racist problems in America.
Quotablels: “‘It is not intended to pose an alternative truth,” writes author Neal Gabler, “as if there could be such a thing, but to destroy truth altogether, to set us adrift in a world of belief without facts, a world where there is no defense against lies.'”
Source 2:Video
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/media-literacy-can-help-students-discern-fake-news
Summary:
This video on PBS discusses how educators, media literacy advocates, and legislators solve the problem of discerning fake news. Pbs news had correspondent Kavitha Cardoza travel to a public school in Seattle Washington to see how the third-grade history Teacher Niamh O’Connell was teaching her kids about fake news. One way is that she had her students analyze the words used to make it seem like it was better than it actually was. The reason Niamh wants to teach her students so young is so they hopefully won’t give in to future or present propaganda.
Educators, media literacy advocates, and legislators are working together to pass laws to have schools teach about media literacy. Kavita Cardoza talks with Media literacy advocate Claire Beach about why it should be taught in all schools across the U.S. Clair Beach “When they’re using their phones, they may know how to make something work, but they don’ have the ethical piece ‘ the emotional intelligence piece. It’s wilderness out there for some kids.” What their end goal is that they want every state to teach media literacy.
Reflection: This is a very good thing to be talked about and pushed in today’s society. I want as many people as possible to be aware of this. With people learning about media literacy it can help against potentially extremist leaders that we may face in the future. The more people know, the harder it is for citizens to be controlled, and the faster that change would happen.
Quotables:
“Niamh O’Connell: They soak up everything around the I think it’s important for them to be able to control the interpretations that they hear and see every day, instead of the interpretations may be controlling them.”
Source 3:Journel Excerpt
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e20c70a7802d9509b9aeff2/t/5e67d80c1f56514c5e955d31/1583863822075/Misinformation+in+the+Info+Age.pdf
Summary:
Authors Erica Hodgin and Joe Kahne wrote this journal to share how teachers can help students make the right choices online while researching. They talk about the idea of teaching kids how to detect misinformation online to protect themselves. Erica Hodgin and Joe Kahn also discuss some of the problems with civic media literacy being funding, finding a way to have this information available for lower-income neighborhoods, political bias, and how they teach the best way to teach the subject. The very small amount states that teach civil media literacy have found that it does make a change! According to a nationwide study that they found there was a 26% increase in finding inaccurate information online. The biggest problem in this is having available in low-income neighborhoods. Most of the classes are to higher-income areas that have a lot of extra programs. Another big problem in getting information would be personal biases. Personal Bias is how a person views the world and what they think is right or wrong. When people find information that doesn’t prove their worldview they might disregard it as fake and move on. It’s gonna take a lot of work from educators and lawmakers to create but the more people know about it the better.
Reflection: I like this journal excerpt because it is professional and it has some new information that I wasn’t thinking about. Anyone can think of a solution to problems but what I don’t a lot of is actual plans and strategies to bring solutions to life.This goes into great detail about the potential problems, For example, finding a way to have a course available for everyone.If we create a program that only benefits the top 10% of people in this country then the other 90% percent is at a severe disadvantage. Personally,I would want in the next 10 years for a solution so that the next generation of people can learn about civic media literacy
Quotables:”Second, we argue that metacognition is
necessary to become aware of one’s biases
as well as to develop and cultivate a commitment to accuracy”
Source 4:Blog post
Summary:
This blogging website based in the UK. There was a post that talks about media literacy and the 3 problems that come with it. The first one being promotion. This means that there is a lot of people that don’t know how to share this information with as many citizens as possible. The second problem the article talks about is the government in the UK. The government in the UK isn’t helping schools at all about media literacy. This is one of the biggest problems because at the end of the day you need the government’s help to make sure that laws are passed to get this to every school. The third problem is that we need teachers that know to teach media literacy. We would have to train a lot of new teachers on this subject. This would take a really long time because that would also mean that the course would also need to be made in a sufficient amount of colleges to learn from.
Reflection:
This Blogpost reminded me that this is going to be a lot less easy said than done. What I cannot agree more on is the fact that the government doesn’t want to help with teaching about media literacy. This makes me think that the government in the UK doesn’t want its people to be smart and educated about media literacy.”While the Government is reluctant to revise the curriculum, there is evidence that shows that it should. A recent report by the National Literacy Trust found that only 2% of primary and school children know how to spot misinformation.”.
This may be a little ironic about misinformation but the post doesn’t have any details on the author. It doesn’t show a name or a face so i cant search them up. The only reason I shared this is that it has multiple links to official tests and other papers on the same subject. This is some problems i have with the article but it is overall very well put together in my opinion. I would ask the author of the article why he didn’t put his name on the post or maybe add a background of education to the blog to make more people believe it.
Quoteables:”There are growing concerns about misinformation within our democratic societies, which rely on a well-informed citizenry. While misinformation has always existed, in the digital age it can spread far more quickly and widely, and how to stop it is a big question.”
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