"The Importance of Critical Thinking in the Age of Fake News""The Importance of Critical Thinking in the Age of Fake News"

Where and when should we begin to talk about fake or misrepresented news/information?

As soon and as often as humanly possible since we live in a world where, sadly, we currently lack a set of facts broadly accepted by the entire populace regardless of religious and/or political affiliation. To be more specific, I would actively teach it at the same time one teaches basic research skills. The importance of finding legitimate and unbiased Primary and Secondary sources has always been part of teaching research skills - long before the Age of Fake News - so the advent of rampant dis and misinformation simply adds both another layer and fresh level of urgency to the matter. To say nothing of generative AI which has poured whole tankards of oil onto the fire. As noted by Thomas: "The definition of information literacy has become more complex as the resources and technologies have changed." Point of order, this is the biggest understatement I have read in a while, but the fact of it remains.

How would you go about addressing media literacy skills with your students?

I have found that students often respond best to the truth. Simply put, I tell them directly that countless political and religious forces are fighting a never-ending battle to try and influence their opinions both because they believe they, as children, are easier targets, but mostly because the opinion of students are the opinions of the future - of the rising generation. I tell them point blank that in some States I could be fired for giving this speech (a fact which always shakes them), and to be wary of any unknown source of information because people will go to great lengths and pay huge sums of money so as to generate media which sways them, the students, to their way of thinking. A bit blunt, to be sure, and told with a dramatic flare, but - judging by my students faces when I am done - it has never once failed to make the desired impression.

The Kletter article notes: “'We can harness their interest in creating content to help them think about the choices that content creators make when creating information that is suspect or false,' LaGarde said. 'We can help kids get inside the minds of people who create news and information.'” I agree, but telling students that they are the targets of people who want - and will take great pains - to fool them is another means of harnessing both interest and making them take it seriously. Kids pride themselves on their intelligence, and so never take the fact of people trying to take advantage of them philosophically.

If you are in a classroom or library, do you currently teach media literacy skills?

Being a Library Paraprofessional, not particularly. The above lesson/speech is one squeeze in whenever I am asked to cover a very brief homeroom lesson regarding social media, information safety, and AI.

 

Sources

• Thomas, Nancy Pickering, Sherry R. Crow, Judy A. Henning, and Jean Donham. Information Literacy and Information Skills Instruction: New Directions for School Libraries.
• Kletter, Melanie. “The Importance of Critical Thinking in the Age of Fake News.” School Library Journal, 23 Mar. 2020, www.slj.com/story/the-importance-of-critical-thinking-in-the-age-of-fake-news
• American Association of School Librarians. National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries. ALA, 2018.

The wisdom of Umberto Eco

Umberto Eco, who owned 50,000 books, had this to say about home libraries:

"It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticize those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones."

"There are things in life that we need to always have plenty of supplies, even if we will only use a small portion. If, for example, we consider books as medicine, we understand that it is good to have many at home rather than a few: when you want to feel better, then you go to the 'medicine closet' and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for that moment. That's why you should always have a nutrition choice!

"Those who buy only one book, read only that one and then get rid of it. They simply apply the consumer mentality to books, that is, they consider them a consumer product, a good. Those who love books know that a book is anything but a commodity."

One absolutely wonderful thing about being a school librarian is that reading and "going over your inventory" is the basically the same thing.

Windows and Mirrors

"We read books to find out who we are. What other people, real or imaginary, do and think and feel... is an essential guide to our understanding of what we ourselves are and may become." — Ursula K. Le Guin

Reflections on Research Skills

The library should play a large role in teaching research skills. After all, libraries have since time-out-of-mind been the place where people go to conduct research and would be still had that little thing called the internet not been invented. Yet even with the internet, libraries are still the natural place to teach research for the obvious reason that the place is literally filled with books on countless topics coupled with both primary and secondary sources. There one can teach students how to browse non-digital sources as well as open doors of interest to other research topics they might not have considered. Honestly writing feels a little like describing why a laboratory is the best place to learn science; yes, one could learn it elsewhere, but nothing compares to learning something in the place designed with that purpose in mind.

What role does the library play in teaching research skills? Less than it used to, for a certainly. Not long ago most school libraries had rows of computers or an adjacent Computer Lab which teachers would bring their classes in for the sole point of co-teaching research alongside the librarian if not letting the Library Teacher themself run the show. I am hardly old, and this was the case for me all though high school. Now students carry chromebook laptops with their binders and online research is often taught in the classroom with the Library Teacher going there. Almost a complete reversal, and while it makes scene to a degree since chromebooks have made old-style Computer Labs obsolete, classroom teachers are seldom as trained in various research methods as Library Teachers.

A library is where adventures live.

Exploration of the ethical use of information

Why is an exploration of the ethical use of information relevant in a course on reference materials and research? A better question, I think, is why on earth would it not be. We live in the heart of the Digital Age, where information - and, sadly, disinformation - is easier to get than ever. A mere moment on Google calls up countless sources of all kinds on any given topic, and this does not even touch the rise of AI which has opened up and scrambled a host of new questions regarding ownership, copyright, and ethics. In such a world as this the exploration of the ethical use of information is not unlike studying the moral compass and rules - both written and otherwise - that govern the wild west. Rules/laws which all ages must learn.

So, what are the copyright issues in k-12 schools? Primarily, I think, a lack of focus both on them specifically and on creative work generally. As Karen Lagola says in her article How to Teach Copyright and Fair Use to Students, “students often best understand the importance of copyright and fair use if you contextualize it. Celebrate them as creators who produce original work every day; emphasize that they own their work and that it is deserving of respect and protection.” This sounds obvious, but so often students are taught simply to seek, learn, and memorize the Right Answer. Educators teach them to reflexively avoid plagiarism with phrases like "write/say it in your own words" coupled with, in middle school and above, "remember to cite your sources" alongside stern copyright lectures about the trouble you get in for plagiarism - but the latter two, again, are typically primarily experienced once one reaches middle school; K-4 teachers tend to neglect it. Yet many teachers, I think, also neglect celebrating students as creators. This hidden issue is critical because if we put a little less emphasis on the Right Answer gilded with "write/say it in your own words" and more on encouraging students to develop their own original, creative opinions and works, the better they will understand and appreciate the importance of copyright and the ethical use of information because, if nothing else, teachers can ask how they would feel if someone else used and claimed ownership over their original creative works.

Works Cited:

Lagola, Karen. “How to Teach Copyright and Fair Use to Students.” Edutopia, George Lucas Educational Foundation, 9 April. 2021, https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-teach-copyright-and-fair-use-students. Accessed 19 Sept. 2024.