edWeb.net is excited to announce that the News Literacy Project will be sponsoring News Literacy, a free professional learning community on edWeb where educators can work together to develop their students’ civic knowledge and critical thinking skills when consuming news and information.
Twenty years ago it was easier to identify fake news. There were the tabloid papers in the grocery store checkout line and the sensationalized “news” programs that promised inside looks at celebrity lives. Now, between the number of online information sites and the proliferation of social media apps, plus near constant mobile phone use, determining a story’s credibility seems to call for advanced detective skills. In her edWebinar “Fight Fake News: Media Literacy for Students,” Tiffany Whitehead, School Librarian for the Episcopal School of Baton Rouge, says that’s exactly what we need to teach students. While today’s youth may be aware that not everything on the Internet is true, they don’t have the tools to evaluate accuracy and authenticity.
In this edWebinar, Peter Adams, Senior Vice President of Education at the News Literacy Project, provides an overview of the field of news literacy, including the most current trends and research, and offers concrete tools and strategies for addressing these skills in the classroom.