Beyond “Fake News”:
Updated Strategies in Digital Literacy, Misinformation and Bias Instruction
Davina Sauthoff, Utah State Board of Education K-12 Library Media Specialist
davina.sauthoff@schools.utah.gov ��Gretchen Zaitzeff, Canyons School District,
District Library Media Specialist
Learning Outcomes/Success Criteria
Participants will:
INFORMATION LITERACY
Information Literacy means to be competent at recognizing an information need and resolving the need by applying critical thinking skills and executing inquiry and research processes using competencies in other forms of literacy. ��To be information literate, a learner is competent at locating, accessing, analyzing, evaluating, using, creating and sharing information. These skills are aligned with Utah’s “Portrait of a Graduate” and are necessary for all, both students and the public.
Why is it important to
be informed?
�
How to find the facts
Understanding Types of Incorrect Information
The ability to access, evaluate and use
high-quality information �leads to �sound decision-making �which leads to �positive civic action.
Information
Decisions
Actions
Information
Decisions
Actions
Information
Decisions
Actions
Accessing and using
low-quality information �leads to �poor decision-making �which leads to �negative civic action.
Test Your Misinformation Susceptibility
“Polling found that younger adults are worse than older adults at identifying false headlines, and that the more time someone spent online recreationally, the less likely they were to be able to tell real news from misinformation.” �
-University of Cambridge Test Results
Fortunately,
the skills needed to evaluate information for accuracy can be taught and learned.
TO BE INFORMED, OUR COMMUNITIES NEED:
Access to Reliable, Credible, Verifiable
Information
Advantage
Connection
Influence
Knowledge
Power
Privilege
=
The Four Lenses for Detecting High-Quality Information
�
How to recognize misinformation
How does information make me feel?
Who benefits from your strong emotional reactions to online content?
2. Access
Different devices, Different reading experiences
Information looks different based on the device used to access it. -BBC News, UK Page, 9.26.23
Laptop: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk
Phone: BBC News App, UK page
3. Forensics
Investigating the evidence to discover who’s behind the information�
Essential Question
Considering what I already know about the world, �does this information make sense? Seem likely?
Lateral Reading: A Fact Checking Strategy
I received this text from a friend.
How do I help her figure out if this website is reliable?
Using lateral reading, what steps do I take to research this website?
Personal
Step 1: Google Search
Step 3: Wikipedia search
Legit or Scam?
Other Fact-Checking Tools
Learning Activity: Applying Common Sense
Learning Activity: Applying Common Sense
4. Motives
Why would people share things that are untrue?
Influencers want to be popular.
An MIT study found that some people are deliberately spreading false news while others are doing so unwittingly causing a two-part problem.
“False news is more novel, and people are more likely to share novel information. People can gain attention by being the first to share previously unknown (but possibly false) information…People who share novel information are seen as being in the know.”
Consequently, “We found that falsehood diffuses significantly farther, faster, deeper, and more broadly than the truth, in all categories of information, and in many cases by an order of magnitude,” says Sinan Aral, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and co-author of a new paper detailing the findings.
DISINFORMATION
MISINFORMATION
Russian Troll Promotes Counter Protests on Same Day in Texas Town
Example 1
WHAT IS THE MOTIVATION?
DISINFORMATION
MISINFORMATION
Russian Troll Promotes Counter Protests on Same Day in Texas Town
Example 1
WHAT IS THE MOTIVATION?
DISINFORMATION
MISINFORMATION
Students Post Fake Video of Eagle Snatching Child in a Park
Example 2
ource: YouTube
Source: ABC News (YouTube)
WHAT IS THE MOTIVATION?
DISINFORMATION
MISINFORMATION
Students Post Fake Video of Eagle Snatching Child in a Park
Example 2
ource: YouTube
Source: ABC News (YouTube)
WHAT IS THE MOTIVATION?
Veracity Authentication Systems Technology (VAST) monitors content from over 10 billion websites in 75 languages to track how content spreads online. Engineers at VAST discovered that disinformation campaigns are propagated in four key ways:
DISINFORMATION
MISINFORMATION
TikTok users post shaky videos with air raid sirens posing as Ukrainians under siege.
Example 3
WHAT IS THE MOTIVATION?
DISINFORMATION
MISINFORMATION
TikTok users post shaky videos with air raid sirens posing as Ukrainians under siege.
Example 3
WHAT IS THE MOTIVATION?
In Conclusion
Be the smartest person in the room!
Instead of influenced, be informed!
"Information literacy lies at the core of lifelong learning. Information literacy empowers people in all walks of life to seek, evaluate, use and create information effectively to achieve their personal, social, occupational and educational goals.
�It is a basic human right in a digital world and promotes inclusion in all nations. "
�-Alexandria Proclamation of 2005, International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
Questions?
Davina Sauthoff, Utah State Board of Education K-12 Library Media Specialist
davina.sauthoff@schools.utah.gov
Gretchen Zaitzeff, Canyons School District,
District Library Media Specialist
gretchen.zaitzeff@canyonsdistrict.org
Resources: Websites
Resource
This presentation was aided by the book:
“Developing Digital Detectives”
by Jennifer LaGarde and Darren Hudgins
Resources: YA and Picture Books
Resources: Professional Books
Resources: Readings
Domonoske, C. (2016, November 23). Students Have “Dismaying” Inability To Tell Fake News From Real, Study Finds. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/11/23/503129818/study-finds-students-have-dismaying-inability-to-tell-fake-news-from-real
O’Connor, C., & Weatherall, J. O. (2019). The misinformation age: How false beliefs spread. Yale University Press.
Wineburg, S., Breakstone, J., McGrew, S., Smith, M. D., & Ortega, T. (2022). Lateral reading on the open Internet: A district-wide field study in high school government classes. Journal of Educational Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000740
Thank you!