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#FakeNews

    When I think of Fake News, it will always remind me of my Dad yelling "Fake News" absurdly loud to any unrealistic or exaggerated comment any of my family members say. But Fake News is so much more than this quirky comment I often hear in my household. Fake News is essentially the 2022 term for propaganda. An article by TRU Libraries shares why fake news is more common now than ever by stating, "It is primarily because fake news is easy to create, spreads rapidly and is easily consumed in our 24/7 news cycle.". A fake, unrealistic, and exaggerated accusation. An example of this would be outrageous magazine headlines one would see as they check out at the grocery store. "Kim Kardashian West and Kayne West BACK Together", "Prince Harry's Secret Wedding", "90's Sitcom Friends is BACK". Although Friends coming back, truly would make my life complete, this is #FakeNews. I joke about this fake news headline, but in reality, fake news can be extremely dangerous as it is a false narrative that one with little digital literacy may fall for.

    Fake News is a relatively new term but newer than it comes, Digital Literacy. Digital Literacy is a professional term that means having the skills to understand the digital world. The course EDTC 300, has been amazing for increasing my digital literacy. Even though this is a very simple fact, before this course, I had no idea QR Code was an acronym for Quick Response. This little fact is one of the many I have learned throughout this course that has expanded my digital literacy. More digital literacy knowledge often leads to an easier ability to filter out fake news. As I stated before, fake news can be very dangerous when one believes it. Some dangers may include scams or hackers. One with less digital literacy may not understand that opening a link to send money to their long-lost cousin that sent them an email could lead to scamming or hackers. When one has strong digital literacy, they understand to delete this email immediately. Unfortunately, digital literacy is not a universal thing, but the best way to teach these skills is to share digital literacy knowledge with others. 

   Digital literacy should be taught in the classroom. An article by ED Can Network shares why Digital Literacy should be taught in school by stating, "Given this malicious intent, students must learn to approach news and information with a critical eye in order to identify intentionally misleading sources. Teachers, therefore, play a crucial role in ensuring that their students develop the skills to decipher the many streams of information available to them.". This should be done at a younger age than one might think. Throughout the past few years, society has seen younger and younger children using social media. Children should be taught about digital literacy as soon as independent technology is introduced into the classroom.  For example, if a student is creating a research project, they should have the knowledge to comprehend what is factual vs. what is fake news. In my future classroom, I will have a lesson that shared digital literacy knowledge if my students are using technology (which they most likely will be). Digital literacy will be a term we see grow rapidly within society as social media and technology continue to evolve.     

Some Resources to Help with Teaching Digital Literacy:

- Website and Article by LibGuides shares an awesome Youtube Video about Fake News. Check it out: How to Spot Fake News

- Through some searching of the web in regards to fake news, I found an article that would be an awesome guideline for teaching young children (or my grandma) about fake news to expand their digital literacy. I have linked it here: National Geographic Fake News Article. 

- Fake News Print Out

fake news

Chat soon!
- Miss G


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