Teaching Media Literacy

Teaching Media Literacy

Yesterday, I participated in the ISTE EdTechCoaches PLN's monthly Twitter chat. The topic: Teaching Media Literacy in the Era of Fake News. It was moderated by PLN member Allison Thompson, @AllisonTEDU. It was a fantastic discussion and I'm anxious to share resources and ideas. 

Information Overload

How do you teach media literacy in the era of information overload? It takes some time, yet is very important. Students must know how to evaluate online sources and investigate sources. 

• @grahamict teaches students the CRAAP Test (Current, Relevant, Authoritative, Accurate, and Purpose of information). 
• @AllisonTEDU focuses on one thing, like looking at news literacy or evaluating an online source. She discusses ways to "trust but verify" with her students and how to investigate sources.
• @TitiAlvayay uses the RADCAB method to check the reliability of websites. 

Evaluating Bias

How do you teach students to evaluate bias without appearing biased yourself?

• I (@shoemap) suggested starting the exploration under the lens of commercialism. Ask questions such as "Does the site want to make money?" and "Is the site collecting my personal information for later use?" 
• @TitiAlvayay recommends finding out who the author is and thinking about what his/her intention might be to help uncover bias in the information. 

Escaping the Echo Chamber

In the digital age, it's very easy to avoid information we don't like. How can we work to become "un-siloed" and escape the echo chamber?

• @EvanOBrancovic suggests pulling facts from a variety of sourcs as a way to better understand different viewpoints (even those you disagree with) & could begin as an attempt to debate, yet result in getting the whole picture.
• @EvanOBrancovic also recommends a site called Factitious, which is a game to give students an easy way of looking at recent articles and practicing identify if they are real or fake. There are constant updates which makes it more credible in the eyes of students. 
• I shared an idea of students writing articles about sports events from the perspective of the winner/loser. 

Strategies and Resources

• @MrsMHenning shared one of her favorite curated list of resources from Teachers First on the topic of Media Literacy. 
• @EvanOBranovic's curated list of resources created for Media Literacy Week.
• @MrsMHenning recommends NewseumEd resources. You need to sign up for an account and it is free. 
• I (@shoemap) like the resources that can be found on CommonSenseMedia.
• @mrsbogacz reminds us of using Snopes to evaluate articles and memes with various statistics, as these are things that students will see all the time on social media. 

Precious Minutes at the Start and End of Lessons

I came across an Edutopia article titled The 8 Minutes That Matter Most by Brian Sztabnik that listed several simple ideas for engaging students and establishing a positive community of learners. These eight minutes that matter most occur during the beginning and ending of lessons. 

I'll highlight a few ideas that I think are very powerful and would be suitable to incorporate into lessons according to the Walled Lake Schools Instructional Framework.

Start of a Lesson: Activate prior knowledge, generate interest and create anticipation for learning

Strategy: Start with Good News

Take two minutes at the start of each lesson for sharing and celebrating good news. This will help create a safe space for students to get to know each other and take risks, which sets up a positive learning environment.  

Strategy: Write for Five Minutes

Kelly Gallagher says that students should write four times as much as a teacher can grade. Students need to write -- a lot -- if they are to improve. One way to achieve that is to start each day with an essential question that students must spend five minutes answering. If done day after day, it becomes ritualistic and builds stamina. 

There are seven defining characteristics of an essential question:

1. Open-ended--no single or correct answer
2. Thought-provoking -- content to spark discussion and debate 
3. Requires higher-order thinking such as inference, analysis, prediction
4. Ideas transfer across topics and disciplines
5. Raises additional questions to spark further inquiry
6. Timeless --could be revisited again and again

End of a Lesson: Check for Understanding

Strategy: Post it Power

Consider asking students to write down one thing that the learned from a classmate on a post-it note and stick it on a wall in the classroom on the way out the door. At the start of the lesson the next day, read the notes aloud. This will solidify the community of learners and validate class participation. 

Strategy: Exit Tickets

Use exit tickets as formative assessment to guide tomorrow's instruction. See this extensive list of exit ticket ideas by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe.