{"id":40944,"date":"2017-10-17T12:32:25","date_gmt":"2017-10-17T19:32:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=40944"},"modified":"2017-10-17T12:32:25","modified_gmt":"2017-10-17T19:32:25","slug":"three-strategies-help-students-navigate-dodgy-online-content","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/three-strategies-help-students-navigate-dodgy-online-content\/","title":{"rendered":"Three strategies to help students navigate dodgy online content"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nA recent\u00a0Stanford University Report<\/a>\u00a0revealed that students\u2019 abilities to distinguish between questionable and valid online content needed work.<\/p>\n

In one example cited in the report, researchers set high school and university students a task to evaluate the credibility of information found on the\u00a0MinimumWage.com<\/a><\/em>\u00a0site. Only 9% of high school students and 6% of university students could identify the site was actually a front for a right-wing think-tank.<\/p>\n

The lack of critical judgement displayed by high school and university students in this example is, as the report\u2019s authors identified, a challenge that\u2019s\u00a0bigger than fake news<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t just affect young people, either. In analysing the issue, the problem is not so much how we educate to identify hoax sites, as generally these are low frequency and quickly identifiable. The real challenge is how we educate people, both young and old, to critically evaluate the perspectives, aims and purposes of a website. In short, how do we help people distinguish between fact and opinion?<\/p>\n

Here are three strategies based on the findings of the\u00a0Stanford Report<\/a>\u00a0to help navigate the online information minefield.<\/p>\n

1. Get off the website<\/strong><\/h4>\n

A traditional approach to educating about these challenges has been conducting \u201cwebsite evaluations\u201d using a checklist. This usually involves judging the reliability of a site based on the information it contains, such as a named author, the publication date, domain name, and so on.<\/p>\n

However, this approach underestimates how sophisticated and deceptive the internet has become. Instead of a vertical checklist approach, web users need to interact laterally. That involves getting off the website and searching for other information that can provide clues as to the validity and balance of information it contains. For example, thoroughly researching sites\u2019 authors may reveal their political alignments, if they are funded by another person or organisation with particular agendas, and so on. Accurate answers to such questions will most likely only be found off the website.<\/p>\n

2. Use a site\u2019s reference list<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Another good strategy is to go straight to the site\u2019s reference list, if one is available. If no reference list is provided, it may well be a good reason to dig deeper.<\/p>\n

3. Identify adjectives<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Adjectives describe how something feels, looks, sounds and acts. They indicate the tone or mood of the message and suggest to readers how they should respond to the content of the site. A savvy web user can identify adjectives, think critically about how these encourage them to view the content of the site, and then evaluate the compatibility between the message itself and the effect of how the message is communicated.<\/p>\n

These are just a few practical tips. Above all, readers should cast a more critical eye over information they use from the web, to make sure the knowledge built from it is trustworthy and accurate.<\/p>\n

The myth of the \u201cdigital native\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cDigital native\u201d was a buzz term of the early 2000\u2019s, used to define young people born into a digital world. According to the architect of the\u00a0\u201cdigital native\u201d narrative, Marc Prensky,<\/a>\u00a0if you were born before 1980, you were known as a\u00a0\u201cdigital immigrant\u201d<\/a>. Digital immigrants allegedly struggle with the technical domain that digital natives find so natural.<\/p>\n

However, this narrative promoted an \u201cus\u201d versus \u201cthem\u201d divide and did little to further our understanding of how young people interact with online information. The native generation may well be good at\u00a0flicking between Facebook, Twitter and Instagram whilst texting<\/a>\u00a0their best friend about what\u2019s happening on those sites, but the acts of \u201cliking\u201d or \u201cfriending\u201d seldom involve making critical judgements.<\/p>\n

It could be argued that young people\u2019s saturated use of social media actually works against building critical thinking capabilities, as their interaction with the information is generally at a low level such as (re)tweeting, or simply claiming or making a positive or negative response.<\/p>\n

We also need to remember that people born pre-1980 are not necessarily bad with technology. Time has exposed the \u201cdigital native versus digital immigrant\u201d narrative to be little more than popular folklore. Even Prensky has backed away from the debate, and now considers we should concentrate on building something he calls\u00a0\u201cdigital wisdom\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Building \u201cdigital wisdom\u201d, the ability to select accurate and balanced online information and use it productively to construct robust and well-informed perspectives and knowledge, should be the goal for education at all levels.<\/p>\n

Author Bios:<\/strong> Kim Wilson is a Lecturer in History Education and Garry Falloon is a Professor of Digital Learning both at Macquarie University<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A recent\u00a0Stanford University Report\u00a0revealed that students\u2019 abilities to distinguish between questionable and valid online content needed work. In one example cited in the report, researchers set high school and university students a task to evaluate the credibility of information found on the\u00a0MinimumWage.com\u00a0site. Only 9% of high school students and 6% of university students could identify […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":40945,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[10987],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-40944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-change","tag-online-content"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThree strategies to help students navigate dodgy online content - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/three-strategies-help-students-navigate-dodgy-online-content\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Three strategies to help students navigate dodgy online content - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A recent\u00a0Stanford University Report\u00a0revealed that students\u2019 abilities to distinguish between questionable and valid online content needed work. 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