Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

You Deserve The Truth: Helping Students Understand The Causes And Consequences Of Fake News, Ngaire I. Smith, Heather Cyre

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Can dandelions cure cancer? Is Bill Murray running for President? Was a pizza place in New Jersey running a human trafficking ring? In this age of digital and social media it may be difficult for students to differentiate between authoritative information and fake news.

After a brief presentation on the history of fake news and its prevalence in social media, workshop participants (acting as an early college seminar class) will watch a video about the PizzaGate incident and discuss the phenomenon of fake news, why people create it, and why people share it. Next the class will develop a fake …

Who’S Evaluating The Evaluators? Cognitive Biases, Fake News, And Information Literacy, Jon C. Pope, Kim Becnel

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

In response to the increased attention to “fake news” and “alternative facts” as information challenges in the wake of the recent election cycle, librarians and educators have dramatically stepped up efforts to cultivate basic information literacy skills, especially prioritizing the careful evaluation of online sources of information. While these critical source evaluation skills are an essential component of functional information literacy, the recent emphasis on them is predicated on a model of communication that assumes that the readers of these online sources are capable—and desirous—of making informed, objective judgments about the credibility of an external information source. Rhetorical theories, however, …

"This Was Actually Fun!": Engaging Users In Conversations About Digital Literacy, Madisson Goldhawk, Erin Johnson, Lillian S. Rigling

Western Libraries Presentations

This interactive presentation highlights pop-up programming designed to improve 21st century digital literacies. The session includes an overview of activity development and reflections on its success. Participants will explore light-touch digital literacy games on their personal devices and take home tools to recreate similar programming at their library.

Examining Student Perceptions Of Their Knowledge, Roles, And Power In The Information Cycle, Lucinda Rush

Libraries Faculty & Staff Publications

This project report describes a collaborative effort between librarians, staff, local journalists and students at Old Dominion University (Norfolk, VA) to provide a venue for a discussion about ‘fake news’. Post-event questionnaire results are analysed to explore what students learned as a result of attending the event as well as student perceptions of their own understanding and ownership of the roles that they can play in the information cycle.