ISCI 761 Blog Post 2

    When examining this week’s readings and resources, I thought I at least had a grasp on these concepts individually.  However, as I really dug deeper into the meaning of information literacy, technology, and digital/media, I realized that in order to gain insight, I need to understand these terms as they intersect, not individually.  I also think that my initial perception of these terms is how most school districts view these concepts as well.  My district has been focusing on the “4 Cs” that are in the P21 framework for the last several years (Partnership for 21st Century Learning, 2015).  However, I never really see them mentioned in conjunction with one another. Also, when looking at our district’s website, they mention the state standards, but do not go into the P21 standards at all (Lexington-Richland School District Five, 2024). I know I’m supposed to be referencing them when creating lesson plans, in conjunction with the DoK (depths of knowledge) and the cognitive rigor matrix, but many of these skills should be used together in order to help support the 21st century learner (Hess, 2013). For example, I found this graphic below to accurately describe my sentiments, as it illustrates how the student outcomes intersect and how standards and assessments should support it (Partnership for 21st Century Learning, 2015). The support systems illustrated are what is regarded for student achievement. If we cannot look at all of these concepts collaboratively, we may be missing some key aspects of what a 21st century learner needs beyond school.

Image Description: P21 Framework of Student Outcomes pictured in a puzzle piece-like semi-circle feeding into the school support systems. 

    When thinking about preparing the twenty-first century learner for the future, I definitely agree that more should be taught when it comes to “fake news.” I learned so much from listening to the resources in this week’s module about the differences between misinformation and disinformation. I always assumed “fake news” was an all-encompassing title for what I now know is disinformation or the intentional use of deceptive false information (Bowman, 2022). My assumption most likely comes from the idea of news as “political weaponry” during elections (Gungor, 2017). However, I think it’s important to note how misinformation can evolve from the initial disinformation scattered about social media and the internet. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to debunk misinformation my students learned on TikTok (while “live Googling” the truth on the SmartBoard). It’s because they honestly think everything on the internet is the truth. I frequently wonder where they learned this misinformation about misinformation! So, I decided to do what my students do- Google it. I was surprised to see that most of what I found had to do with the connection between teen’s social media use and mental health. While this is an issue that is on the rise, I found it odd that there were very few articles that discussed the impact of misinformation on student learning. That’s why I find Clay Johnson’s “information diet” approach to be so important (Gungor, 2017). As a history teacher, I think I naturally tend to evaluate the credibility of sources or the perspective from which an article is written, as stated in the podcast (Gungor, 2017). What a powerful lesson it would be if we could teach our students to use this when they are consuming information outside of school! The podcast stated that “it’s the awareness of our ignorance that gives science its reliability” (Gungor, 2017). Science is always questioning itself, which is why it’s so reliable. If more people could approach all information in this way, the information on the internet would probably be far more reliable!

    The Liturgists podcast also mentioned how a librarian was initially going to “strike out” his book because he used the phrase “some studies show” without using footnotes. Then, she realized there was a notes section explaining the study and said she approved (Gungor, 2017). I feel like this anecdote accurately portrays how school librarians should discern information, in addition to teaching these strategies to students. As a future school librarian, I would like to do more lessons with students to teach them about news and media literacy. While I feel many teachers incorporate some aspects, such as the evaluation of products or the synthesizing of resources, I feel students need explicitly taught lessons by the school librarian (The Big 6,1987). I especially liked the Common Sense Media lessons because it breaks down media literacy in terms students can understand (Common Sense Education, 2022). Our school uses homeroom time to teach technology lessons. As a team leader, I’ll be suggesting incorporating some of these lessons into our homeroom advisory curriculum this year. Hopefully, it will help our students become more vigilant about using and consuming reliable information.

References

Bowman, J.D. (2022, May 13). Module 3 intro [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HWmTrsakfw

Common Sense Education. (2022). News and media literacy resource center. https://www.commonsense.org/education/news-media-literacy-resource-center

Gungor, M. (2017, March 7). Fake news and media literacy [Audio podcast episode]. In The Liturgists. Apple Podcasts.

Hess, K. (2013). Linking research with practice: A local assessment toolkit to guide school leaders. Dr. Karin Hess. https://www.karin-hess.com/cognitive-rigor-and-dok

Lexington-Richland School District Five. (2024). Office of Academics.    https://www.lexrich5.org/departments/office-of-academics

Partnership for 21st Century Learning. (2015, May). Framework for 21st century learning. www.p21.org

The Big6. (1987). Big6 Skills Overview. https://thebig6.org/