Twitter, Facebook and other prominent new social and online media platforms have a very different structure to any free press vehicle we have seen in the modern world. There is no third party editing process by a recognized and respected media brand (which would include fact checking and a professional editorial review). Content “as is” is simply shared among a multitude of users. Respected traditional news outlets have also endured criticism and hardships. Competition from the new web companies has challenged them in a way that, according to the Pew research center, “goes far beyond the financial side, to the very core elements of the news industry itself.”
How does one speak credibly without ‘the filter of the Fake News,’ how do we judge who is telling the ‘truth,’ and most important for our article today, how do we teach our children what they should believe in a new era of fake news?
Our Global Teacher Bloggers are pioneers and innovators in fields such as technology integration, mathematics coaching, special needs education, science instruction, and gender equity. They have founded schools, written curricula, and led classrooms in 16 different countries that stretch across every populated continent on earth. These teachers empower and enrich the lives of young people from nearly every background imaginable. This month they share their thoughts and solutions to the fake news epidemic:
Jasper Rijpma (@JasperRijpma), based at the Hyperion Lyceum in Amsterdam, shares a Martin Luther King assignment to illustrate how he helps his students find reliable information on the internet. “I teach them to evaluate why some information can be subjective, by studying the motives of the persons behind the published information.” Read More.
The biggest mistakes educators make when teaching about fake news? Vicki Davis (@coolcatteacher) says firstly that fake news lessons should be “lecture-based,” secondly using “irrelevant examples that are easy to detect as fake,” and thirdly using “old stories that have so many search results that it doesn’t represent the real world.” Her suggestions for use in your classroom tomorrow? Read More.
“Like the United States,” writes Jim Tuscano (@jimtuscano), “the Philippines had been thrown into frenzy when, during the recent 2016 National Elections, different unreliable websites started posting articles aimed to discredit candidates of opposing parties.” Jim notes that teaching kids to be critical of what they read is not easy but applying the “rule of three” is a good place to start. Read More.
“Fake news is not a bad thing,” writes Shaelynn Fransworth (@shfarnsworth), who believes the phenomenon provides “teachable moments for educators across the globe,” and especially the important conversations in which students “understand the value of fake news in the age of information.” Read More.
“Prepare students for the real world instead of continuously protecting them from it in the little bubbles we have in our communities,” writes Craig Kemp (@mrkempnz) in Singapore, who shares his “five ways to teach kids how to navigate “Fake News” as consumers and producers.” Read More.
“Overall, the Internet can be a powerful tool,” writes Nadia Lopez (@TheLopezEffect), “however, we must make the time and plan to teach our children how to fact check the information they will come across on the web.” Check out Nadia’s helpful tips from her own practice. Read More.
While teaching kids to think critically in the information age can seem like a “monumental task,” Carl Hooker (@mrhooker) recommends this Stanford University study which “shows a variety of activities shared with high school students to determine whether or not a news story is real or not.” Read More.
“Media education is more important than ever,” writes Maarit Rossi (@pathstomath), who shares Finnish schools’ tradition of “News week,” a collaboration between schools and the press that is “one of the biggest media education events in the whole of Finland.” Read More.
“Children look to the authority figures in their lives for guidance,” writes Joseph Fatheree (@josephfatheree). To help teachers with the “real” job of helping students “sift through vast amounts of information,” “validate sources,” and “form their own opinions,” Joe offers 4 classroom strategies. Read More.
“Students need to read more, and not just for pleasure, but also for exposure to the human condition,” writes Pauline Hawkins (@PaulineDHawkins), who believes people “cannot be critical thinkers when they have limited knowledge and limited experiences.” Read More.
“We will never be able to completely shield our learners from all that is misleading and inaccurate in the media,” writes Elisa Guerra (@ElisaGuerraCruz) in Mexico, “so we better start teaching them how to outsmart the many ones out there who, for any reason, want to dumb them down.” Read More.
“We teach staff and students to question whatever they are told,” writes Miriam Mason-Sesay (@EducAidSL) in Sierra Leone, “asking themselves what the evidence is, looking for corroboration or contrasting or apparently contradictory information and to seek for reasons for different perspectives, to realise that biases exist in so much that is presented as fact.” Read More.
The Top Global Teacher Bloggers is a monthly series where educators across the globe offer experienced yet unique takes on today’s most important topics. CMRubinWorld utilizes the platform to propagate the voices of the most indispensable people of our learning institutions – teachers.
(Photo is courtesy of CMRubinWorld)
Top Row L to R: Adam Steiner, Shaelynn Fransworth, Pauline Hawkins, Kazuya Takahashi
2nd Row L to R: Elisa Guerra, Jasper Rijpma , C.M. Rubin, Carl Hooker, Warren Sparrow
3rd Row L to R: Nadia Lopez, Joe Fatheree, Craig Kemp, Rashmi Kathuria, Maarit Rossi
Bottom Row L to R: Jim Tuscano, Richard Wells, Abeer Qunaibi, Vicki Davis, Miriam Mason-Sesay
Join me and globally renowned thought leaders including Sir Michael Barber (UK), Dr. Michael Block (U.S.), Dr. Leon Botstein (U.S.), Professor Clay Christensen (U.S.), Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond (U.S.), Dr. MadhavChavan (India), Professor Michael Fullan (Canada), Professor Howard Gardner (U.S.), Professor Andy Hargreaves (U.S.), Professor Yvonne Hellman (The Netherlands), Professor Kristin Helstad (Norway), Jean Hendrickson (U.S.), Professor Rose Hipkins (New Zealand), Professor Cornelia Hoogland (Canada), Honourable Jeff Johnson (Canada), Mme. Chantal Kaufmann (Belgium), Dr. EijaKauppinen (Finland), State Secretary TapioKosunen (Finland), Professor Dominique Lafontaine (Belgium), Professor Hugh Lauder (UK), Lord Ken Macdonald (UK), Professor Geoff Masters (Australia), Professor Barry McGaw (Australia), Shiv Nadar (India), Professor R. Natarajan (India), Dr. Pak Tee Ng (Singapore), Dr. Denise Pope (US), Sridhar Rajagopalan (India), Dr. Diane Ravitch (U.S.), Richard Wilson Riley (U.S.), Sir Ken Robinson (UK), Professor Pasi Sahlberg (Finland), Professor Manabu Sato (Japan), Andreas Schleicher (PISA, OECD), Dr. Anthony Seldon (UK), Dr. David Shaffer (U.S.), Dr. Kirsten Sivesind (Norway), Chancellor Stephen Spahn (U.S.), Yves Theze (LyceeFrancais U.S.), Professor Charles Ungerleider (Canada), Professor Tony Wagner (U.S.), Sir David Watson (UK), Professor Dylan Wiliam (UK), Dr. Mark Wormald (UK), Professor Theo Wubbels (The Netherlands), Professor Michael Young (UK), and Professor Minxuan Zhang (China) as they explore the big picture education questions that all nations face today.
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C. M. Rubin is the author of two widely read online series for which she received a 2011 Upton Sinclair award, “The Global Search for Education” and “How Will We Read?” She is also the author of three bestselling books, including The Real Alice in Wonderland, is the publisher of CMRubinWorld, and is a Disruptor Foundation Fellow.
Follow C. M. Rubin on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@cmrubinworld
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