Digital Literacy

You are here

Home    /    Digital Literacy

Does Digital Literacy Require Open Social Media?

November 6th, 2017
by Anonymous
0 comments

Teachers and principals are increasingly advocating that schools unblock social media sites in the interest of teaching digital literacy. Derek McCoy, a North Carolina middle-school principal, says restrictions should be lifted despite risks because people learn from mistakes and "cannot be governed by fear." Many educators feel that learning how to behave online responsibly and safely, a concept known as digital citizenship, requires access to social media tools in schools.

If you are wondering how pervasive the blocking of social media is in schools, you should know that currently in New York City, if an educator wants to use YouTube or other blocked sites in the classroom, they have to fill out a form, get approval from the principal, and send the request to the city’s Department of Education. The process may seem arduous but actually is rather lax when compared to other districts, where the entire district must agree to block or unblock a website across all its schools.

Do you know how social sites are handled at your school? If sites are unblocked there is a danger of more cyberbullying and other bad actions by students. However, many educators would like to be more in control of when social media can used. As many teachers point out, students use these sites freely at home and in other settings, and the only way they are going to learn to use them responsibly is to use them.

Kids and Social Media Contracts

October 26th, 2017
by aaylward
0 comments

The Children’s Commissioner for England and an English law firm have teamed together to release guides, sorted by age group, for the lengthy and jargon-filled terms and conditions of social media sites. The Commissioner has criticized Instagram for its 17-page, 5,000-word terms and conditions. While some critics have replied that there are reasons that the term sheets are quite long, as very difficult concepts have to be explained, most people would still like to have those terms explained in everyday language rather than legalese especially when trying to explain these terms to their children. While the terms of use on many social media sites are different in England than the US, parents may find these guides useful for their overall discussion about the need to read and understand these terms when signing up for a new service and knowing what a person’s rights – young or old -are under these contracts.

Bill Proposed to End Anonymity for Political Social Ads

October 24th, 2017
by aaylward
0 comments

New York State Senator Todd Kaminsky has proposed a bill that would mandate any political ads shown on Facebook or other social sites to name the person or organization that purchased them. "Not another political ad should run on social media without voters knowing exactly who paid for it," he says. This follows the release Facebook made to congressional investigators of over 3,000 ads bought by a Russian entity to interfere in U.S. politics and the 2016 presidential election. Twitter has pledged to follow suit. The revelation about the source of those ads, and the lack of transparency in who posts them, certainly adds another issue to cover for parents in any discussion of digital literacy.

“Fake News” – Advice on How to Combat It From a Media Literacy Expert

August 9th, 2017
by aaylward
0 comments

The term "fake news" has highlighted media literacy "in a way that nothing has before," asserts Michelle Ciulla Lipkin of the National Association for Media Literacy Education. A new survey also shows that nearly everyone is guilty of sharing fake news at one time or another. In a Q&A on the PBS Newshour site, Lipkin fields questions on the topic and offers advice for teachers and parents to help keep themselves from falling victim to fake news stories. Ciulla Lipkin’s first bit of advice? Stop lumping all dubious content into one category called fake news and instead help kids understand the role of bias in the media. 

Kids Also Need Data Literacy

July 17th, 2017
by aaylward
0 comments

If you see a number or statistic included in a news story, do you find you are more likely to believe that the information is true? Librarians have found many people consider numerical data or graphics to be more compelling when reading news. Now, many libraries are advocating the teaching of data literacy – the ability to understand, generate, and use data. This skill covers everything from being able to sort through the results of a survey to being able to understand the meaning of a complicated graph or chart. It also includes the ability to critically evaluate data and visualizations.

If you want to discuss data literacy with your children, check out tools such as Mentimeter, Socrative, and Poll Everywhere, which allow you to collect responses on the spot and generate visualizations that represent the information graphically.

Easy-to-use infographic tools such as Infogram and Piktochart can be used for projects that involve advocating opinions or conclusions based on data and other storytelling. These tools make creating a compelling infographic straightforward through a combination of intuitive features and online tutorials. The more you know about how data is collected, illustrated and interpreted, the better prepared you and your kids will be to question data and interpretations attached to news stories and scientific presentations.

Kids Also Need Data Literacy

July 17th, 2017
by aaylward
0 comments

If you see a number or statistic included in a news story, do you find you are more likely to believe that the information is true? Librarians have found many people consider numerical data or graphics to be more compelling when reading news. Now, many libraries are advocating the teaching of data literacy – the ability to understand, generate, and use data. This skill covers everything from being able to sort through the results of a survey to being able to understand the meaning of a complicated graph or chart. It also includes the ability to critically evaluate data and visualizations.

If you want to discuss data literacy with your children, check out tools such as Mentimeter, Socrative, and Poll Everywhere, which allow you to collect responses on the spot and generate visualizations that represent the information graphically.

Easy-to-use infographic tools such as Infogram and Piktochart can be used for projects that involve advocating opinions or conclusions based on data and other storytelling. These tools make creating a compelling infographic straightforward through a combination of intuitive features and online tutorials. The more you know about how data is collected, illustrated and interpreted, the better prepared you and your kids will be to question data and interpretations attached to news stories and scientific presentations.

Making Kids “Internet Awesome”

July 14th, 2017
by aaylward
0 comments

Parents have a new tool from Google to help children learn about online safety and digital citizenry. Google's recently announced their "Be Internet Awesome" program that revolves around five core Internet principles. The tool includes educational resources and an online game called Interland, which features four lands through which young gamers come up against phishers, hackers, bullies, and over-sharers — those who reveal too much information about themselves online.

Google and partners also created a bunch of resources for teachers and a video series for parents, called the Be Internet Awesome Challenge, which is designed to make “talking about online safety fun and accessible”. Be Internet Awesome is the latest in a series of initiatives by Google to promote the Internet as a safe and positive place for everyone. In April, Google-owned YouTube launched Internet Citizens, a series of workshops aimed at educating teens in the United Kingdom on how to combat issues like fake news, echo chambers, and offensive speech.

Making Kids “Internet Awesome”

July 14th, 2017
by aaylward
0 comments

Parents have a new tool from Google to help children learn about online safety and digital citizenry. Google's recently announced their "Be Internet Awesome" program that revolves around five core Internet principles. The tool includes educational resources and an online game called Interland, which features four lands through which young gamers come up against phishers, hackers, bullies, and over-sharers — those who reveal too much information about themselves online.

Google and partners also created a bunch of resources for teachers and a video series for parents, called the Be Internet Awesome Challenge, which is designed to make “talking about online safety fun and accessible”. Be Internet Awesome is the latest in a series of initiatives by Google to promote the Internet as a safe and positive place for everyone. In April, Google-owned YouTube launched Internet Citizens, a series of workshops aimed at educating teens in the United Kingdom on how to combat issues like fake news, echo chambers, and offensive speech.

Instagram, Snapchat and the Mental Health of Teens

June 13th, 2017
by aaylward
0 comments

A survey done in the UK by #StatusofMind, part of the Young Health Movement and Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH), indicates that overuse of the more image driven apps such as Instagram and Snapchat may be affecting the mental health of young people. While YouTube came out as having the most positive impact of all the well-known social media, Instagram and Snapchat came out in the study of 1,479 teens and young adults as fostering feelings of inadequacy and anxiety among youths who engage often with them. Experts commenting on the study reminded both professionals working in the field of teen mental health and parents that “it is important that we have checks and balances in place to make social media less of a wild west when it comes to young people’s mental health and wellbeing.”

Instagram, Snapchat and the Mental Health of Teens

June 13th, 2017
by aaylward
0 comments

A survey done in the UK by #StatusofMind, part of the Young Health Movement and Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH), indicates that overuse of the more image driven apps such as Instagram and Snapchat may be affecting the mental health of young people. While YouTube came out as having the most positive impact of all the well-known social media, Instagram and Snapchat came out in the study of 1,479 teens and young adults as fostering feelings of inadequacy and anxiety among youths who engage often with them. Experts commenting on the study reminded both professionals working in the field of teen mental health and parents that “it is important that we have checks and balances in place to make social media less of a wild west when it comes to young people’s mental health and wellbeing.”

Pages