The recent Digital Pedagogy Lab emphasized the importance of Digital Literacy. We may think we are savvy in the world of digital literacy on the internet and now have the responsibility to teach this literacy to students. But, how savvy are we? I know a few stories had me fooled.
Go through Snopes’ “Hot 50” list and before looking at the answer give the viral stories a “C’mon that’s ridiculous”, or a “Hmmm, that could be true if…”, or a “Sure, that has to be true.” Then check your answer and see how susceptible you can be when having to hack through the weeds of digital fabrication.
Good luck
The library has some great tips on sniffing out those “too good to be true” viral stories and more: see http://libguides.ufv.ca/EvaluatingSources/FakeNews (and check out the other tabs on the guide, as well). And if you’re looking for some advice or ideas for helping your students improve their digital literacy, the UFV librarians are a great resource. Contact your department’s liaison librarian (there’s a list here: http://www.ufv.ca/library/contactus/liaison-librarians/)