You have probably heard of the 2016 Stanford study that established students' inability to assess the credibility of internet resources. But are you familiar with their 2017 follow-up study that put Phd historians, high achieving college students, and fact checkers in a race to assess online sources? The fact checkers came out on top. Their strategy? Reading laterally rather than vertically (Spector). The fact checkers read less but were able to check sources more quickly by opening multiple browsers, "seeking context and perspective" from other sites (Spector).
I am including here two free resources from Ithaca's Project Look Sharp, an outreach program for media literacy education. The first is a series of questions that will help your students to evaluate resources and will give them a starting point for lateral reading. The second is a poster that you can display on your classroom wall or place in table groupings. Would you like a laminated color copy? Just ask.
For more digital citizenship resources, you can access the Digital Citizenship Committee's October Newsletter here.
Spector, Carrie. "Stanford Scholars Observe 'Experts' to see how they Evaluate the Credibility of Sources Online." Stanford Graduate School of Education. 24 October 2017. ed.stanford.edu/news/stanford-scholars-observe-experts-see-how-they-evaluate-credibility-information-online.
(Smore formatting limitations impact citations).
