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RECOMMENDED

Resources

Mickey Angel T. Cortez. November 7 , 2020

Downloadables

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1. 10 QUESTIONS FOR 

FAKE NEWS DETECTION

​Inevitable instances occur when you refer to the current news and events in your academic submissions. Besides, it is most likely that the internet has rendered the newspapers obsolete in your household. Staying updated on the news through online sources is the norm now. This checklist from The News Literacy and Checkology will help you spot fake news and additional information red flags. Try your best to apply the reminders they included at the bottom of the page.

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2. Understanding and Addressing the Disinformation Ecosystem

This collection of fifteen conference papers from a 2017 workshop attended by academics, journalists,

fact-checkers, technologists, and funders in Pennsylvania. The papers tackled the following:

  • information disorders such as misinformation and disinformation

  • Information literacy

  • What roles does the academe play in curbing information disorders

  • Roles of social media sites in information disorders

  • Global implications of information disorders and fake news in society

Each paper takes about 20 minutes to read, and all will widen and deepen your perspective and cognizance of fake news and information disorders.

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3. Importance of Information Literacy skills for An Information Literate Society

A research paper by Prasanna Ranaweera, a Senior Lecturer from the National Institute of Library & Information Sciences at the University of Colombo. He goes in in-depth about

Information  Literacy and analyzes its elements, concepts, critical areas, and models. More importantly, it draws a relationship between information literacy, independent and lifelong learning, which will contribute to your understanding of the significance of information literacy in how you learn things.

4. The Media and The Literacies: Media Literacy, Information Literacy, and Digital Literacy

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Literacy in the media and information are usually conflated into one as Media and Information Literacy (MIL) in virtue of how closely related the subjects are. Since various media forms communicate myriad of information and messages, it is also essential that you develop media literacy aside from information literacy.

 

This journal article by Tibor Koltay, a professor at the Department of Information and Library Studies of Szent István University, mainly media literacy and how it correlates to information literacy and digital literacy. Head over to pages 215-219 to acquire the gist of how the author situated information literacy among other literacies.

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5. Evaluating the Quality of Online Information

In addition to the interactive checklist in Finding High-Quality Information Online, this short guide from the Western University of Health Sciences offers more comprehensive criteria for evaluating textual information. Each criterion (e.g., authorship, publisher, point of view, knowledge of the literature, accuracy, and currency) has a list of more questions in assessing information.

On The Web

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1. 8 Best Fact-Checking Sites for Finding Unbiased Truth

I discovered the link to this article from The University Library, University of the Philippines Diliman’s Facebook page. They described the link as “information literacy tools.” Feel free to explore each site and judge how useful and accurate they are in fact-checking and debunking fabricated stories online.

2. Critically Analyzing Information Sources: Critical Appraisal and Analysis

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​This guide by Cornell University Library lists down two sets of criteria that will aid your critical analysis of information. One for the source and content. The criteria for evaluating an information source include the author, date of publication, edition or revision, publisher, and journal title. On the other hand, the content must be evaluated based on its intended audience, objective reasoning, coverage, writing style, and evaluative reviews. Each criterion has a set of guide questions that will help you assess the information you found. Also included are additional tips on evaluating sources.

3. Media and Information Literacy

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United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is the earliest proponent of Media and Information Literacy in 2007. According to the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education, "MIL covers all competencies related to information literacy and media literacy that also include digital or technological literacy. It focuses on different and intersecting competencies to transform people’s interaction with information and learning environments online and offline" (2019, "Media and Information Literacy", par. 2).

 

UNESCO's website is an excellent starting point for you to comprehend what makes MIL so significant to your roles as a student and member of the digital society. Explore the related links on the right panel of the webpage and the publications at the bottom for you to develop more context about UNESCO's role and mission towards achieving a media and information literate society.

4. 7 Propaganda Techniques for Students to Understand

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Propaganda techniques in traditional media have been existing since the dawn of the industrial revolution. With the advent of the information highway due to the internet's popularization, these techniques perpetuate the online spaces of information. Therefore, it is essential for you to understand propaganda and how it is incorporated into mass media and online content, especially those which aim to influence, gain votes, and garner profits. 

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This webpage discusses seven propaganda techniques: Glittering Generalities, Name Calling/Trash Talking, Plain Folks, Bandwagon, Testimonials, Card Stacking, and Transfer. Each propaganda is elaborated by the most popular examples. 

Final Note

I hope the content of this module will contribute to your success as an online learner. Equipped with the right mindset and set of principles, the internet is a boon to inquisitive information seekers like you and me. You cannot inform others without being informed first, so being information literate must start from within. Remain to be curious, skeptical, and hungry for details. The advantages of being an individual who is aware and critical of online information should not remain at a micro-level; in other words, merely beneficial for yourself alone.

 

Exploit your awareness to prevent others from accessing online content that reek of information disorders. Reporting or tagging posts as false once proven can be beneficial to society at large. Therefore, as scholars who are being trained to be critical and "woke" of fake news and hyperbolic political and commercial propaganda, we have a responsibility to fact check and report publicly available posts not just for ourselves but for the sake of those who easily fall prey to misleading information. Be unapologetic to expose the inaccuracies, whether intentional or unintentional, and call out the unethical divulgence of information regardless of its accuracy. These are concrete ways of contributing to a healthy society, alongside improving the quality of information that reigns. Always remain grounded on this civic duty in pursuit of the common good. 

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References

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  • UNESCO  Institute for Information Technologies in Education. (2019, January 27). Media and Information Literacy. UNESCO IITE. https://iite.unesco.org/mil/

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  2020 by Mickey Angel  T. Cortez

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