What is media & informational literacy & how is it used in instructional design
Information is more accessible today than it has been in any time in the history of the world. The creation of the internet, smart devices, applications, and artificial intelligence gives learners instantaneous access to what seems to be unlimited information. With this much information at learners’ fingertips, the question becomes how reliable the information is and how the information can be used to benefit the learner. Information literacy is the tool learners use to sift through the acquired information and determine what is trustworthy and ignore what is inaccurate or bias (American College of Education, 2023).
Information has been disseminated to learners in many different formats throughout time. In the digital world that we live, media distributed through different digital platforms is referred to as new media. Social media is one of the main ways younger generations obtain their information. This presents a challenge for young learners as the information they view, and potentially believe, could be inaccurate or cause them harm. The lack of information literacy in younger learners can lead to the misuse of information or plagiarism in their work. It is important for instructional designers to inform learners of this and provide resources to educate them on this topic. The acronym SIFT (Stop, Investigate, Find, Trace) is one technique used to determine if information is credible or not (Research Guides: Fake News and Information Literacy: The SIFT Method, n.d.). There are several free sites students and teachers can access to learn the importance of this topic.
Resources
American College of Education. (2023). DL5713 Digital Age Learning Environments: Module number One [Information Literacy]. Canvas. https://ace.instructure.com/courses/1862011/external_tools/118428
Research Guides: Fake News and Information Literacy: The SIFT Method. (n.d.). https://researchguides.uoregon.edu/fakenews/siftLinks to an external site.
Information has been disseminated to learners in many different formats throughout time. In the digital world that we live, media distributed through different digital platforms is referred to as new media. Social media is one of the main ways younger generations obtain their information. This presents a challenge for young learners as the information they view, and potentially believe, could be inaccurate or cause them harm. The lack of information literacy in younger learners can lead to the misuse of information or plagiarism in their work. It is important for instructional designers to inform learners of this and provide resources to educate them on this topic. The acronym SIFT (Stop, Investigate, Find, Trace) is one technique used to determine if information is credible or not (Research Guides: Fake News and Information Literacy: The SIFT Method, n.d.). There are several free sites students and teachers can access to learn the importance of this topic.
Resources
American College of Education. (2023). DL5713 Digital Age Learning Environments: Module number One [Information Literacy]. Canvas. https://ace.instructure.com/courses/1862011/external_tools/118428
Research Guides: Fake News and Information Literacy: The SIFT Method. (n.d.). https://researchguides.uoregon.edu/fakenews/siftLinks to an external site.