Civic Online Reasoning

Summary

This video highlights the challenges of evaluating the reliability of online information, especially among young people. It critiques outdated digital literacy approaches and introduces a more effective method used by fact-checkers, called lateral reading. The Stanford History Education Group’s Civic Online Reasoning (COR) curriculum, developed in partnership with several organizations, empowers students to assess online content critically. The curriculum teaches students to research a site’s credibility by consulting other sources, helping them make informed decisions and avoid misinformation. Ultimately, the aim is to prepare students for active, informed participation in democracy.

Takeaways

• 😀 Young people often get their information through digital devices, but this information overload can be overwhelming.
• 😀 Trustworthy information is critical to a functioning democracy, but current approaches to digital literacy are often outdated and ineffective.
• 😀 Slick website designs, error-free content, and lack of banner ads can give a false sense of reliability, as these features can be easily manipulated.
• 😀 Many students have flawed assumptions about what makes a website reliable, such as relying on top-level domains or the first search result.
• 😀 Even digital natives (students) often lack the skills to evaluate online content, struggle to distinguish ads from news stories, and have trouble identifying website authors.
• 😀 A 2014 study by the Stanford History Education Group found that middle school through college students struggled with basic online content evaluation.
• 😀 Fact-checkers use a strategy called lateral reading, where they leave a site to research its credibility by opening new browser tabs to gather more information.
• 😀 Students often waste time on unfamiliar sites without investigating who is behind the content, unlike fact-checkers who first seek external information.
• 😀 The Civic Online Reasoning (COR) curriculum was developed based on expert strategies, designed to teach students to evaluate online information critically.
• 😀 The COR curriculum is flexible and can be integrated into different subjects, with materials that are effective and have been rigorously peer-reviewed.
• 😀 The goal is not to turn students into professional fact-checkers but to equip them with easy-to-master skills that help them avoid common mistakes and make informed decisions.

Q & A

What is the primary concern addressed in the video script?

The video addresses the overwhelming amount of information available online and the challenges in determining which sources are trustworthy, particularly for young people and students.

How does the video describe current digital literacy approaches?

The video describes current digital literacy approaches as outdated and ineffective, especially those relying on lengthy checklists of questions, which often do not help people effectively evaluate online content.

What is a common misconception among students regarding website reliability?

Many students mistakenly believe that the top-level domain of a website (the three letters at the end of a URL) or the first search result is always reliable, which can lead to flawed assumptions about a site’s trustworthiness.

What key strategy do professional fact-checkers use to evaluate websites?

Professional fact-checkers use a strategy called 'lateral reading,' where they leave the site they are evaluating to research its reliability by opening new tabs and checking other sources about the website's credibility.

How do students generally approach evaluating unfamiliar websites?

Students tend to waste time on unfamiliar websites without first investigating who is behind the site, unlike professional fact-checkers who verify the site's credibility by consulting other resources.

What is the Civic Online Reasoning (COR) curriculum?

The COR curriculum, developed by the Stanford History Education Group in partnership with MediaWide, the Poynter Institute, and the Local Media Association, is designed to teach students how to evaluate online information by using fact-checkers’ strategies.

How flexible is the COR curriculum?

The COR curriculum is flexible and modular, allowing educators to integrate lessons across different subjects and choose lessons based on their specific teaching needs.

What evidence supports the effectiveness of the COR curriculum?

Research conducted in real classrooms, which has been rigorously peer-reviewed, shows that the COR curriculum is effective in improving students' ability to evaluate online content and avoid common errors.

What is the goal of the COR curriculum?

The goal of the COR curriculum is not to turn students into professional fact-checkers, but to equip them with practical skills to avoid common errors in evaluating online information, ultimately helping them make informed decisions.

What is the expected impact of teaching students to identify reliable sources?

When students learn to distinguish reliable sources from untrustworthy ones, they are less likely to be manipulated and are better prepared to make informed decisions, especially when voting and engaging in society.