Unit3Boyd2019


 


 

Unit 3: Boyd's "Literacy: Are Today's Youth Digital Natives?'"

 

Collected Teaching Materials for Unit 3

 

Background on Boyd & her book

 

Main Text

 

Other Texts that Can be Used for Unit 3 

 

Videos of Boyd and other Writers discussing Digital Natives

 

 

Entering the Conversation: Digitial Literacy and Fake News


Are You Smarter than a Stanford Student?

Use your critical digital literacy skills to determine which of  these two sites seem more credible.

Compare the web sites for two organizations, the American College of Pediatricianshttps://www.acpeds.org/ and the American Academy 
of Pediatrics
https://www.aap.org/  Before googling these sites, start by examining them. Which seems more reliable, credible or 
authoritative, or do they both seem reliable, credible and authoritative? 

Now use your search skills to determine which seems more reliable, 
credible or authoritative. What do you find? (You could consider who links to the sites to help with this). How did you make your determination?

  1. https://www.acpeds.org/
  2. https://www.aap.org/en-us/Pages/Default.aspx

 

Skim this article. What  do you think?

 

Now look at the site's "about" page." What clues make you think credible (or not)? 

 

 

Fake News/Evaluating Sources Project

 

Texts and Teaching Materials

 

Debates

 

Analyzing Online Material Shared at House Intelligence Committee

November 1, 2017, the House Intelligence Committee released a few of the 3,000 political ads published by one troll farm linked to the Russian government between 2015 and 2017. They also identified two popular twitter users named Jenna Abrams and Pamela Moore, as Russian trolls.  They were some of the 2,750 fake Twitter accounts created by employees at the Internet Research Agency, a “troll farm” in  St Petersburg. Their accounts, @Jenn_Abrams and @Pamela_Moore13 have been deleted, but many tweets have been saved and can be accessed on tweetsave.com.

Fourteen sample ads were shared, along with some of the purchasing information for each ad.


Ads and tweets for analysis

 

Videos and news articles that provide background

 

 

Tools and Resources for Evaluating Fake News

 

 

Sample Web Sites for Analysis 

  1. Natural News http://www.naturalnews.com/  and  http://www.naturalnews.com/About.html
    “Fluoride and Why You Need to Avoid It.” By Tru Foods Nutrition, Natural News Blogs, August 14, 2017. 
    http://www.naturalnewsblogs.com/fluoride-and-why-you-need-to-avoid-it/ 

  2. BlackMattersUS https://blackmattersus.com/
     
  3.  Consevative Daily Post  https://conservativedailypost.com
     
  4. Global Research http://www.globalresearch.ca/
    Putin is Taking a Bold Step against Biotech Giant Monsanto
    http://www.globalresearch.ca/putin-is-taking-a-bold-step-against-biotech-giant-monsanto/5526691
    Let’s Save the World – Trump Must Go! http://www.globalresearch.ca/lets-save-the-world-trump-must-go/5603920 
  5. Veterans Today http://www.veteranstoday.com/

    "Busted: Idlib Gas Attack Fakers Murder 68 Kids in Bus Slaughter" http://www.veteranstoday.com/2017/04/17/busted-idlib-gas-attack-fakers-murder-68-kids-in-bus-slaughter/
    "US Produced Sarin Gas Used in Syria" http://www.veteranstoday.com/2014/04/08/296525

  6. Infowarshttps://www.infowars.com/
    "Elite Stage Race War to Enslave America"   https://www.infowars.com/exclusive-elite-stage-race-war-to-enslave-america/  
    Antifa Creates Violence To Provoke Alt-Right Into Aggressive Reaction 
    https://www.infowars.com/antifa-creates-violence-to-provoke-alt-right-into-aggressive-reaction/ 

 

 

Fake News Repositories 

  

Fake Sites with Debunking Guide

These fake sites can be used for analysis. They come with model "debunkings."

  1. Army Sniper Takes Out Neighbor’s Home Intruder From Bedroom Window. Here is how the story was debunked 
  2. Over 30,000 scientists say 'Catastrophic Man-Made Global Warming' is a complete hoax and science lie. Here is how it was debunked. For Revkin's comments 
    (and similar sites) see this sit
    e.
  3. Check the "about" link at bottom of global warming story page. http://www.naturalnews.com/About.html It says, "Website Affiliations. Natural News stories 
    are frequently copied and posted by other alternative news organizations, including Infowars.com, DailyPaul.com and a variety of other sites spanning subjects 
    as diverse as the environment, liberty, self-sufficiency and vaccines." The fact that Infowars is a major distributor of the site is a red flag.

 

Sample Fake News Stories from before and after the 2016 Election

A) What does the story or post say?  B) Does it seem credible? Why or why not? C) How can you tell? What criteria or tools did you use to determine credibility? 
Work through some critical digital literacy exercises.  Start with reverse image searches on the pictures on the stories. Examine who links to the site and where the 
site's links go. Who owns the site - what can you find out?  

  1. Private Email Server story
  2. Amnesty Plans Story about how Obama and Clinton are promising amnesty to non-citizens who vote
  3. Pope Endorsement (copy saved at archive.org. Images missing. Ask students to examine links, esp."About Us").  Story appeared on Facebook feeds like this
  4. Benton Strategy Group Leaked Report, "Salvage" Plan 
  5. Clinton Adviser Scandal (skim report, but look at the first 10 comments - what are they like? 
  6. Twitter posts by Alex Jones on Podesta "Scandal"  
  7. Now: are protests against Trump staged and full of paid protesters? (retweeted by president Trump)
  8. This timeline of key moments in fake news by the FirstDraftNews organization does a wonderful job tracking fake news stories and has links to key articles.   
  9.  The "Pizzagate" story (claims hacked emails show child sex ring operating out of Pizza parlor that hosted dinners for democratic party leaders.) A related
    fake news story led to a twitter war between Jake Tapper of CBS news, and General Flynn's son (and perhaps the strangest interchange ever seen between 
    a chief of staff and a journalist.) David Graham, claims "The 'Comet Pizza' Gunman Provides a Glimpse of a Frightening Future" (The Atlantic Monthly, Dec 5, 2016).