SCET Journal 2020

Prompting

Critical Thinking

more proficient readers are increasingly using online information to obtain their knowledge. A recent Stanford study showed that students at most grade levels lack the ability to determine fake news from real news (Wineburg, McGrew, Breakstone & Ortega, 2016). For example, some students seem- ingly confused “news” articles with actual advertise- ments on websites. Some were attracted to the high ranking of an information source on the web search results rather than the information source itself. Similarly, a recent Australian study examined young peoples’ news engagement practices (Notley, Dezuanni, Zhong & Howden, 2017, paragraph 1). The study sur- veyed 1,000 respondents aged 8 to 16. It found that one third of respondents could distinguish fake news from real news; another third could not make the distinction, and the remaining third were uncertain about their ability to make the distinction. Consistent with the findings of the US study, young Australians are consuming an enor- mous quantity of news online, but many do not critique the news or lack the skills to do so. Notwithstanding these studies, adolescents are fast outpacing their teachers’ knowledge and skills of dig- ital practices and online platforms (Skerrett & Bomer, 2011). In particular, young people engage in highly sophisticated literacy practices out of school (Black, 2008; Hagood, 2008) and, as previously noted, on the Internet (Black & Steinkuehler, 2009). For the past decade, the body of research known as new literaci es has harnessed data about young peoples’ online habits and identified essential skills, strategies, and dispositions for enabling students to successfully employ information and communication technologies (ICTs) in continually changing contexts that affect their digital lives. New literacies afford op- portunities for learners to use ICT to “identify import- ant questions, locate information, critically evaluate the usefulness of that information, synthesize informa- tion to answer those questions, and then successfully communicate the answers to others” (Leu, Kinzer,

server-access, of the archive of knowledge – from the first libraries of Alexandria to Google – human agency, self-determination, and freedom are put at risk (Luke, 2012, pp. 4–5). Luke (2012) implores educators to examine the curriculum and their pedagogical practices: “whose version of culture, history and everyday life will count as official knowledge” (p. 4). In a “post-truth” world, young people are skeptical about the “concept of objectivity.” They place their trust in public figures, Facebook, and blogs where facts are interchangeable with opinion, critique and commentary (Marchi, 2012, p. 258). Engendering in students a healthy skepticism of unfamiliar content, ideas or views in digital and tradi- tional media spaces requires thinking critically, in- formed by critical literacy theories and pedagogies that encourage learners to actively analyze texts to reveal if what they are reading has been tested (O’Byrne, 2012; 2017). A critical literacy perspective does not test or privilege information. For example, critical literacy poises the reader to consider an issue or topic in vari- ous ways, analyzing the information and being able to produce alternative or differing versions of what is true. Who is permitted to tell what kind of stories? What and whose stories matter in ELA classrooms? Whose stories, perspectives, identities, and experiences are represented in the media? These questions, posted by Keisha Green in an NCTE blog, go to the heart of critical literacy. What Do We Know about Online Learners? Today’s learners are skilled in accessing material online, although their technological proficiency does not match their ability to evaluate online information. Notably, students lack adequate online critical reading evaluation skills (Bennet, Maton, & Kervin, 2008; For- zani & Maykel, 2013) and fundamental reading skills to locate information online (Kuiper & Volman, 2008). Research about the nature and frequency of school Internet use suggests that proficient adolescent read- ers usually engage with social networks, texting, video and gaming. How older, more proficient readers use online information to construct meaning and develop new knowledge is largely unknown (Kervin, Mantei & Leu, 2018). International assessments [e.g. PISA (OECD, 2011) and ICILS (IEA, 2013)] confirm that older

Coiro, & Cammack, 2004, p.1572). Growing Critical Readers

Critical literacies are integral to new literacies (Leu, et. al., 2013). All texts – print and digital – are written for a specific purpose, which is not always self-ev- ident. Readers need critical literacy skills to filter what they understand and believe from texts. Read-

South Carolina English Teacher

22

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO THE TABLE OF CONTENTS