SCET Journal 2020

Prompting

Critical Thinking

examples of fake news and how quickly it spreads” (Golding, 2017, paragraph 14). CRAP Testing One critical thinking tool that teachers find helpful is the mnemonic CRAP (Orenic, 2008), which scaf- folds for students the four elements when evaluating information, offline and online: C urrency, R eliability, A uthority and P urpose/point of view. How to use CRAP is detailed in an Appendix (Mitchell, 2017) featuring Wikipedia. Until recently, Wikipedia has suffered a bad wrap, with teachers advising their students to disregard it as a credible source. In fact, media specialists report that Wikipedia is one source teachers can use to help build students’ referencing and critical thinking skills in evaluating information online. Concluding Thoughts Almost imperceptibly, fake news is becoming more palpable and invasive in our digitally-driven lives. To navigate the influx of fake news and misinformation in a post-truth world will require the critical thinking skills of a discerning reader. More than ever, young people will need to build a healthy skepticism of codes and practices governing the spread of infor- mation online. Their teachers will need to become “agents of their students’ learning,” building oppor- tunities for powerful literacy instruction in online and offline contexts to empower students in becoming “agents of change” with the ability to critique truth in a post-truth world (ILA, 2018, p. 3). Arguably, educating young people to be responsi- ble and discerning consumers of news and informa- tion in a post-truth world must be part of a futures solution. The reality of a post-truth world is unclear, yet it is possible in time that “young people’s capacity to engage as well-informed citizens may be jeopar- dized by their inability to critique notions of truth” (Clary et al, 2018).

There seems to be no real checks to the erosion of cultural and political systems that sanction fake news and misinformation to quickly infiltrate the wid- er community. Critically, students need to be encour- aged to participate in a wider socio-political conver- sation about the role of social media in spreading misinformation online and influencing the beliefs of its readers. Middle level teachers are reported to have “encouraged experimentation with social media in order to help students better understand how quickly posts spread; some have opted to discuss Figure 2. Detecting fake news stories https://www.news.com.au/world/test-your-news-sense-with-our- fake-news-quiz/news-story/e2da6dde92e0146e1241d05fbd2fadefare) A PC movement in the UK called for “Father Christmas” to be given the gender-neutral moniker “Person Christmas.” Was this FAKE NEWS or REAL NEWS? FAKE NEWS This story went viral in the lead-up to Christmas, but it was just a fun yarn cooked up by UK social news website UNILAD. There were in fact no “gender activists” calling for Father Christmas to be renamed in a more “gender-inclusive” way. A cavity as big as a Boeing aeroplane was found in the Great Pyramid of Giza this year. Was this FAKE NEWS or REAL NEWS? REAL NEWS Archaeologists made the discovery in November, using imaging technology similar to X-rays. The 30-metre chamber has not yet been accessed, and its purpose — if it even has one — remains unclear.

2018/2019

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