Ryan Lemay PES5091 Original Contribution

Ryan Lemay PES5091 Original Contribution

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  Empowering High School Students Through Digital MediaLiteracy Ryan Lemay American College of Education PES5091: Capstone Original Contribution Dr. Eyup Erdogan September 21st , 2025
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  Why does DigitalLiteracy Matter? According to a 2023 Pew Research Center Report, 95% of teens report having access to a smartphone at home (Anderson et al., 2023) Meanwhile, roughly 54% of people 18 to 24 report getting their news from social media and video networks (Newman, 2025) False information spreads much faster online with the ability to reach more people (Vosoughi et al., 2018) Civil Impact: Increased digital literacy could lead to an increase in civic participation (Kahne et al., 2012)
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  What is Digital MediaLiteracy? Goal Help students become more informed and responsible consumers and sharers of digital content Digital Media Literacy Applying media literacy skills to online platforms Media Literacy The ability to analyze and evaluate media
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  Key Challenges Students Face • Difficulties processinginformation and deciding what is credible (Nygren & Guath, 2019) Information Overload • A tendency to believe information that confirms preexisting views or opinions (Wang & Hong, 2023) Confirmation Bias • AI generated content such as “deepfake” images and videos are becoming more common on social media platforms Sophisticated Misinformation
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  Common Forms ofMisinformation Inaccurate or fictitious information purposefully being presented as factual (Orhan, 2023) Fake News Attention grabbing headlines or images that are misleading (Jung et al., 2022) Clickbait Digitally manipulated or synthetic media that shows people saying or doing things that never happened (Mustak et al., 2023) Deepfakes
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  How to ThinkCritically Online The SIFT Method (Kampen, n.d.) • Reflect on your existing knowledge of the topic and sources Stop • Investigate who created the content • What goals or objectives does the author have? Investigate the Source • What other coverage is available? Find Better Coverage • Where does the claim, quote, or media come from? • Are statistics or information being manipulated to support and agenda or author bias? Trace Claims, Quotes, and Media
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  Additional Skills and Strategies •Fact-checking Websites (Meuers, 2025) • Snopes.com: Fact-check rumors and viral posts • PolitiFact.com: Great for checking political claims and statements • Reverse Image Search • Google • Check authors credentials and publication dates • Identify emotional language and persuasion tactics (D’Errico et al., 2023)
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  Classroom Activity Fact orFiction? • Select 3 media posts for your students to analyze (1 real, 2 fake) • Separate students into groups of 3 or 4 to analyze the posts • Class discussion • What clues helped you decide which was credible and which were misinformation? • How could you verify your choices?
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  Why Students Need MediaLiteracy Skills • Builds critical thinking skills necessary for adult life • Prepares college bound students for future research requirements • Reduces risk of falling victim to online scams or emotional manipulation • Promotes responsible and active citizenship and civic participation
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  Resources for Teachers •https://newslit.org/ News Literacy Project • https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship Common Sense Media Digital Citizenship Curriculum • https://wqed.pbslearningmedia.org/subjects/engineering--technology/t echnological-literacy/digital-citizenship/?rank_by=recency PBS Digital Citizenship Trainings • https://www.inquirygroup.org/ Digital Inquiry Group
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  Moving Forward • Enhanceddigital media literacy training will continue to grow in importance as technology advances • Integrating media literacy into lessons regularly will aid your students as they explore social media and digital news platforms • Model fact-checking behavior for your students • Encourage discussion while promoting openness to new ideas
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  References • Anderson, M.,Faverio, M., & Gottfried, J. (2023, December 11). Teens, Social Media and Technology 2023. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2023/12/11/teens-social-media-and-technology-2023/ • D’Errico, F., Corbelli, G., Cicirelli, P. G., Sportelli, C., & Paciello, M. (2023). Profiling adolescents’ vulnerability to racial misinformation: An hybrid intervention aimed at promoting mediated intergroup contact. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2864 • Digital Citizenship. (n.d.). PBS LearningMedia. Retrieved September 21, 2025, from https://wqed.pbslearningmedia.org/subjects/engineering--technology/technological-literacy/digital-citizenship/ • Jung, A.-K., Stieglitz, S., Kissmer, T., Mirbabaie, M., & Kroll, T. (2022). Click me…! The influence of clickbait on user engagement in social media and the role of digital nudging. PLoS ONE, 17(6), e0266743. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0266743 • Kahne, J., Lee, N.-J., & Feezell, J. T. (2012). Digital Media Literacy Education and Online Civic and Political Participation. International Journal of Communication, 6(0), 24. • Kampen, K. V. (n.d.). Library Guides: Evaluating Resources and Misinformation: The SIFT Method. Retrieved September 21, 2025, from https://guides.lib.uchicago.edu/c.php?g=1241077&p=9082322 • Lesson Browse | Common Sense Education. (n.d.). Retrieved September 21, 2025, from https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship • Meuers, A. (2025, May 7). Question Everything: 6 Ways to Help Young People Spot Misinformation – National Youth Leadership Council. https://nylc.org/six-ways-to-help-young-people-spot-misinformation/
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  References Continued • Mustak,M., Salminen, J., Mäntymäki, M., Rahman, A., & Dwivedi, Y. K. (2023). Deepfakes: Deceptions, mitigations, and opportunities. Journal of Business Research, 154, 113368. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.113368 • Newman, N. (2025). Overview and key findings of the 2025 Digital News Report | Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2025/dnr-executive-summary • Nygren, T., & Guath, M. (2019). Swedish teenagers’ difficulties and abilities to determine digital news credibility. Nordicom Review, 40(1), 23–42. https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2019-0002 • Orhan, A. (2023). Fake news detection on social media: The predictive role of university students’ critical thinking dispositions and new media literacy. Smart Learning Environments, 10(1), 29. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40561-023-00248-8 • Vosoughi, S., Roy, D., & Aral, S. (2018). The spread of true and false news online. Science, 359(6380), 1146–1151. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aap9559 • Wang, D., & Hong, Y. (2023). Impact of perceived influence on confirmation bias in social media messages: The moderating effect of civic online reasoning. Asian Journal of Communication, 33(6), 529–546. https://doi.org/10.1080/01292986.2023.2261114