Hodson on teaching children how to navigate misinformation online

Digital literacy expert Assoc. Prof. Jaigris Hodson published an article in The Conversation Canada on the importance of teaching children digital literacy skills to navigate misinformation.

Here is an excerpt:

Most public schools now teach students how to code, but we are not teaching students how to identify their own key triggers for misinformation or the organizational incentives for misinformation spread. As a result of these missing information literacy skills, our children may grow into adults who are not prepared to participate democratically in what is certain to be an even more complex information environment.

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It is also important to teach children that platforms such as Google, YouTube, Twitter or Facebook are not neutral. Rather, they are designed to maximize engagement, which short-circuits our brain’s natural defenses and leads us to share misinformation with others.

Read the full article in The Conversation Canada.