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How to Teach Online Research Skills to Students | 5 Steps for Teaching Students How to Search and Filter Information

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5 simple steps to teaching Google search tips and internet research skills for students. This updated 2020 post and free eBook shows how to research effectively online for kids in primary school, middle school and high school. These tips are summarized in a free online research skills poster for you…

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A dilemma that faces many educators new to blogging is the question of whether they should be publishing their students' information and work online.

They might wonder if their class or student blogs should be public for anyone to see, or private for a limited audience (or no one) to view.

This question can be so daunting that it can freeze some educators into inaction. Their class or student blogs may never get off the ground because they can't decide on the best model to follow.

Does this sound familiar? We're here to help.

Often, the decision of private vs public is taken out of an individual educator's hands. School or district administrators can be so concerned about potential headaches associated with public posting online, that they put a blanket ban on the idea.

But is banning public blogs the way to go?

Despite many Edublogs users opting to activate the privacy features built into our platform, we believe it is always a good idea to keep questioning our practice as educators.

In 2013, Ronnie Burt wrote an insightful post that explored whether student work should be public on the web. Let's reopen the debate today by looking at the pros, cons, and options associated with having a public class or student blog.

The Case For Private Blogs

We can't speak for everyone, so if you have used a private blog with your students we strongly encourage you to share with us the reasons why you made this choice.

Sometimes, teachers make blogs private because they're told to, or they're following the model that other bloggers at their school use.

In other instances, there are educators who are very new to blogging and want to be able to learn and explore without the pressure of a public audience.

Schools and educators sometimes see the concept of allowing students to freely express themselves online to be too big of a burden. They might be concerned about the added workload of monitoring and moderating posts and comments. Or, they might have concerns about students writing inappropriate content, bullying, or creating questionable digital footprints.

Indeed, researcher Danah Boyd reminds us that,

Digital technology makes our communications more visible, spreadable, searchable, and persistent.

With this comes positives and negatives; risk and reward.

When Ronnie presented his arguments around the benefits of public student blogs in his 2013 post, there were some well considered opposing views presented in the comment section.

J. McNulty argued the consequence of permanence,

Try to imagine that every stammering oral presentation, every 5th grade writing sample and every stick finger drawing you ever made in a classroom was permanently posted online, forever. As a teacher how would you feel if your class of iPad toting students were surfing through your complete 'virtual portfolio' while you were trying to assign them an essay?

It's absolutely important to consider what sort of digital footprint our students are creating.

A further consideration when weighing up whether to make a blog public is the comfort level of our students. Some students may not feel comfortable broadcasting their true thoughts, opinions and developing ideas. They may hold themselves back which isn't really what we want when trying to extend our students as learners, is it?

A final thought on the case for private blogs is the idea that public writing can be misinterpreted or taken out of context. Once something is 'on the record' it can be hard to erase. Publishing with this thought in the back of your mind can be onerous for students and their teachers.

The Case For Public Blogs

We believe there are many advantages to making your class or student blogs public. Let's take a look at some of them.

Positive Digital Reputations

Publishing online means putting yourself out there for others to see. The whole concept of digital footprints or online reputations is becoming more important than ever.

Students are growing up in a digital world where the distinction between their online and offline lives is blurred.

Managing one's digital identity is a skill that students need to be taught and need to practice. Let's consider: would you rather your students are guided in the process of publishing online and given a 'less risky' platform to practice with? Or, would you like them to go it alone? Because we know they will anyway.

We also know that having no digital footprint at all is no longer an ideal option. Potential employers and higher education institutions increasingly consider individuals' online profiles and search results when making selections.

In his book, Why School?: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere, Will Richardson poses this question,

How can you make sure that every student who walks on graduation day is well googled by his or her full name?

Not long ago, this question would not have even been on an educator's radar. Now it's something worth considering if we truly want to prepare our students for a rapidly advancing digital world.

Read more in Teaching Children About Digital Footprints and Online Reputations.

The Problem With Passwords

Ronnie raised some excellent arguments about the advantages of public blogs in his 2013 post, including the power of an authentic audience, ease of access, and the potential for collaboration.

Ronnie noted,

If you hide student work behind passwords, then you might as well have them print everything out and hand it in the old-fashioned way. You are losing out on connections, extended dialogues, and the motivating factor of working for an authentic purpose.

Well known edtech leader, Wesley Fryer adds to the conversation on the disadvantages of private class blogs and password protected sites.

He points out that a private classroom blog is better than not having a blog at all. No arguments from us there!

Wesley explains that it's all about making it as easy as possible for families and other visitors to read and comment on blog posts.

I've found that the more barriers (like logins requiring userIDs and passwords) we put up for online student content, the FEWER parents will visit and comment. It's VERY hard to get parents to not only look at student digital work online amidst our busy lives today, it's even harder to get them to comment. If you make your classroom blog private, you'll likely rob your students of the opportunity to receive feedback from outside your classroom walls. Feedback is what makes interactive writing powerful and even feel magical at times.

The Power Of An Authentic Audience

Consider this powerful quote by Rushton Hurley: Does this ring true to you?

Let's put ourselves in our students' shoes. Imagine you are at a professional development day. The presenter might ask you to jot down some reflections on your experience. No doubt, you would do an okay job.

Now imagine if you were asked to present to your school district on your experience or write a school newsletter article about the day. Would you put more effort into your work? Not just in terms of creation but also in terms revising, editing, researching, seeking feedback, and meeting your deadline?

We can't underestimate the power of an authentic audience. Many teachers will attest to the fact that students seem to be more motivated and produce higher quality work when they have an authentic audience. These anecdotes are also backed up by research.

Connecting Globally

One of my favorite things about having a class blog was the opportunity to make global connections. These opportunities truly had my students excited about walking in the school door to learn, share, and collaborate.

William Chamberlain, who came up with Comments4Kids, noted in a comment on Ronnie's post,

Blogs can be used for a myriad of things, but the most powerful is to create conversations among people that don't share a local community. While closing blogs is acceptable, it will not help the students reach beyond the local community. The real power is in conversations created with those whom the student otherwise would not have contact with.

When you use a blog to flatten your classroom walls, amazing things can happen. Of course, the potential for global collaboration is much easier with a public class blog.

Read more in our Edublogger's Guide to Global Collaboration.

Developing Your Thinking

Many bloggers report on the transformative effect writing down your thoughts has on clarifying your thinking. This is something we really want leverage for our students. It's one of the great benefits of blogging.

What exactly is this transformative effect?

In his book, Smarter Than You Think: How Technology is Changing Our Minds for the Better, Clive Thompson tells us,

Professional writers have long described the way that the act of writing forces them to distill their vague notions into clear ideas. By putting half-formed thoughts on the page, we externalize them and are able to evaluate them much more objectively. This is why writers often find that it's only when they start writing that they figure out what they want to say.

Alan Levine takes this idea one step further when he says,

Writing in public ... makes you accountable for your ideas. Stating your ideas in public is fearful if you think of it being a means for people to criticize, but it also makes your writing and thinking stronger if you take a public stand.

Perhaps this phenomenon is even more powerful when your audience is 'real'.

That's not to say our students' published thoughts have to be 'complete' either. Even Will Richardson has mentioned that he is more compelled to comment on a post 'where the author is obviously testing unfinished ideas.'

Digital Citizenship

Helping students learn how to be happy, safe and productive online is another increasingly important topic. Blogging is a fantastic way to teach students about digital citizenship in a structured and authentic way.

Learning about digital citizenship via a private blog just wouldn't have the same impact.

Blogging and digital citizenship is a topic we explored in detail in this post.

Exploring Your Options

As you read about the advantages of having a public blog for your class or students, you may be nodding your head in agreement but still feel unsure about taking the leap. I understand. It's scary. You care deeply about your students, and the feeling of push-back from colleagues, leaders or parents can also be a major hurdle. Who wants to rock the boat?

Silvia Tolisano has responded to the question of 'how to take away fear from teachers about putting students blogs out there?'

She explained,

(Teachers) need to educate themselves about the topic, weigh advantages and disadvantages and have the mindset of a risk taker to try something new, move outside their comfort zone, and be willing to learn along the way.

We need to capture and document evidence of learning opportunities that are being created that support new literacies and skills, vital (for) learners today that far outweigh potential risks when 'putting students blogs out there'.

Of course, the public vs private debate is not a black and white issue. There are options. Let's look at some specific scenarios.

Just new to blogging with students? There is certainly nothing wrong with starting small and having a private blog and/or a blog that is totally teacher controlled. When you become more familiar and confident, you can consider changing your privacy settings.

Not sure whether you should be the one deciding on the audience for your students? Why not give students a choice? At The Geelong College, students are encouraged to decide for themselves whether their blogs will be public or password protected. This might be an option to consider for your classroom or school.

Happy to have an open blog but don't want it to be discovered by just anyone? Blocking search engines is easy and reduces the chance of random visitors landing on your blog. You'll find this option in Settings > Reading. You can also go to Settings > Discussion and choose 'Users must be registered and logged in to comment'. This way, not just anyone can leave a comment.

Too busy to be moderating all student posts and comments? Luckily, moderation is easier than it used to be in the early days of blogging. With My Class, you can moderate from the dashboard of your class blog - no need to open up 25 tabs! Also, consider that some teachers start out approving posts and/or comments. Then, once students show they can handle it, give up the control. This might be worth considering, especially if your students are older or familiar with blogging. You can also monitor and alter any posts or comments after they are published if need be.

Don't want to reveal too much about your students' identities? Having a public blog doesn't mean you have to post personal information such as surnames, photos, location etc. These are decisions you would make as part of your blogging guidelines.

Unsure about using photos of students? This post explains the approach we recommend you follow if you have a public blog.

Only want to share some posts publicly? You can simply create a public blog but password protect certain posts or pages. Or, some educators and students use a blog publicly and use other avenues for private work such as a learning management system, or more traditional tools (eg. word processors, or pen and paper!).

It's important for students to realize that there are times when our work should be private. Maybe we don't want to share every 'failed' attempt or evidence of messy learning. While there are benefits to documenting the process of learning, weighing this up with the goal of constructing a positive digital footprint is crucial.

Learning how to make the decision of what work should be public is another critical skill we really need to guide our students on. The curation and documentation of learning and artifacts is a powerful process to explore. George Couros talks about the idea of sharing student work publicly more in his post on invisible student portfolios. George's thinking on the topics of digital footprints, student portfolios, and navigating our digital world are always very insightful.

Thanks to the power of technology, we are now able to offer our students incredible opportunities that weren't available when we were at school. Perhaps it's worth considering the best way to take advantage of this while ensuring all students are safe and no one feels out of their depth.

Over To You

Do you think class and student blogs should be public or private?

Do you believe the benefits of having students publish online outweigh the disadvantages?

What other barriers to having a public blog have you faced?

Please leave a comment and let us know how you have approached this contentious issue.

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Should Your Class Or Student Blogs Be Public Or Private?

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It can be hard to know whether the student work you're putting online should be public or private. This post unpacks the reasons why educators choose both options, and offers ideas on how to best meet the needs of your students.

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Please note, this post was written in last updated in 2019 and I no longer update this website.
Technology is changing the way we live, work, and learn. The lines between our online and offline worlds continue to merge and blur.

This is exciting! It means students can be more empowered than ever before to connect, create, grow, and make the world a better place.

Of course, as our world becomes increasingly digital, our challenges, rights, and responsibilities are changing too. Teaching students about digital citizenship and internet safety is more important than ever.

This post breaks down the theory of digital citizenship and offers practical tips that you can use in your classroom tomorrow, whatever your level of experience.
Scroll down to find a set of 11 summary posters.
How Can I Teach This Subject?

Feeling daunted by the thought of teaching students how to be safe online? There's no need to be. You don't need to be an expert to help your students become safe, responsible, and productive users of technology.

Adults play a crucial role in guiding young people to navigate life offline and online. You can make more of a difference than you might know!

Digital Citizenship? Internet Safety? Cyber Safety?

Not so long ago, our school "internet safety" programs were pretty narrow. We'd talk about "cyber safety" or "cyberbullying" without exploring the broad range of important concepts associated with using technology.

Because we're now using technology differently and more immersively, there are many important concepts that need to be explored. These concepts are defined as coming under the umbrella of digital citizenship.

What is digital citizenship?

This term has evolved and become more well-known in recent years.

Many years ago Mike Ribble described 9 elements to digital citizenship, which he called, "The norms of appropriate, responsible behavior with regard to technology use."

ISTE now tells us that, "digital citizens are learners who use their technology-driven powers conscientiously - and with empathy - to help make the world a better place." They divide digital citizenship into three spheres: Digital Agent, Digital Interactor, and Digital Self.

Common Sense Education describes digital citizenship simply as, "the responsible use of technology to learn, create, and participate".

Common Sense Education's lesson resources for digital citizenship are now divided into these six topics:

Media balance and wellbeing

Privacy and security

Digital footprint and identity

Relationships and communication

Cyberbullying, digital drama, and hate speech

News and media literacy

I like to think that being a "good digital citizen" is similar to being a "good citizen" in general - just with the addition of technology!

Why is digital citizenship so important?

Just like in the offline world, we want our students to be safe, secure, happy, kind, and ethical online.

Students don't always have the life experience or brain development to navigate digital dilemmas or use technology safely and effectively. So, like many other areas of life, they need guidance from trusted adults, including teachers and family members.

Even if students are not online very much during the school day (or online on "protected platforms"), many begin connecting, sharing, creating, and viewing as soon as they step out of the classroom.

As educators, we can't ignore this fact or waste the opportunity to tap into students' interests and lives, and help steer them in the right direction.

How Do You Teach Digital Citizenship?

All teachers want the best for their students, but many educators feel like they don't have the skills or confidence to include digital citizenship in their curriculum. This can be one area where teachers are afraid that their students know more than they do.

The good news is, you don't need to be an expert. You just need to be willing to listen, talk, and learn.

A Teaching Approach Beyond "Dos and Dont's"

We live in a digital world where we can't avoid using technology. And why would we want to? The amazing potential to connect, learn, and create shouldn't be avoided.

So, we obviously don't want to either block technology or create an atmosphere of fear.

With technology use comes a responsibility to put digital citizenship education on the agenda. But what is the best approach for teaching about digital citizenship?

I don't think providing students with a list of dos and don'ts around digital citizenship and cyber safety is powerful enough.

I do think it's a good start and I have created a series of posters with this blog post as handy reminders to use in your classroom. However, I believe the topic has the most impact when the following four areas are covered:

1. INTEGRATION: Digital citizenship is embedded into the curriculum in an ongoing and authentic way.

2. STORYTELLING: Students are presented with "real-life" scenarios to consider, discuss, and learn from.

3. STRATEGIES: Practical strategies are taught so students build a toolkit of actionable ideas and skills.

4. COMMUNITY: Messages from parents and educators overlap and there is ongoing communication.

Let's take a look at each layer...

1) INTEGRATION: Gain real world experience
"Okay students, put away your maths equipment; it's time for reading." "Art class is over now; it's time to head to sport."
In the traditional curriculum, a lot of subjects are seen as separate areas. Digital citizenship is not like this.

Some standalone lessons can certainly be useful, but I strongly believe elements of digital citizenship need to be weaved into the curriculum frequently and authentically.

I have always found blogging to be an excellent way to teach students about being responsible digital citizens and members of online communities.

Of course, blogging is not the only tool that can be used to promote positive internet behaviours. Many online platforms can be used as vehicles to drive messages about digital citizenship.

This will be especially powerful when those tools or platforms are open to the public. In Ross Cooper's discussion of closed platforms, he wisely states,

We'd be a bit hypocritical by first declaring, "Digital citizenship is important; let's practice it!" and then saying, "Use this, because we don't want you to experience what's out there."

I've always been an advocate for public classroom blogs but they're not for everyone. In 2018, I published an article about the pros and cons of public blogs.

It's not a black and white issue but it's worth considering how you can incorporate some authentic, public experiences into your classroom program, even if it's heavily moderated and teacher-controlled initially.

2) STORYTELLING: Discuss scenarios and real-life situations

Lecturing students about dos and don'ts isn't enough for digital citizenship messages to have an impact.

We all know the power of storytelling. Sometimes messages can seem abstract or less important when delivered as simple statements or advice.

For example, you might hear facts and statistics about sufferings in war-torn countries that you barely pay attention to, but when you read or watch a story about real people you may feel deeply impacted. Furthermore, if you were to hear someone's story in real life, you may feel even more moved and transformed.

Stories can stay in your memory and leave a lasting impact.

Stories, scenarios, and real-life situations involving digital dilemmas are ideal for classroom use. Students can relate and reflect on issues, and may even feel comfortable sharing their own experiences.

There are a number of places online where either videos or written scenarios are published. These can be ideal prompts for discussions, responses, reflections, or role plays.

Check out my Pinterest board for a collection of digital citizenship scenarios. Please let me know if you have anything to add!

3) STRATEGIES: Build a practical toolkit

Apart from teaching students what we should not do, we need to equip them with practical strategies so they know what to do instead.

For example:

You can't use any image off Google to illustrate your digital work, so we need to teach students about using Creative Commons.

We don't want students sharing their YAPPY (personal) information online, so we need to help them generate ideas of safer information to share with others in their online communications. Brainstorm nicknames, safe topics to talk about and so on.

We don't want students creating short passwords with identifiable information, so we need to help them understand what a strong passphrase is.

We don't want students accessing inappropriate content, so we need to teach them what to do if they come across a website that doesn't look safe or appropriate (e.g. closing tabs, telling adults, not clicking on random links etc).

We don't want students to leave a negative digital footprint, so we need to teach them about creating a positive online presence. Having no digital footprint at all probably isn't the answer.

Many of these ideas can be mini-lessons that are touched on as part of your regular curriculum.

4) COMMUNITY: Involve families

Research tells us that family participation in schooling is one of the biggest predictors of a child's success. When schools and families work together there can be positive outcomes for all.

Digital citizenship education is no different. We need to bring parents into the conversations we are having in our classrooms.

Digital citizenship education should be a community effort. The impact will be more powerful when students have multiple trusted adults they can discuss issues with, and when they're hearing the same messages reinforced from both home and school.

This can create a holistic approach where everyone can feel supported and involved.

LEARN MORE: Check out this post with lots of information and tips about involving parents in your digital citizenship education. There's even a poster to distribute to parents or display on your school website.

10 Digital Citizenship and Internet Safety Tips for Students

The following is certainly not an exhaustive list but are key messages that I believe all students should be aware of.

Scroll down to find a set of 11 posters to print or embed on your blog!

1) CHECK LAWS

Many sites have age restrictions and you're not allowed to sign up for an account if you're not old enough (e.g. Facebook, Snapchat, YouTube, Instagram, Musical.ly etc.). Often these age restrictions are 13+ or 18+. An adult can help you check in the terms and conditions on the website if you're not sure.

Most of the images, text, and videos you find online are protected by copyright unless stated otherwise. This means you can't reuse them. For example, you can't take an image you find off Google Images and put it in your website or project. There are some sites where you can find free content to use. Read more about that there.

2) TALK

Talk to your parents about what you're doing online and let them know when you're going on the internet.

If anything you see online makes you feel uncomfortable, worried, sad, or unsure, leave the site and talk to a trusted adult.

If you don't feel comfortable talking, there are helplines like Kids Helpline (Australia), Childline (UK), Kids Help Phone (Canada) and Your Life Your Voice (USA).

3) FRIENDS

Don't add people as online friends unless you know them in real life or have parent permission. Never arrange to meet an online friend without talking to a parent.

Don't send personal information or photographs to an online friend. Never send private photos or videos of yourself to anyone (whether you know them in real life or not).

Remember, you can't trust everything online friends tell you. Anyone can pretend to be anyone on the web.

4) PRIVACY

Keep your personal information private online.

YAPPY is a useful acronym to help you remember the personal information you should not share online...

Your full name

Address (including your home address, email address, and school name/address)

Phone number

Passwords

Your plans and birthday

Don't publish this information or provide it in response to questions in emails, private messages, chat rooms, or forums. Even if you think these are private.

5) REPUTATION

Protect your digital footprint and don't publish anything online that you wouldn't want all your friends, family, teachers, and future employers to see.

You can read more about digital footprints and explore a poster with 10 tips in this post.

6) QUESTION

You cannot believe everything you read or see online. Publishing online is easier than ever so there is a lot of inaccurate or biased information out there.

When you come across information, question who wrote the message and why it was created. Find more advice about evaluating websites here.

7) CYBERBULLYING

Know what cyberbullying is and tell someone if you think it's happening to you or others. Cyberbullying is when someone picks on you, annoys, embarrasses, hurts, or threatens you repeatedly using technology, such as the internet or a phone.

There are things adults can do to deal with cyberbullying or inappropriate online behaviour:

Talk to your school

Report the abuse to the social media platform

Don't delete the content until it's dealt with. Collect your evidence

Report the behaviour to a government organisation (for example, eSafety Office in Australia)

8) ACCOUNTS, PASSWORDS, AND USERNAMES

Think carefully when choosing your username for your online accounts and email address:

You don't want to choose anything that identifies your full name or personal information.

You also don't want to choose a silly or funny username or email address. You might regret this later when you're connecting with teachers or applying for a job.

Passwords

Being a digital citizen means you'll need to have a lot of passwords. Tempting as it is, avoid using the same password for all your accounts. You need to use a password that you can remember but is not easy to guess.

One strategy is to use a modified passphrase.

Here's some advice on creating a passphrase I wrote for The Edublogger:

Come up with four or more words such as mysterious triangle bingo nurse

Avoid using personal information or well-known quotes or song lyrics (these can be easily guessed)

Add some uppercase letters, symbols, or numbers if you wish eg. #MYsteriousTr1angle=Bin.go.nur5e

Avoid making the passphrase too complex when you add the punctuation and numbers. It's important that you can still remember it!

It's extremely important that you never share passwords with others. Even your best friends!

9) MANNERS

Be polite and respectful online just as you would be offline. Always treat others the way you like to be treated.

Before posting, ask yourself:

Would you say that to someone's face?

Could someone take your message the wrong way?

How would you feel if someone said that to you?

10) UNPLUG

Life is all about balance. It's not good for our health and wellbeing to be online all the time.

Balance screen time with green time. Get outdoors, move, play, and interact face-to-face.

Don't let life pass you by!

Posters: 10 Tips for Students

Here are 11 posters summarising the digital citizenship and internet safety tips. I hope these are useful to use in your classroom!

Click here to download a PDF copy.

A lot of these ideas come down to "think before you post".

Slow down and think about your choices.

Talk to someone about your dilemma before posting or acting.

Your initial response might not be the best one.

Useful Resources and Lesson Ideas

There are many digital citizenship resources available online for educators, parents, and students.

The following sites are particularly useful, and I have also curated more on a Pinterest board.

A very comprehensive US non-profit organization with resources, information, and advice.

They've recently updated their digital citizenship resources and there are lots of lesson ideas you can use with all age groups.

An Australian government site with lots of resources for educators, parents, and children. Also includes a complaints service.

The classroom resources section has helpful multimedia and lesson plans for primary and secondary school educators.

Resources such as videos, games, and presentations for children, educators, parents, and law enforcement. This is a US site run by National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

The teaching resources section has some useful lesson plans, presentations, and tip sheets. You do need to register for a free account to access these.

Google's digital citizenship program. It includes games, curriculum, and courses for teachers and students to learn about navigating the online world safely and responsibly.

Another useful discussion starter from Google for older students (or staff) is their Phishing Quiz (phishing is an attempt to trick you into giving personal information by pretending to be someone you know or recognise).

Final Thoughts: Start early, don't stop, involve others

Digital citizenship is a topic that's important for all ages.

Common Sense Media reports that children are accessing devices and the internet at increasingly younger ages, well before coming to school. The amount of time young people are spending on screens is also increasing to a significant amount - about 6 hours a day for tweens and 9 hours a day for teens.

Along with learning about opportunities, children need to learn about the responsibilities that come with using technology. When students develop habits and behaviours without guidance, problems are sure to occur.

My hope is that teaching students some key messages from a young age will help them navigate their way safely through the online world as they grow older.

While it's unlikely young people will never experience an issue online, I believe it is a good aim to both minimise potential harm and ensure students feel like they always have someone to talk to.

Digital citizenship education is an ongoing process, and the work of one teacher is not enough. Ideally, we need parents, students, educators, community members, and school leaders to unite.

Most of all, we need to create a positive culture where students feel empowered to use technology safely and purposefully.

As ISTE tells us,

Respect, education and protection are still important foundations of digital citizenship, but today's digital learners also need to understand the power they have to advocate, collaborate and drive change through technology.

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Teaching Digital Citizenship: 10 Internet Safety Tips For Students (With Posters)

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Want some clear tips on how to approach digital citizenship and internet safety in the classroom? This post is full of resources including a set of free cyber safety posters with tips for your students. Make cyber safety education easy and keep your students safe, happy, and ethical online,

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Creating, remembering, using and protecting passwords. It's all part of everyday life but are you and your students managing passwords well?

Poor password management can lead to minor annoyances, like someone changing your blog theme, to life changing issues, like identity theft.

The divisions between your online and offline world are blurring and many of your most valuable possessions and information are now housed online. So much of what we do online is password protected, from your blog to your email, bank account, social media and more.

The advice around passwords has recently been updated and while there are varying opinions, this post will help you learn about the current best practices.

What do students need to know about passwords?

Password management is part of being an informed and safe digital citizen.

Students need to know:

what a strong password is

how to create a strong password

how to remember passwords

how to keep passwords safe.

These are skills educators need to model and teach.

Compromised passwords

Two of the main ways you could end up in trouble with a leaked password are:

1. Someone you know finds your password (perhaps written down) or you tell it to them.

2. Password cracking software, which is used exponentially by hackers, guesses your password.

Here at Edublogs, the first option is almost always the culprit. Students are often tempted to share passwords or leave them visible to others. This is something that could be reduced with education.

The traditional advice is outdated

Most of the websites you visit ask you to create a "complex password" by using a combination of uppercase, lowercase, numbers and symbols.

This advice is based on the work of Bill Burr who published a guide in 2003 on how to create secure passwords. The guidelines were adopted by many government organisations and corporations around the world.

Bill Burr recently made headlines when he admitted these guidelines are now flawed.

The problem with these complex passwords is they are difficult for people to remember and easy for computers to guess.

The Washington Po st reports on the emerging best practices in password management.

Now, a new standard is emerging for passwords, backed by a growing number of businesses and government agencies - to the relief of computer users everywhere. No longer must passwords be changed so often, or include an incomprehensible string of special characters. The new direction is one that champions less complexity in favor of length.

Passwords that once looked like this: [email protected]!, can now be this: mycatlikesreadinggarfieldinthewashingtonpost.

Random numbers and symbols can be strong passwords. The problem is, random passwords which are short enough to remember can probably be guessed by computer software. And longer random passwords are difficult to remember. This means users will be more likely to resuse and/or write the passwords down. Both of these strategies are not secure practices!

Software is less adept at guessing a long random string of words. This is called a passphrase.

The experts at WordPress.com tell us that a modern approach is now required and there are two choices.

The best option is to use a password manager. The second best option is to use a passphrase. Let's take a look at both options.

Password managers

Password managers might not be suitable for younger students, but could certainly be tools teachers can adopt.

What is a password manager?

A password manager is software installed on your computer that allows you to have one master password. The software stores and encrypts all your passwords and login information for the various websites you frequent. You can then access those sites by simply entering your master password.

Why is a password manager the best option?

Most people would consider something like this to be a strong password:
<86=9_06aeUn^hnq$#yrBb!ajwZMwkh%[email protected]!
It is a lengthy combination of letters, numbers and symbols.

We know it's important to have a different password for all of your accounts in case one password is compromised (you don't want hackers to be able to access all of your accounts if they obtain the password for one).

Obviously, it isn't practical to have a different password like the example above for every site you visit. Unless you have a photographic memory, you'd never be able to remember them all!

With a password manager you can have a unique, long and complex password for all of your favourite sites.

Once your password manager is set up, you only need to remember your master password to gain access to all of your online accounts. Your password manager can also help you generate strong passwords for individual sites.

How to set up a password manager

1. When it comes to password managers, there are two choices: free or paid.

2. Assuming you want a free option, you can compare some of the key features of the major players in the market on PC Mag.

3. One free option that is highly recommended by various sources is called Last Pass 4.0. This manager can be used in your browser or on your mobile device.

4. If you want to try Last Pass, simply go to www.lastpass.com to register, and follow the prompts to install the browser extension.

5. Next you will need to choose your master password. You can make this a passphrase following our advice below.

6. Once Last Pass is set up, you can then add existing passwords and other personal information to your 'vault'. You can enter your existing passwords manually or just add them as you're browsing and accessing sites in the future.

7. If you want extra protection, managers like Last Pass also offer the option of two-factor authentication. This involves adding a second step to your login process such as a code received via an app on your phone.

8. The Last Pass website offers extensive help guides and tutorials. Remember, Last Pass is just one option and we advise you to choose the one that best suits your needs.

9. When you have your password manager set up, you need to make sure you dispose of any passwords you have written down in a notebook etc. It's not worth the risk!

Passphrases

To comply with current best practice and ensure you're safe online, it is essential that educators are familiar with passphrases and teach their students about them.

What are passphrases?

Passphrases are simply a sequence of words or text strung together. For example:
CrinkleSydneyAsparagusBelonging
Why are passphrases better than traditional passwords?

Passphrases are usually longer than passwords which make them harder to guess. They also usually contain whole words (or variations of words) which make them easier to remember. This means you're less likely to need to write them down.

Passphrases can have spaces between the words (although many sites won't allow you to choose a password with spaces). The words in passphrases can make grammatical sense, or they might be nonsensical. Random is usually your best bet for security reasons. Avoid dictionary words for added security.

How to create a passphrase

Come up with four or more words such as mysterious triangle bingo nurse

Avoid using personal information or well known quotes or song lyrics (these can be easily guessed).

Add some uppercase letters, symbols or numbers if you wish eg. #MYsteriousTr1angle=Bin.go.nur5e

Avoid making the passphrase too complex when you add the punctuation and numbers. It's important that you can still remember it.

Application in the classroom

Now you have an understanding of password management, it's time to consider how this advice could be applied in your class. Here are some ideas:

Passphrases. Teach your students about creating passphrases. Have them practice creating mock passphrases. Discuss their suitability as a class. Perhaps you might like to come up with some mock passphrases yourself and have students sort them on their strength. Tip: Last Pass offers an online tool to check the strength of your password.

Select. When students have an understanding of passphrases, have them change their password on their blog and other sites to a strong passphrase.

Dos and Don'ts. Display the poster below in your classroom and consider sending a copy home with students. Alternatively, why not have students create their own posters or bookmarks with tips about password management?

Educate. Good password management is a topic worth spreading the word about. Perhaps students could make videos, slideshows or infographics to display on blogs? There are probably many other teachers, students, parents or community members who would like to learn how to be safer online.

Privacy. Often the main issues for students when it comes to passwords is they're tempted to share them with friends or siblings. Regularly stress the importance of avoiding sharing this information with anyone except parents and teachers.

Dos and Dont's

Enjoy this free download for your classroom! Perhaps you could print off a few copies for your colleagues?

More advice

This two minute video by Sophos has some good advice that you could share with your classroom community.

Can't see the video? View it directly on YouTube.

Changes are coming

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the USA has recently approved updated guidelines around passwords.

These changes focus on removing:

periodic password change requirements

maximum length limitations

requirements around having uppercase letters, numbers and symbols.

No doubt these guidelines will trickle into password requirements worldwide. Change can be slow, but we are in a position to follow the best practice recommendations as closely as we can in our own lives and classrooms.
Do you have any additional advice about passwords and passphrases? How do you teach password management in your classroom?

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Updated Password Advice: What Teachers and Students Need to Know

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Creating, remembering, using and protecting passwords. It's all part of everyday life but are you and your students managing passwords well? Poor password management can lead to minor annoyances, like someone changing your blog theme, to life changing issues, like identity theft.

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Spreading the TRUTH about smoke detectors!!!

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Helping Students Identify Fake News with the Five C's of Critical Consuming

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Truth or Fiction: Teaching digital literacy to children is vital to combating online disinformation

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We didn’t need the Capitol insurrection of Jan. 6 to know our society is awash in disinformation. But the attack by far-right extremists reacting to former President Donald Trump’s false claims about a “stolen” election certainly provided a wake-up call about the dangers of such falsehoods.

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The internet is an amazing tool for teaching and learning, but one that works differently from other media. In a digital world, we're bombarded by information arriving at warp speed. All of us-our students and ourselves-need to know how to quickly sort, evaluate and make decisions about the incoming words, images and memes we encounter, as well as how to create online content effectively and efficiently.

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Please note, this post was written in last updated in 2019 and I no longer update this website.
Technology is changing the way we live, work, and learn. The lines between our online and offline worlds continue to merge and blur.

This is exciting! It means students can be more empowered than ever before to connect, create, grow, and make the world a better place.

Of course, as our world becomes increasingly digital, our challenges, rights, and responsibilities are changing too. Teaching students about digital citizenship and internet safety is more important than ever.

This post breaks down the theory of digital citizenship and offers practical tips that you can use in your classroom tomorrow, whatever your level of experience.
Scroll down to find a set of 11 summary posters.
How Can I Teach This Subject?

Feeling daunted by the thought of teaching students how to be safe online? There's no need to be. You don't need to be an expert to help your students become safe, responsible, and productive users of technology.

Adults play a crucial role in guiding young people to navigate life offline and online. You can make more of a difference than you might know!

Digital Citizenship? Internet Safety? Cyber Safety?

Not so long ago, our school "internet safety" programs were pretty narrow. We'd talk about "cyber safety" or "cyberbullying" without exploring the broad range of important concepts associated with using technology.

Because we're now using technology differently and more immersively, there are many important concepts that need to be explored. These concepts are defined as coming under the umbrella of digital citizenship.

What is digital citizenship?

This term has evolved and become more well-known in recent years.

Many years ago Mike Ribble described 9 elements to digital citizenship, which he called, "The norms of appropriate, responsible behavior with regard to technology use."

ISTE now tells us that, "digital citizens are learners who use their technology-driven powers conscientiously - and with empathy - to help make the world a better place." They divide digital citizenship into three spheres: Digital Agent, Digital Interactor, and Digital Self.

Common Sense Education describes digital citizenship simply as, "the responsible use of technology to learn, create, and participate".

Common Sense Education's lesson resources for digital citizenship are now divided into these six topics:

Media balance and wellbeing

Privacy and security

Digital footprint and identity

Relationships and communication

Cyberbullying, digital drama, and hate speech

News and media literacy

I like to think that being a "good digital citizen" is similar to being a "good citizen" in general - just with the addition of technology!

Why is digital citizenship so important?

Just like in the offline world, we want our students to be safe, secure, happy, kind, and ethical online.

Students don't always have the life experience or brain development to navigate digital dilemmas or use technology safely and effectively. So, like many other areas of life, they need guidance from trusted adults, including teachers and family members.

Even if students are not online very much during the school day (or online on "protected platforms"), many begin connecting, sharing, creating, and viewing as soon as they step out of the classroom.

As educators, we can't ignore this fact or waste the opportunity to tap into students' interests and lives, and help steer them in the right direction.

How Do You Teach Digital Citizenship?

All teachers want the best for their students, but many educators feel like they don't have the skills or confidence to include digital citizenship in their curriculum. This can be one area where teachers are afraid that their students know more than they do.

The good news is, you don't need to be an expert. You just need to be willing to listen, talk, and learn.

A Teaching Approach Beyond "Dos and Dont's"

We live in a digital world where we can't avoid using technology. And why would we want to? The amazing potential to connect, learn, and create shouldn't be avoided.

So, we obviously don't want to either block technology or create an atmosphere of fear.

With technology use comes a responsibility to put digital citizenship education on the agenda. But what is the best approach for teaching about digital citizenship?

I don't think providing students with a list of dos and don'ts around digital citizenship and cyber safety is powerful enough.

I do think it's a good start and I have created a series of posters with this blog post as handy reminders to use in your classroom. However, I believe the topic has the most impact when the following four areas are covered:

1. INTEGRATION: Digital citizenship is embedded into the curriculum in an ongoing and authentic way.

2. STORYTELLING: Students are presented with "real-life" scenarios to consider, discuss, and learn from.

3. STRATEGIES: Practical strategies are taught so students build a toolkit of actionable ideas and skills.

4. COMMUNITY: Messages from parents and educators overlap and there is ongoing communication.

Let's take a look at each layer...

1) INTEGRATION: Gain real world experience
"Okay students, put away your maths equipment; it's time for reading." "Art class is over now; it's time to head to sport."
In the traditional curriculum, a lot of subjects are seen as separate areas. Digital citizenship is not like this.

Some standalone lessons can certainly be useful, but I strongly believe elements of digital citizenship need to be weaved into the curriculum frequently and authentically.

I have always found blogging to be an excellent way to teach students about being responsible digital citizens and members of online communities.

Of course, blogging is not the only tool that can be used to promote positive internet behaviours. Many online platforms can be used as vehicles to drive messages about digital citizenship.

This will be especially powerful when those tools or platforms are open to the public. In Ross Cooper's discussion of closed platforms, he wisely states,

We'd be a bit hypocritical by first declaring, "Digital citizenship is important; let's practice it!" and then saying, "Use this, because we don't want you to experience what's out there."

I've always been an advocate for public classroom blogs but they're not for everyone. In 2018, I published an article about the pros and cons of public blogs.

It's not a black and white issue but it's worth considering how you can incorporate some authentic, public experiences into your classroom program, even if it's heavily moderated and teacher-controlled initially.

2) STORYTELLING: Discuss scenarios and real-life situations

Lecturing students about dos and don'ts isn't enough for digital citizenship messages to have an impact.

We all know the power of storytelling. Sometimes messages can seem abstract or less important when delivered as simple statements or advice.

For example, you might hear facts and statistics about sufferings in war-torn countries that you barely pay attention to, but when you read or watch a story about real people you may feel deeply impacted. Furthermore, if you were to hear someone's story in real life, you may feel even more moved and transformed.

Stories can stay in your memory and leave a lasting impact.

Stories, scenarios, and real-life situations involving digital dilemmas are ideal for classroom use. Students can relate and reflect on issues, and may even feel comfortable sharing their own experiences.

There are a number of places online where either videos or written scenarios are published. These can be ideal prompts for discussions, responses, reflections, or role plays.

Check out my Pinterest board for a collection of digital citizenship scenarios. Please let me know if you have anything to add!

3) STRATEGIES: Build a practical toolkit

Apart from teaching students what we should not do, we need to equip them with practical strategies so they know what to do instead.

For example:

You can't use any image off Google to illustrate your digital work, so we need to teach students about using Creative Commons.

We don't want students sharing their YAPPY (personal) information online, so we need to help them generate ideas of safer information to share with others in their online communications. Brainstorm nicknames, safe topics to talk about and so on.

We don't want students creating short passwords with identifiable information, so we need to help them understand what a strong passphrase is.

We don't want students accessing inappropriate content, so we need to teach them what to do if they come across a website that doesn't look safe or appropriate (e.g. closing tabs, telling adults, not clicking on random links etc).

We don't want students to leave a negative digital footprint, so we need to teach them about creating a positive online presence. Having no digital footprint at all probably isn't the answer.

Many of these ideas can be mini-lessons that are touched on as part of your regular curriculum.

4) COMMUNITY: Involve families

Research tells us that family participation in schooling is one of the biggest predictors of a child's success. When schools and families work together there can be positive outcomes for all.

Digital citizenship education is no different. We need to bring parents into the conversations we are having in our classrooms.

Digital citizenship education should be a community effort. The impact will be more powerful when students have multiple trusted adults they can discuss issues with, and when they're hearing the same messages reinforced from both home and school.

This can create a holistic approach where everyone can feel supported and involved.

LEARN MORE: Check out this post with lots of information and tips about involving parents in your digital citizenship education. There's even a poster to distribute to parents or display on your school website.

10 Digital Citizenship and Internet Safety Tips for Students

The following is certainly not an exhaustive list but are key messages that I believe all students should be aware of.

Scroll down to find a set of 11 posters to print or embed on your blog!

1) CHECK LAWS

Many sites have age restrictions and you're not allowed to sign up for an account if you're not old enough (e.g. Facebook, Snapchat, YouTube, Instagram, Musical.ly etc.). Often these age restrictions are 13+ or 18+. An adult can help you check in the terms and conditions on the website if you're not sure.

Most of the images, text, and videos you find online are protected by copyright unless stated otherwise. This means you can't reuse them. For example, you can't take an image you find off Google Images and put it in your website or project. There are some sites where you can find free content to use. Read more about that there.

2) TALK

Talk to your parents about what you're doing online and let them know when you're going on the internet.

If anything you see online makes you feel uncomfortable, worried, sad, or unsure, leave the site and talk to a trusted adult.

If you don't feel comfortable talking, there are helplines like Kids Helpline (Australia), Childline (UK), Kids Help Phone (Canada) and Your Life Your Voice (USA).

3) FRIENDS

Don't add people as online friends unless you know them in real life or have parent permission. Never arrange to meet an online friend without talking to a parent.

Don't send personal information or photographs to an online friend. Never send private photos or videos of yourself to anyone (whether you know them in real life or not).

Remember, you can't trust everything online friends tell you. Anyone can pretend to be anyone on the web.

4) PRIVACY

Keep your personal information private online.

YAPPY is a useful acronym to help you remember the personal information you should not share online...

Your full name

Address (including your home address, email address, and school name/address)

Phone number

Passwords

Your plans and birthday

Don't publish this information or provide it in response to questions in emails, private messages, chat rooms, or forums. Even if you think these are private.

5) REPUTATION

Protect your digital footprint and don't publish anything online that you wouldn't want all your friends, family, teachers, and future employers to see.

You can read more about digital footprints and explore a poster with 10 tips in this post.

6) QUESTION

You cannot believe everything you read or see online. Publishing online is easier than ever so there is a lot of inaccurate or biased information out there.

When you come across information, question who wrote the message and why it was created. Find more advice about evaluating websites here.

7) CYBERBULLYING

Know what cyberbullying is and tell someone if you think it's happening to you or others. Cyberbullying is when someone picks on you, annoys, embarrasses, hurts, or threatens you repeatedly using technology, such as the internet or a phone.

There are things adults can do to deal with cyberbullying or inappropriate online behaviour:

Talk to your school

Report the abuse to the social media platform

Don't delete the content until it's dealt with. Collect your evidence

Report the behaviour to a government organisation (for example, eSafety Office in Australia)

8) ACCOUNTS, PASSWORDS, AND USERNAMES

Think carefully when choosing your username for your online accounts and email address:

You don't want to choose anything that identifies your full name or personal information.

You also don't want to choose a silly or funny username or email address. You might regret this later when you're connecting with teachers or applying for a job.

Passwords

Being a digital citizen means you'll need to have a lot of passwords. Tempting as it is, avoid using the same password for all your accounts. You need to use a password that you can remember but is not easy to guess.

One strategy is to use a modified passphrase.

Here's some advice on creating a passphrase I wrote for The Edublogger:

Come up with four or more words such as mysterious triangle bingo nurse

Avoid using personal information or well-known quotes or song lyrics (these can be easily guessed)

Add some uppercase letters, symbols, or numbers if you wish eg. #MYsteriousTr1angle=Bin.go.nur5e

Avoid making the passphrase too complex when you add the punctuation and numbers. It's important that you can still remember it!

It's extremely important that you never share passwords with others. Even your best friends!

9) MANNERS

Be polite and respectful online just as you would be offline. Always treat others the way you like to be treated.

Before posting, ask yourself:

Would you say that to someone's face?

Could someone take your message the wrong way?

How would you feel if someone said that to you?

10) UNPLUG

Life is all about balance. It's not good for our health and wellbeing to be online all the time.

Balance screen time with green time. Get outdoors, move, play, and interact face-to-face.

Don't let life pass you by!

Posters: 10 Tips for Students

Here are 11 posters summarising the digital citizenship and internet safety tips. I hope these are useful to use in your classroom!

Click here to download a PDF copy.

A lot of these ideas come down to "think before you post".

Slow down and think about your choices.

Talk to someone about your dilemma before posting or acting.

Your initial response might not be the best one.

Useful Resources and Lesson Ideas

There are many digital citizenship resources available online for educators, parents, and students.

The following sites are particularly useful, and I have also curated more on a Pinterest board.

A very comprehensive US non-profit organization with resources, information, and advice.

They've recently updated their digital citizenship resources and there are lots of lesson ideas you can use with all age groups.

An Australian government site with lots of resources for educators, parents, and children. Also includes a complaints service.

The classroom resources section has helpful multimedia and lesson plans for primary and secondary school educators.

Resources such as videos, games, and presentations for children, educators, parents, and law enforcement. This is a US site run by National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

The teaching resources section has some useful lesson plans, presentations, and tip sheets. You do need to register for a free account to access these.

Google's digital citizenship program. It includes games, curriculum, and courses for teachers and students to learn about navigating the online world safely and responsibly.

Another useful discussion starter from Google for older students (or staff) is their Phishing Quiz (phishing is an attempt to trick you into giving personal information by pretending to be someone you know or recognise).

Final Thoughts: Start early, don't stop, involve others

Digital citizenship is a topic that's important for all ages.

Common Sense Media reports that children are accessing devices and the internet at increasingly younger ages, well before coming to school. The amount of time young people are spending on screens is also increasing to a significant amount - about 6 hours a day for tweens and 9 hours a day for teens.

Along with learning about opportunities, children need to learn about the responsibilities that come with using technology. When students develop habits and behaviours without guidance, problems are sure to occur.

My hope is that teaching students some key messages from a young age will help them navigate their way safely through the online world as they grow older.

While it's unlikely young people will never experience an issue online, I believe it is a good aim to both minimise potential harm and ensure students feel like they always have someone to talk to.

Digital citizenship education is an ongoing process, and the work of one teacher is not enough. Ideally, we need parents, students, educators, community members, and school leaders to unite.

Most of all, we need to create a positive culture where students feel empowered to use technology safely and purposefully.

As ISTE tells us,

Respect, education and protection are still important foundations of digital citizenship, but today's digital learners also need to understand the power they have to advocate, collaborate and drive change through technology.

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Teaching Digital Citizenship: 10 Internet Safety Tips For Students (With Posters)

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Want some clear tips on how to approach digital citizenship and internet safety in the classroom? This post is full of resources including a set of free cyber safety posters with tips for your students. Make cyber safety education easy and keep your students safe, happy, and ethical online,

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Do you have students who need more guidance on finding useful information online?

Earlier in the year, I published a popular post called Five Tips For Teaching Students How to Research And Filter Information. This is a comprehensive guide to teaching students of all ages how to research.

Let's zoom in on a particular part of the research process - evaluating websites.

I don't know about you, but I've found helping students to evaluate websites to be particularly tricky.

There are lots of guidelines out there but I wanted to create a resource that reflects an effective and natural process, no matter what you're researching or how old you are.

Scroll down to find a printable flowchart for your classroom.

Research Beyond The Classroom

Let's remember that researching doesn't just take place in schools and other educational institutions. You don't just have to research for a project or essay. It's something we all need to be good at to thrive in everyday life.

This is called information literacy which is defined by Common Sense Education as,

the ability to identify, find, evaluate, and use information effectively.

You're probably always researching yourself? I know I am.

Just in the last week, here are some examples of where I've been looking for answers online:

At the nursery, I was looking for some plants for my patio area. I did some quick googling on my phone before buying to find out which plants would be most suitable.

A cafe I was going to visit with my family was closed. I pulled out my phone to find some nearby kid-friendly options that matched everyone's requirement.

Research doesn't have to be something you do on the fly either - during the week I've been researching different approaches to teaching global studies.

These sorts of everyday scenarios would be great to explain to students. Help them realise that research happens everywhere - not just in the classroom.

Bouncing Off Sites Is A Natural Thing To Do

Students need to know that the best site for them is not going to appear at the top of their search results. Google's PageRank algorithm is complex, and many websites use Search Engine Optimisation to improve the visibility of their pages in search results.

Students also need to know how effective searchers behave.

Some statistics that bloggers or website owners like to look at are 'time on site' or 'bounce rates'. A 'bounce' is when a person visits a website and quickly leaves. Google keeps track of this information and website owners can view it in Google Analytics. It helps them produce better content that will make people want to stick around. And it helps Google know which search results are popular and should be displayed higher up the rankings.

Why does this all matter?

Students should know that it's natural to bounce off sites. People often skim sites and quickly leave if it doesn't offer them what they want.

In 2017, Brafton found that the average bounce rate for the sites they surveyed was around 58%. So more than half the time, people will leave a site almost immediately.

Bouncing away from sites is a natural part of researching. You don't want to just settle for the first result you come across.

A Flowchart For Your Classroom

I've seen lots of resources and acronyms that are designed to help students evaluate websites, however, I haven't seen something that describes an effective process. Furthermore, I think the first step is often neglected - if a student can't read or understand a website then it is not useful for them.

Feel free to download a copy of the flowchart and share it with your colleagues. I'll elaborate on the key sequence below.

How To Evaluate A Website

1) Open the site

The first thing students need to do is open the site.

When looking through your Google search results, you may want to teach students to open sites in new tabs, leaving their search results in a tab for easy access later (e.g. right-click on the title and click "Open link in new tab").

It can also be worthwhile to explain the anatomy of a Google Search result and the benefits of looking past the first few results. I go over this in more detail in my guide to teaching students how to research.

2) Skim read

Next, skim read the site and determine whether you can read and understand the text. If it's too complicated or difficult to understand, find another website.

Decide whether this is the sort of site that might provide you with the information you're looking for. If the site is difficult to navigate, cluttered with ads, or has other red flags like poor spelling or inappropriate content you might want to leave straight away.

Skimming and scanning is the default way most people now consume new content so this now holds an important role in literacy education. A regularly quoted study from Nielsen Norman tells us that 79% of users always scan a new page they come across. Only 16% read word for word.

Scanning and skim reading can be worth practicing in the classroom. E.g. give students one minute to look at text and then share what they think it's all about. This is something that could be tried with emerging readers write up to higher level students.

3) Look for the answer to your question

If you think the site might prove useful, you now need to find out if the information on the site actually answers your question. You could use a search box, navigation menu, or pull up your own search box by pressing control/command F. Type in the keywords you're looking for.

Stop skimming, and read more closely to see if this information is useful to you.

4) Consider the credibility of the author or website

If the information is there, you need to consider the credibility of the author or website. Can you rely on the information?

Here are some things you can look for on the website:

Domain - sometimes domains that include .gov or .edu come from more trustworthy education or government sources.

Author information - look at at the author bio or About page. How qualified is this person?

Design - we can't judge a book (or website!) by its cover but sites that are cluttered, difficult to navigate, or look amateurish may be worth avoiding.

Sources - trustworthy articles usually link to other sources or cite where their facts come from.

5) Consider the purpose of the site

The next step is to think about the purpose of the site and whether it meets your needs.

Is the author trying to make you think a certain way? Are they biased or one-sided?

Are they trying to sell you something? Sometimes ads might not be so obvious, for example, blog posts can be written to promote a product.

Is the author's tone calm and balanced? Articles fueled by anger or extreme opinions are not going to be the best source of information.

Do the headlines match the article? Or are they simply designed to hook readers?

Is the author trying to educate the audience and present a balanced and factual picture? This is what you usually want.

6) Look for the date

Finally, it's important to consider whether the information is current enough for your topic. You can look for when the article was written or it might tell you when it was last updated. Sometimes URLs include dates as well.

Does it matter how old an article is? Well, that might depend on your topic. For example, if you're looking for the latest research on nutrition or a medical condition, the date might be very important. If you're looking for some facts about World War One, it might not matter if the information hasn't been updated in a few years.

If the site is no good, bounce back...

As the flowchart demonstrates, if you're ever in doubt, just head back to your search results and try again. You might want to alter your search terms based on the results you're provided with. Sometimes you need to change your keywords or be more specific.

Crosscheck

When you overcome all these hurdles and find some information that looks useful and reliable, it can be a good idea to crosscheck the information. So, have a look at a few other websites to see if they corroborate the information you've found.

It's important to remember that you can't believe everything you read and it's essential to consider multiple perspectives.

Conclusion

Studies have shown that students find it difficult to discriminate between fake news and factual information. This is very important to address but not the only aspect of website evaluation.

Like so many skills, website evaluation is something that people can become fluent at with practice. An important part of the process is thinking critically - not believing everything you read, not settling for any source of information, and always questioning.

Students need to know that anyone can be an author and publish online nowadays (hopefully they're already publishing online themselves through a blog or similar!).

Like all aspects of teaching students how to research, classroom integration is key. You don't need to spend large chunks of time on one-off lessons. Model your own searches explicitly and talk out loud as you evaluate websites. As you model, you could evaluate any old website or sometimes show a 'fake site' (check out Eric Curt's examples of fake sites).

When students can evaluate websites quickly, intuitively, and effectively, they'll be on a path to thriving in and out of the classroom.

Want A Free eBook On Teaching Students How To Research?

I've turned my popular post on researching into a 12 page easy-to-read PDF guide. You can download it, print it, share with a friend, and read at your leisure.

If you'd like this free guide, add your details here to sign up for my monthly newsletter and I'll email it to you instantly!

Alternatively, you can fill out the form below to get the PDF link in your inbox.

I send out a newsletter once a month to share my articles, resources, and other interesting tips and tools I've come across. Of course, you can unsubscribe at any time.

Leave a Comment

What tips or ideas can you add to the topic of website evaluation? Is this something your students have struggled with?

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How To Evaluate Websites: A Guide For Teachers And Students

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Do you have students who need more guidance on finding useful information online? Earlier in the year, I published a popular post called Five Tips For Teaching Students How to Research And Filter Information. This is a comprehensive guide to teaching students of all ages how to research.

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This post was first published in 2017. It was updated October 27, 2018.
Students' classwork is becoming increasingly digital. Whether creating a slideshow, blog post, presentation, or document, images are always needed. Teachers also regularly need images for class blog posts, assignments, presentations, course work etc.

This guide walks you through the process of easily and ethically finding quality images for classroom use.

Want a free eBook to learn the basics of copyright, Creative Commons and finding free images? Just enter your email address here and I'll send it to you. It's an extension of the information in this post plus a number of printable posters you can use in your classroom.

Where Do Students And Teachers Find Images?

There are five main choices for teachers and students looking for images. Let's go over the choices (spoiler alert: number 5 is the easiest option!)...

1) Do they create their own images?

This is a safe option. Students and teachers can take their own photographs and/or create images with online tools like BeFunky, Canva, Piktochart, Adobe Spark etc.

The downsides are:

They might need an image of something they can't photograph or create

The image creation process can be time-consuming and take away from the actual point of the assignment

Some online tools are 13+

2) Do they purchase images?

We know purchasing stock photography isn't really an option for students and schools BUT it's still important to talk about.

We pay a hairdresser when we get a haircut, pay a baker for a loaf of bread, so why not pay a photographer for their work? Many businesses pay for stock photos when they need images for their documents, websites, and other work.

This is worth students and teachers being aware of.

3) Do they use Google Images?

From my experience, many students learn how to search and download Google Images early in their schooling. They might pick up this skill themselves or learn it from friends, teachers, or parents. Unfortunately, this is also often the default option teachers fall back on.

While this is a quick way to find the image you desire, it's generally not a good option to rely on Google Images.

Although you can do an advanced search to find Creative Commons images, most images in your standard Google search are protected by copyright.

Even if you cite the source of the image, you are not allowed to use images that are protected by copyright. This is called copyright infringement; it is illegal and unethical.

4) Do they use Creative Commons Images?

5+ years ago I was teaching my student bloggers (aged 7-10) how to source and attribute Creative Commons images for their blog posts and online work. I created a handout to guide students through this process.

This was a worthwhile task, yet it required a certain investment in time to develop the students' understandings.

There are a number of Creative Commons licenses to understand, not to mention the concepts of locating, saving, and attributing images. Again, going through this process repeatedly can take away from the actual learning intentions for your lesson.

Tip: Not sure what the difference between copyright and Creative Commons is?

Copyright means the person who took the photo (or created the work) does not allow anyone to use it. Everything that's published online is protected by copyright by default.

Creative Commons means the person who took the photo (or created the work) does allow people to use it IF they agree to certain terms, called licenses. Read more about Creative Commons Licenses.

Learn more about copyright and Creative Commons in simple terms in my free eBook.

5) A Solution: Copyright Free Images

Fortunately, over the past few years, there has been a rise in the availability of free images that are licensed under public domain or Creative Commons Zero (CC0). This is the easiest way to find images for your work.

Public domain works can be used freely for any purpose. Their licenses have expired, or they are released with no restriction on their usage.

CC0 is a Creative Commons license that allows copyright owners to release their works with no usage restrictions.

Some of these sites with CC0/public domain images can be very useful in the classroom, however, they're not all created equal.

Some copyright free image sites:

Include some inappropriate content

Have age restrictions

Have confusing advertising for other websites with paid stock images

All these obstacles can lead back to an ineffective workflow and present obstacles to digital fluency. Let's break down the best sites so you can decide what will suit you and your students.

Six Useful Options For Copyright Free Images

I have curated six useful sites where students and/or educators can search for free images to use without restriction.

Scroll down to see a table that compares the features of all six resources.

This popular website has a large range of excellent quality images, regularly donated by photographers worldwide.

Images can be used freely for any purpose without permission or attribution.

The user experience is excellent. The Unsplash website is easy to search and browse. The advertisements are minimal/unobtrusive.

There is the option of signing up to join the Unsplash community where you can organise image collections and even submit photos yourself. However, you don't have to register to download photos.

There is an app available for iOS and a Google Slides Add-on.

Users are required to be 13 +.

This is another excellent site. It is similar to Unsplash in that:

High quality images are donated by photographers

Sign up is optional

Images can be used freely without attribution

It's easy to search and navigate

Unlike Unsplash, Pixabay also includes free videos, illustrations, and vector graphics. Another benefit is the availability of a free app. iOS | Android

A minor interruption to the workflow is that a Captcha image needs to be typed in before downloading and image, unless you're a registered user.

When you're on the download page some suggested similar images show up from paid stock photo sites. Students would need to be made aware of this so they understand they are not free photos (this could be a worthwhile teaching point: how to distinguish between free resources and paid advertisements).

Pixabay does have a SafeSearch option which would certainly be a good option if used properly.

Another handy feature is the addition of a Microsoft Office plug-in to grab images for Word and PowerPoint without leaving your document.

Users are required to be 16+.

Images on Pexels are either sourced from other photo sharing websites, or uploaded by users.

Photos can be used freely without attribution. Additionally, there is a free video page, and an app.

This site also has the option to sign up but it's not a requirement.

Like Pixabay, there is some suggested content from paid stock photo sites.

This service is for users aged 13+.

Photos For Class is a good option for younger students. The terms of service state that children under 13 can use Photos for Class under the supervision of a parent, guardian, or teacher.

The other advantage of Photos For Class is the images are apparently filtered and age-appropriate. They come from Flickr and Pixabay.

Unlike the three above options, the images require attribution, however, this information is automatically included when you download an image. The attribution appears as a caption below the image. See the example below - the attribution information does appear blurry in a smaller sized image.

Another handy feature of Photos for Class is that you can embed a search bar on your class blog or school website like the one below.

Clip art and vectors can be useful for students' creations. Rather than just an attractive image, their work might require a map, sign, icon, or flag etc.

Openclipart provides hundreds of thousands of images that can be used freely without attribution.

I couldn't find information about age restrictions on the site, but an email confirmed that this site can be used by students under 13 (it doesn't seem to be totally filtered so I'd recommend supervision).

While Openclipart doesn't present the most modern interface, it's easy enough to search for images.

There is advertising for paid services on this site which would need to be pointed out to students.

Openclipart includes a tool where students can edit clipart. They might enjoy playing around with this feature as you don't need to be signed in to use it.

Images can be downloaded, or you can use the HTML code to embed the clipart like I've done here.

I added Pics4Learning to my list as a late 2018 addition.

I didn't add it originally because I found the images a little restrictive and amateurish, however, some teachers have mentioned they find it useful. It's probably an easy option if you teach students under 13.

Pics4Learning actually contains "copyright-friendly" images meaning the creator maintains the rights to the image but allows teachers and students to use them. The images can only be used for educational purposes and not commercially.

Comparisons

I have created the following table to easily compare the six tools mentioned so you can decide what best meets your needs and your students' needs.

Discussion Points

There are a number of issues that can be discussed in the classroom around the topic of Creative Commons and free images.

Should photographers and artists give away their work for free? Why are artists and musicians more likely to be asked to give away work for free than professionals in other industries?

Why do photographers give away their work to copyright free sites like Unsplash and Pixabay? What are the benefits for them?

Who is hurt by copyright infringement?

Some free sites have the option to either donate to the artist financially, or publicise their work through voluntarily giving credit or sharing to social media. Should we always attribute, even if it's not required?

To encourage a discussion on attribution and Creative Commons with younger students, check out this post and video by Linda Yollis and her third grade students. You might like to try the experiment they conducted yourself.

Safety Concerns

All of the sites I've reviewed, apart from Photos for Class and Pics4Learning, are not designed for children. Not surprisingly, some inappropriate content can be found on these sites when you search for it (especially Pixabay and Pexels it seems, although Pixabay does have a SafeSearch option).

While I don't think this is a reason to ban these sites for older students, it's certainly something to be aware of. Using these resources would just provide an avenue for discussing appropriate online behaviours in an authentic way.

Printables

To make life easier in your classrom, I have created some free printables which I can email to you. You'll be able to print them off as handouts, embed them on your blog, or display them as posters.

1. Task Card for Students Under 13

This document walks your younger students step-by-step through the process of finding and downloading an image on Photos for Class and Openclipart.

Remember, younger students could try Pics4Learning too but it's not the most comprehensive site.

2. Poster for Older Students and Teachers

This document references the five sites that are most useful for teachers and older students.

3. Summary of Options For Finding Images

This poster reminds students of the 5 main ways they can find images for their digital work.

Digital Fluencies

Most students and teachers regularly need images to enhance their digital work. I believe a clear and simple workflow is required for this process.

The skill of legally and efficiently obtaining images is something students need to be fluent in, otherwise, time and focus can be taken away from learning goals.

If students or teachers see the process as too arduous, they often default back to using a picture from Google Images. Not a good idea.

A little time invested in getting used to sourcing free images can really pay off!

Final Thoughts

To gain more of an understanding of Creative Commons and copyright beyond images, check out this post by Sue Waters and Ronnie Burt.

It's important to note that I still think it's a worthwhile skill to teach students about the full range of Creative Commons licenses and attribution, however, sometimes a shortcut is needed to save time and improve workflows. Public domain, royalty free, and Creative Commons Zero images are a better shortcut than using an image that's protected by copyright.
How do you or your students find images for your work? Do you know of any other useful websites? Please leave a comment and share any tips!

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A Simple Guide To Free Images, Copyright, And Creative Commons For Students And Teachers

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This guide walks you through the process of easily and ethically finding copyright free quality images for students and teachers. There are many sites with royalty free images and Creative Commons Zero photos for educators to use in the classroom. Get a free eBook to learn more about copyright, Creative Commons, and free images.

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Copyright & Creativity | K-12 Teaching Resources on Copyright and Fair Use

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Copyright and Creativity is a nonprofit project offering a full suite of free K-12 resources for teaching copyright and fair use and more. C&C resources are free and ready-to-use: in-class lesson plans, plug-n-play slides, and videos. Resources were developed on a nonprofit basis with input from independent educators, academic copyright experts, and online civil liberties advocates.

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Teaching Kids About Digital Footprints And Online Reputations

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Updated 2019 with a printable classroom poster sharing 10 tips kids need to know about digital footprints. Find lesson ideas and activities that you can do with your students at the elementary or high school level. This post breaks down what is a digital footprint for children.

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It's Digital Citizenship Week!  Resources for Teachers and Librarians

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It’s Digital Citizenship Week! Here are helpful and valuable resources to support your digital citizenship work within your school community including libraries, classrooms and homes. PebbleGo & PebbleGo Next articles and Capstone eBooks, like Staying Safe Online, are wonderful ways to tie in val...

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What should teachers be expected to know about student data privacy and ethics?

Considering so much of their jobs now revolve around student data, it's a simple enough question-and one that researcher Ellen B. Mandinach and a colleague were tasked with answering. More specifically, they wanted to know what state guidelines had to say on the matter. Was that information included in codes of education ethics? Or perhaps in curriculum requirements for teacher training programs?

"The answer is, 'Not really,'" says Mandinach, a senior research scientist at the nonprofit WestEd. "Very few state standards have anything about protecting privacy, or even much about data," she says, aside from policies touching on FERPA or disposing of data properly.

While it seems to Mandinach that institutions have historically played hot potato over who is responsible for teaching educators about data privacy, the pandemic and its supercharged push to digital learning have brought new awareness to the issue.

The application of data ethics has real consequences for students, says Mandinach, like an Atlanta sixth grader who was accused of "Zoombombing" based on his computer's IP address or the Dartmouth students who were exonerated from cheating accusations.

"There are many examples coming up as we're in this uncharted territory, particularly as we're virtual," Mandinach says. "Our goal is to provide resources and awareness building to the education community and professional organization...so [these tools] can be broadly used to help better prepare educators, both current and future."

This week, Mandinach and her partners at the Future of Privacy Forum released two training resources for K-12 teachers: the Student Privacy Primer and a guide to working through data ethics scenarios. The curriculum is based on their report examining how much data privacy and ethics preparation teachers receive while in college.

Juliana Cotto, a policy council at the Future of Privacy Forum, says the training tools show teachers how student data privacy and ethics issues arise in their day to day work. As a former classroom teacher, Cotto recalls that her own privacy training came down to a one-hour seminar on FERPA, which governs how student data can be released and displayed.

"We get into, at the beginning of the report, the unique role educators have in protecting student privacy," Cotto says. "What is privacy? What are ethical and responsible uses of data? Here are 99 examples of what this means and how it can come out."

Thinking Through the Problems

The scenarios cover themes that have emerged in the digital age, including responding to witnessing student cyberbullying on social media or handling misbehavior by a student during virtual classes. But they also prompt teachers to think about more analog handling of student data, like when disposing of tests with students' grades on them or when they suspect a student has come to class with a contagious illness.

Mandinach says the curriculum, piloted at five universities, was designed so that any professor can use out-of-the-box regardless of their own data privacy expertise.

Cheryl Forbes, director of Teacher Education at the University of California San Diego, says about 60 graduate students in her department piloted the curriculum during the spring semester. They ranged from students who were early in the teacher training program to those who were already at the head of a classroom.

Teacher interns especially lauded the program, she says, because they were already living the scenarios presented for discussion.

"It really called upon the participants to have to take a stand and say, 'This is what I would do,'" Forbes says.

Very little teacher education dealt with student privacy before the pandemic, Forbes says, when Zoom brought school into students' homes and made issues like child abuse more visible. Before that, discussions about privacy and ethics could be limited to a mentor giving teaching interns advice like, "Don't talk about your students at the grocery store."

One scenario in the curriculum focused on what a teacher should do after noticing a student on Zoom playing with a toy gun. In fact, Forbes says, a similar situation occurred at one of her student teacher's schools. The school called the police after a teacher reported that a gun was visible over Zoom in a student's home.

"That really did bring forth one of the best discussions that we had because students were talking about how different communities differentially experience police," Forbes recalls. "This is a Latinx community, and you're calling police to the kid's house? What could go wrong? Students had a variety of [responses]."

Moving the Discussion Forward

With the curricular guides, Cotto says researchers are trying to move the conversation from simply complying with privacy laws to what's best for students.

"A lot of the time, legal compliance falls short. It's very much the floor. We really need to think about best practices that go beyond that," Cotto says.

Mandinach realized the information was also applicable to teachers already in the classroom. After their initial look at the data ethics landscape, researchers determined that everyone at a school who is hands-on with data-be they a data clerk, counselor, administrator and even up to school board members-should have more than a surface-level knowledge of privacy.

"My position on this, and it's one of the recommendations, is that every educator hired by a school district, during onboarding, should have some sort of training in not just FERPA 101 or privacy 101," Mandinach says, "but on data privacy and data ethics more generally."

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What Do Teachers Know About Student Privacy? Not Enough, Researchers Say - EdSurge News

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What should teachers be expected to know about student data privacy and ethics? Considering so much of their jobs now revolve around student data, it's a simple enough question-and one that researcher Ellen B. Mandinach and a colleague were tasked with answering. More specifically, they wanted to know what state guidelines had to say on the matter.

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It's imperative to make students aware that not all information sources are created equal. The Media Bias Chart, a name now trademarked by creator Ad Fontes Media (AFM), has answered this call with a systematic analysis and rating system for news and "news-like" sources, distilled into an easily shareable infographic.
Interactive Media Bias Chart
Cost The basic Media Bias Chart is free; pricing for the enhanced educator version depends on student enrollment. Live demos or more information is available at www.adfontesmedia.com or by email at info@adfontesmedia.com.

Overview Sources for information have proliferated in the last decade, and polarization of coverage and cries of "fake news" and media bias continue to grab headlines. It's imperative to make students aware that not all information sources are created equal. The Media Bias Chart, a name now trademarked by creator Ad Fontes Media (AFM), has answered this call with a systematic analysis and rating system for news and "news-like" sources, distilled into an easily shareable infographic. The free downloadable Media Bias Chart 7.0 allows users to see individual articles and ratings and isolate up to five sources. AFM also offers an educator pro version, with twice as many sources, filtering tools, downloadable source options, and the SUMMA News Literacy Curriculum.

Methodology AFM relies on paid three-person review teams of individuals who self-identify across the political spectrum and who read multiple articles from each source. Using AFM's Content Analysis Rating Tool (CART), reviewers assign numerical scores on eight factors and reach consensus for a final score. An algorithm positions the media source on the Media Bias Chart. One criticism of the chart is that it places centrist publications toward the top middle, which, at a glance, gives more weight to mainstream media sources. Sources with more biased views can have just as much value; presenting the chart to students, without discussion, can perpetuate the status quo, with a predominantly white, male, business-oriented outlook.

Content and visual appeal The free Media Bias Chart is an infographic, updated several times a year. To date, almost 15,000 articles, in print and online, have been placed on the chart. The vertical axis indicates source reliability; the horizontal axis, bias. An eye-catching graphic of source logos is scattered in a bell curve, with the AP, BBC, and WSJ front and center, and Wonkette and Infowars near the bottom left and right, respectively. News-oriented and factual stories appear toward the top, with low-ranking "nonsense" at the bottom. Politically liberal stories skew to the left, while conservative political coverage is grouped to the right.

Subscribers to Interactive Media Bias Chart Pro see twice as many rated sources and can filter to isolate a single source for analysis; there's no limit on how many sources they can search for. Pro users can also create and download custom charts.

Educator resources Educators can use the static chart as a starting point for discussion for projects on news sources or to make a case for the validity of a particular source. Younger students can quickly be alerted to untrustworthy sources, while older students may be ready to dive into discussion of how to separate fact from opinion, and when bias is or is not a barrier to the worthiness of a news source.

The SUMMA curriculum is robust and engaging, and educators can adjust the lessons to fit the available time. SUMMA teaches students to use the Content Analysis Rating Tool to score articles along a numerical continuum in categories including language, political position, headlines, and graphics, in the same way that paid analysts rate articles for the Media Bias Chart. Students can work solo or in groups, discuss why they chose certain scores, and then create their own charts (and compare their rankings against those of the Media Bias Chart).

Educators can create student accounts, assign articles (new articles are provided by AFM regularly), and monitor student engagement and progress. The SUMMA curriculum allows for discussion of strengths and weaknesses of news sources and who gets to judge what "better" means as students learn to look deeper than "clickbait" headlines and attention-grabbing statements.

Verdict The visually appealing Media Bias Chart provides a handy "use this, not that" reference point for budding researchers. Delving deeper, the SUMMA curriculum helps educators teach students to analyze articles and sources, developing reasoning skills for real-world source appraisal. Ideally, classroom use of the Media Bias Chart will not imply that top-center sources are better than others in every way, but will acknowledge that top-center sources are ranked higher for accuracy and lack of bias.
Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley Sch., Fort Worth, TX
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Media Bias Chart | Reference Database Review

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It's imperative to make students aware that not all information sources are created equal. The Media Bias Chart, a name now trademarked by creator Ad Fontes Media (AFM), has answered this call with a systematic analysis and rating system for news and "news-like" sources, distilled into an easily shareable infographic.

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Every crisis and injustice now live in two parallel realities: on the ground and online.

Misinformation and online conspiracy theories had detrimental effects on mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic. Dehumanizing online rhetoric and anti-Asian misinformation surrounding the coronavirus often amplified and inspired offline violence. Online disinformation campaigns targeted Black voters to suppress turnout. And years of disinformation helped foment an attempted insurrection of the U.S. Capitol building on January 6.

At every turn, online misinformation, misrepresentation and hate had direct ties to offline acts of violence and threats to democracy.

The scale is global. "Everywhere we look around the world, disinformation is a threat to society," says Dr. Kristin Lord, president and CEO of IREX, a global development and education organization. "No matter what issue you look at, whether it's violence and racism in the United States, polarization, health issues like the pandemic or the health of democracy-you can just go down a list and disinformation makes every public policy challenge harder."

The scope of the challenge underscores the need to understand the roots of today's online misinformation and hate-and how to counter them.

Experts say schools and communities need to update and extend their commitment to digital literacy* across all subject areas-in a way that directly addresses how information spreads, who it helps and who it harms.

What Isn't Working

*SIDE NOTE

We use the term digital literacy to describe a holistic approach to cultivating skills that allow people to participate meaningfully in online communities, interpret the changing digital landscape, understand the relationships between systemic -isms and information, and unlock the power of digital tools for good. This includes media literacy. Terms like critical media literacy, media literacy, news literacy and more are not necessarily interchangeable.

The way media literacy is often taught has a simple objective: to help students discern a "good source" from a "bad source." These lessons often fail to provide students with transferrable skills they need to navigate today's online spaces.

Dr. Joel Breakstone directs the Stanford History Education Group (SHEG), whose Civic Online Reasoning (COR) curriculum translates skills learned from professional fact-checkers into classroom practice. He says, "One of the biggest challenges we've encountered is that so much of the existing materials focused around digital literacy are really outdated and can lead students dangerously astray."

This includes checklists like the widely used "C.R.A.P. test," which provides criteria for evaluating a source's credibility. The criteria include things like credible URL domain names (.org, for example), which Breakstone explains can easily belong to a fake or biased source.

Curricula like COR focus instead on skills like lateral reading and click restraint that can help students evaluate any source, even if it externally presents as credible.

SHEG's studies illustrate that these skills do make students better fact-checkers. But COR doesn't stop there-and experts agree that it's important to take digital literacy beyond the question of true or false.

"If we rely exclusively on a simple true-false measure of content, we lose out on the nuance," says Dr. Alison Trope, the founder and director of Critical Media Project. "[We] potentially dilute or obfuscate the importance of unpacking and understanding the complexities of the media we consume, the ideologies they embody, and the way those ideologies are normalized and perpetuated in culture and society."

Azsaneé Truss agrees. Truss is a doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvania, researching at the intersections of critical media studies, identity, justice and power structures. She sees traditional media literacy as failing to ask fundamental questions.

"It's very focused on what's real and what's fake, what's objective and what's not," Truss explains. "I think it should be more about moving toward, 'Who made this? Why did they make it? What systems of power does this enforce? What perspective are they sharing? Whose stories are being told, and whose are being left out?"

Breakstone also notes that many traditional media literacy materials are not real-world examples or relevant to students-often in attempts to present "neutral" content.

"What we need to do is give students the opportunities to practice with the kinds of sources they encounter every day," Breakstone says.

Peter Adams, the senior VP of education at the News Literacy Project, echoes this need. Those "authentic examples," Adams says, "help students develop a deeper understanding of how misinformation works, the patterns it expresses over time and steps they can take to combat it."

The Stakes for Students

Fostering those skills in students and their communities is essential to their well-being.

"As the disinformation scholar Joan Donovan has pointed out, the effects of disinformation and extremist propaganda are distributed rather than primarily borne by the people who create and amplify it," Adams says.

Learning for Justice has tracked reported hate incidents that take place in school contexts. From 2019 to 2021, 35% of incidents happened online. Often, incidents intersected with surges in online misinformation, such as a spike of anti-Black incidents that coincided with concerted efforts to spread misinformation and fearmongering about Black protesters in June of 2020. Targeted students faced compounding harms.

It's why "centering survivors and victims of hate ... is incredibly important in these interventions," says Wyatt Russell, a fellow for American University's Polarization and Extremism Research Innovation Lab (PERIL). Their resources focus on combating youth radicalization and recruitment by extremists. "We can't just be focusing on the perpetrator and their needs."

But students are at risk of internalizing these harmful messages. Part of expanding digital literacy means providing students with skills and supports to inoculate them against extremist rhetoric and recruitment. This became especially pressing during a pandemic in which many students were isolated and very online.

With the Southern Poverty Law Center, PERIL produced a guide that offers strategies for recognizing signs of radicalization and intervening. The focus groups that informed the latest revision of the guide included educators, who stressed the need for digital literacy resources and restorative intervention strategies.

The consequences of inaction are dire.

"If no actions are taken, polarization can increase the potential for youth to continually be on-ramped," Russell says. "These problems don't go away, and that's going to mean continual instances of hate and bias within our schools, within our communities."

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Reimagining Digital Literacy Education to Save Ourselves

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Every crisis and injustice now live in two parallel realities: on the ground and online. Misinformation and online conspiracy theories had detrimental effects on mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic. Dehumanizing online rhetoric and anti-Asian misinformation surrounding the coronavirus often amplified and inspired offline violence. Online disinformation campaigns targeted Black voters to suppress turnout.

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subscribe to Life Kit podcast

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Fake news has consequences.

Back in 2016, before the term was even part of our national vocabulary, it threw the government of Twin Falls, Idaho, into chaos.

Rumors of a government cover-up involving child molestation and Syrian refugees swirled. They soon leaped from the fringes of the Internet to kitchen tables and the mainstream media.

"Members of the local government, the mayor, the city council members, local judges, the county prosecutor, they were basically inundated for months on end with threats," says Caitlin Dickerson, who covered the story for The New York Times. "Violent threats. Very visceral and descriptive threats from all over the world."

But the outrage was not based on facts. The details were blurred in some cases, completely fabricated in others, depending on the storyteller and their agenda.

It was a grave example of how misinformation can have a terrifying real-world impact. But falsehoods aren't hard to come by in today's information landscape.

Here are five tips to help you spot misinformation. (Or if you would rather listen, check out the Life Kit podcast here.)
1) Exercise skepticism
Take in any new information, whether it's the news or on social media or from a buddy at happy hour, with a bit of doubt. Expect the source to prove their work and show how they came to their conclusion. And try to compare information from a number of different outlets, even if you have a favorite.
2) Understand the misinformation landscape
Misinformation, as a concept, isn't new. But the social media platforms for engaging with it are constantly changing and increasing their influence in the media world. Those platforms have no financial obligation to tell the truth - their business models depend on user engagement. Reducing your dependence on social media will be good for your news judgment (and your sleep).
3) Pay extra attention when reading about emotionally-charged and divisive topics
Misinformation is most effective on hot-button issues and immediate news. Ask yourself: Is this a complicated subject, something that's hitting an emotional trigger? Or is it a breaking news story where the facts aren't yet able to be assembled? If the answer is yes, then you need to be ultra-skeptical.
4) Investigate what you're reading or seeing
What does that skepticism look like in practice? It means asking some questions of what you're reading or seeing: Is the content paid for by a company or politician or other potentially biased source? Is there good evidence? And are the numbers presented in context?

(The News Literacy Project created an app to help people test and strengthen their media literacy skills.)
5) Yelling probably won't solve misinformation
It's important to value the truth, but correcting people is always delicate. If someone in your life is spreading objective falsehoods and you want to help, be humble. Don't assume bad intentions or stupidity, just meet the other person where they are and be curious - think about opening with common ground and a question. Try to have the conversation in person or at least in a private online setting, like an email.
If you want more resources, Media Literacy Now is a good place to start.

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Fake News: How To Spot Misinformation : Life Kit

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Where can you find accurate news? Life Kit wants to empower you to become a savvy, critical media consumer. This episode has five takeaways that will help you ask important questions to spot fake news and take steps toward correcting misinformation.

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Play the fake news game! How bad are you? Become a fake news tycoon and get as many followers as you can.

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This annual event, organized in partnership with The E.W. Scripps Company, underscores the vital role of news literacy in a democracy and provides audiences with the knowledge and tools to become more news-literate.

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This annual event, organized in partnership with The E.W. Scripps Company, underscores the vital role of news literacy in a democracy and provides audiences with the knowledge and tools to become more news-literate.

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What is Fake News?

Fake news stories attempt to pass off as real false claims that are not supported by any credible evidence.

Some people and companies profit financially from the creation and sharing of fake news stories. So there is a clear profit motive. There's also a political motive since fake news can also be designed to influence and persuade.
Types of Fake News:
As noted above, fake news is most commonly defined as a fabricated story that imitates the style and appearance of real news articles with an intention to deceive.This deception can be motivated by mischief or calculated disinformation. Fake news can also fall into one of several different types:

Clickbait: a story, often sensational or featuring a sensational headline, geared toward getting "clicks" (to generate ad revenue)
Image source:Snopes' Field Guide to Fake News Sites and Hoax Purveyors

Sponsored content: a story that is made to appear as independent journalism when in fact it is public relations or advertising

Fabricated journalism: news stories that are completely made up (including fabricated quotes and sources, etc.)

Satire that parodies the format typical of mainstream journalism (e.g. theonion.com) is sometimes also described as fake news since some readers may mistakenly read it as real news reporting.

The sections below offer an overview of tools and resources you can use to help identify fake news stories.

How to Spot Fake News
Lists of Known Fake News Sites
The idea here is to help you spot fake news by knowing which sites are purveyors of fake news. Of course, it's not always that simple: keep in mind that fake news can appear on sites that don't appear on any list of known fake news sources, and that some news sources may produce reliable as well as unreliable news stories.

Two widely-circulated lists:
Evaluating News Stories and News Sources
Knowing what to look for and what questions to ask can help when trying to identify fake news. The following "checklists" provide lists of criteria and questions to consider when assessing a news story:

The CRAAP Test (Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, Purpose)
A list of questions designed to help evaluate information. The U. of Toronto at Mississauga Library has ahandy graphic, along with a link to the original CRAAP Test.

The P.R.O.V.E.N. Test for Evaluating Sources (Purpose, Relevance, Objectivity, Verifiability, Expertise, Newness)
Designed to help determine if information sources are credible. Access via the Santa Barbara City Colledge Luria LibraryReal vs. Fake News Guide.

The Process of Establishing Integrity Checklist, by Dr. Susan Maret, Lecturer at the School of Information, San Jose State University, and Project Censored contributor.
Designed to provide a "self-empowering and didactic path to finding trustworthy articles and sources of information." Access via theGlobal Critical Media Literacy Project; direct link to the Checklist.

IFLA (the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) has created the following "How to Spot Fake News" infographic based on FactCheck.org's How to Spot Fake News report:

By IFLA (http://www.ifla.org/publications/node/11174) [CC BY 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

FactCheck.org also produced the How to Spot Fake News video guide:
Fake News Detectors and Labeling
Facebook and Google are both developing systems and tools designed to help identify fake news. Other organizations have developed browser plug-ins to label fake news stories and sources. Just how successful such tools will be remains to be seen: will they be effective? will people trust them? Here are two examples (more will be added shortly):

B.S. Detector
powered byOpenSources, a "professionally curated list of unreliable or otherwise questionable sources." Research team headed be Melissa Zimdars.

This is Fake
Created by Slate.com; fake stories identified through "crowdsourcing and human moderation bySlate staffers and contributors." More details here.

Note: watch out for fake fake news checkers. As with news sources and stories, fake news checkers and detectors also need to be critically assessed. Find out who is behind a given fake news checker and how they go about identifying fake news. Check to see what a fake news checker says about a range of news sources, not just one or two as this may not be sufficient to identify any biases or agendas.
Fact-checking
The rise in prominence of fake news has also led to a rise in prominence of fact-checking sites. A recently-published book on fact-checking discusses the role of fact-checking in journalism, the practices of fact-checking organizations, and also the limits of fact-checking. Deciding What's True: The Rise of Political Fact-checking in American Journalism by Lucas Graves is available at the library at: PN 4784 .O24 G73 2016.

Below are four commonly recommended sites that aim to verify claims made by news media and politicians and debunk fake news.

FactsCan.ca
Self-described as an "independent and nonpartisan fact-checker on Canadian federal politics." Established in 2015. Not frequently updated (based on visits in January - March 2017).

FactCheck.org
A self-described "nonpartisan, nonprofit" project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania that "aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics" Monitors the factual accuracy of claims and statements by major U.S. political players in TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases.

Politifact
"Rates the accuracy of claims by elected officials and others who speak up in American politics." Operated by editors and reporters from theTampa Bay Times.

Independently owned and operated online rumour investigator. Well-regarded and in operations since 1995.

More Fact Checking Sites:
As reported by Poynter in February 2017, the Duke Reporters' Lab indicates there are now over 100 fact-checking initiatives in 47 countries.
Another useful resources:
The Chicago Guide to Fact Checking, by Brooke Borel. The University of Chicago Press, 2016.

The short guide offers tips and describes best practices for fact-checking for various sorts of media, including magazines, books and film. Designed as a guide for professional fact-checkers, this book will be of interest to anyone who wishes to learn how to read like a fact-checker. Available at the library at ZA 3075 .B67 2016.

Other Useful Tools

Internet Archive: Wayback Machine
Digital archive of publicly accessible Web pages and information from the Internet. Launched in 2001 and operated by Internet Archive, a non-profit organization located in San Fancisco. Want to compare facts or analysis available on a website today compared to information available on that same site last year, or five years ago? Give the Wayback Machine a try.

Wolfram Alpha
A "computational knowledge engine." Aims "to collect and curate all objective data... and make it possible to compute whatever can be computed about anything." For example: can be used to find facts about past weather for a given place and date, something that can be helpful when trying to determine the credibility of claims made about a photograph.
Reverse Image Search
Find information about an image to help determine if it matches a story, identify a location or track its use. These tools can also help you determine if an image has been digitally altered.
Compare and Contrast

Allsides.com
"News and issues from multiple perspectives" (left, centre, right). Includes a search tool that aims to highlight different perspectives on a topic. Not a fact-checking tool, per se, may be a useful resources for discovering different takes on a story.

Understanding the role of search engine and social media algorithms

Personalized search results and social media feeds work in part by collecting and using information about your online activity. The general idea is to give you more of what the companies behind search engines and social media think you like and want. This may seem like a good thing: relevant-seeming search results and social media posts you want to read and like. After a while, though, these systems can create filter bubbles that narrow the diversity of information that is presented to you.

Want to know more about filter bubbles?
The Fake News guide developed by Santa Barbara CIty College's Luria Library has two good sections on this topic (check out the Home and Avoiding Fake News pages).

The Guide also features Eli Pariser's TED Talk, Beware Online "Filter Bubbles" (also available below). Pariser's book, The Filter Bubble: What the Internet is Hiding from You, is available at the Mount Allison Library: ZA 4237 .P37 2011.

News Sources at Your Libraries
Mount Allison Library:
News Databases:

The Mount Allison Libraries subscribe to a number of databases providing access to Canadian, U.S., and international newspapers, wire services, magazines, and broadcast transcripts.

These news databases permit you to search multiple news sources at once for news stories from a given date or across a range of dates. In some cases you can search and access "today's" newspapers (e.g. The New York Times, in LexisNexis); in other cases you can search for news stories from decades and even centuries ago (e.g. The Globe and Mail from 1844, ProQuest). News and analysis from alternative and independent news sources can be discovered through the Alternative Press Index.

The Mount Allison University Library's news databases may be accessed from the A-Z List of Databases: News.

Print and Microfilm:

In addition to news databases, the library also receives a small number of newspapers in print and has a larger number of newspapers on microfilm (including the New York Times, London Times, and many regional newspapers). These may be discovered using the Library Catalogue. (A list of newspapers on microfilm is also available at the Research Help Desk).

Guides to Online News Sources:

Selected online news sources may be accessed on the News Sources on the Web page, and alternative and independent news sources may be accessed on the Alternative Media Guide.
NB Public Libraries:
Additional news databases, including Eureka.cc, may be accessed via the NB Public Libraries

Eureka.cc indexes and provides access to community papers from across Canada, including the Sackville Tribune-Post, and French-language newspapers such as L'Acadie Nouvelle, L'Actualité, Le Devoir, Le Droit and La Presse.

Note: Eureka.cc also includes non-news sources such as Facebook and Twitter posts on topic such as "banking," "energy," "law," and "pharmaceutical" pulled from what are described as "the social media accounts of authoritative, public, or private organizations, and individuals."

Recognizing Good Journalism

Knowing how to spot fake news is important. So is knowing how to recognize good journalism.

In other words, become familiar with journalism standards and guidelines so that you can recognize a good journalism when you see it, and spot stories masquerading as news that don't live up to these standards.

Below are just a few examples of good journalism standards:

* Facts are verified, with evidence and sources.

* Context is provided; important details not left out, misrepresented or oversimplified.

* Sources are clearly identified; if anonymous sources are used, an explanation if given.

* Subjects of news coverage are given a chance to respond.

* News and editorials (opinion) are labeled accordingly.

For more detail, see the Society of Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics and the Canadian Association of Journalists' (CAJ) Ethics Guidelines.

Other Library Guides on Fake News

No one guide can offer comprehensive lists of tips, strategies and resources. Below are several other library guides to Fake New that feature additional information, tips, and resources:

This is by no means a complete list -- more guides will be added soon.

Suggestions welcome: know of a good one that isn't listed here? Please let us know!

Readings

Selected articles about the rise in prominence of fake news:

" A Finder's Guide To Facts" by Steve Inskeep, NPR

" Moral panic over fake news hides the real enemy - the digital giants" by Evgeny Morozov, The Guardian.

" Meet the Professor Who's Trying to Help You Steer Clear of Clickbait" by Nadia Dreid, Chronicle of Higher Education.

" How Fake News Goes Viral: A Case Study" by Sapna Maheshwari, The New York Times

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Mount A Libraries: Fake News Guide: Tips and Resources

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Fake news stories attempt to pass off as real false claims that are not supported by any credible evidence. Some people and companies profit financially from the creation and sharing of fake news stories. So there is a clear profit motive. There's also a political motive since fake news can also be designed to influence and persuade.

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CATEGORY 1: Fake, false, or regularly misleading websites that are shared on Facebook and social media. Some of these websites may rely on "outrage" by using distorted headlines and decontextualized or dubious information in order to generate likes, shares, and profits.

CATEGORY 2: Websites that may circulate misleading and/or potentially unreliable information

CATEGORY 3: Websites which sometimes use clickbait-y headlines and social media descriptions

CATEGORY 4: Satire/comedy sites, which can offer important critical commentary on politics and society, but have the potential to be shared as actual/literal news

No single topic falls under a single category - for example, false or misleading medical news may be entirely fabricated (Category 1), may intentionally misinterpret facts or misrepresent data (Category 2), may be accurate or partially accurate but use an alarmist title to get your attention (Category 3) or may be a critique on modern medical practice (Category 4).

Some articles fall under more than one category. Assessing the quality of the content is crucial to understanding whether what you are viewing is true or not. It is up to you to do the legwork to make sure your information is good.

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Research & Subject Guides: Fake News: Home

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CATEGORY 1: Fake, false, or regularly misleading websites that are shared on Facebook and social media. Some of these websites may rely on "outrage" by using distorted headlines and decontextualized or dubious information in order to generate likes, shares, and profits.

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Few problems with our information environment are more pressing or prominent than the proliferation of misinformation online.

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October Media Literacy Challenge :: Week 5
Are you a superhero of fake-fighting, or do you need a few sessions of media literacy boot camp?
As the United States ramps up for midterm elections, we're giving educators the tools they need to elevate students' news and media literacy skills with the Britannica Digital Learning October Media Literacy Challenge. Every Monday in October, we'll share new resources and activities that support media literacy skills development in students.
Round out an action-packed October of media literacy challenges and ramp your school up for NAMLE's fourth-annual Media Literacy Week from November 5-9. Play our media literacy Kahoot! to test what your students have learned about media literacy, tune in to Britannica's Cool Careers Facebook Live series where we'll be interviewing a media producer and iSpeakMedia's founder, and learn about the fun ways your students and their families can engage with daily events during Media Literacy Week.
After a month of media literacy boot camp, we're excited to test your students' knowledge, inspire them about careers in media production and advocacy, and get them ready to to become thoughtful media engagers.

How much media do teens and their parents consume? How prevalent is fake news? How fierce are your fake-fighting skills? Test your media literacy knowledge with Britannica's Media Literacy Kahoots!

Join Britannica's November Cool Careers episode, where we'll interview the award-winning professional media producer and The iSpeakMedia Foundation founder Alicia Haywood. We'll ask her about her 24-year career in media production-including movies, videos, tv shows, and more. Tune in to find out how she got involved in media literacy, what it means to her, and how young people can be more engaged and healthy media consumers.

The fourth-annual Media Literacy Week in the United States is happening November 5-9, 2018 in an effort to raise the visibility of the importance and power of media literacy education and its essential role in education today. Hosted by the National Association for Media Literacy Education, U.S. Media Literacy Week brings together hundreds of partners and media literacy experts for events and activities around the country. Educators, students, and their families can get involved through the events and activity prompts each day of this essential week.

Monday: "Why Media Literacy Matters" day

In Illinois we are joining a town hall, hosted by State Representative Lisa Hernandez. As IL-HB5096 makes its way through the House, we have an open discussion about the role media plays in our lives + why it's critical for us to enact legislation for adding it to curriculum used in schools throughout Illinois.

Tuesday: #MomsForMediaLiteracyNow Day

On mid-term election day, mothers + mother figures mobilize legislative action that encourages school districts and administrators to support required media literacy K-12 curriculum.

Wednesday: Dads for Media Literacy Day

As moms campaign to make media literacy education required in the children's schools, fathers + father figures help teachers secure the necessary resources to make it possible.

Thursday: Athletes Roundtable

Media Literacy Week is calling on seasoned professional athletes to discuss media's role in their careers, social media activities, and personal brands with words of wisdom for rookies and college athletes headed down a similar path.

#FightTheFake Friday

Commit to keep the fight against fake news and misinformation going all year. Ask yourself before sharing something or posting on social media, "Can I be sure this is true?" Let your friends know when they've spread a falsehood and help them uncover the truth. You can start by watching these tips from Britannica editors:

This month-long activity series will help educators lay a strong foundation for media literacy discussions, share must-have resources with students, explore sources and how to evaluate them, and ultimately put student skills to the test with a next-level scavenger hunt. Will you join our quest to help tweens and teens become well-equipped, critical, and thoughtful consumers of media and news?

Join the challenge! Mark your calendars for these activity release dates:

WEEK 5 (October 29) - Fight The Fake: Get ready for Media Literacy Week

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Fight The Fake: Get ready for Media Literacy Week

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Are you a superhero of fake-fighting, or do you need a few sessions of media literacy boot camp? As the United States ramps up for midterm elections, we're giving educators the tools they need to elevate students' news and media literacy skills with the Britannica Digital Learning October Media Literacy Challenge.