Critical Thinking and Evaluation: Students need to learn how to question that they know that a source is credible. This means to recognize sources, know the difference between facts and fiction. If they don't have these skills, they could believe false information and misunderstand topics.

Understanding Bias and Perspective: Everything in media is always created with some bias. News articles, social media posts, or advertisements all have some bias tied in with them. Students need to know and recognize the different perspectives that are tied in with different media content. When students can recognize this, it can help them to become more informed and see multiple perspectives. This helps them to avoid being influenced by one side or another.

Media Creation/Communication: Information and media literacy isn't just about looking at content, but also creating it. Students need to have skills to know how to communicate in writing and speaking to help share their own ideas through the media. This is important, because today we use a lot of media to communicate thoughts, feelings, or even ideas.

Digital Citizenship and Honest Use of Information: Students have easy access to information through technology. Because of this easy access, students need to learn how to use it responsibly. They need to develop skills in citing sources in correct ways, respect different copyright laws, as well as engage in honest online communication. As students know their role in being responsible digital citizens, they are more likely to interact in a respectful and trustworthy way.

As an educator I believe in these competencies because they help students to think independently, communicate honestly and effectively, and participate in the ever growing media world. With strong information and media literacy, students become involved and informed digital citizens who can engage responsibly within the world of media. Without these skills students are at risk to believing in false and misleading information, unable to communicate their ideas in media, and can be manipulated by biased media. So, it is important that students develop these strong information and media literacy skills to help them navigate the media world.

The misconception that cursive writing is no longer need can make students believe that it is not necessary or no longer relevant. This is because the misconception aligns with societal views that communication through technology is better. When there is more emphasis on typing and digital tools, it makes handwriting seem outdated or no longer relevant. As this misconception is reinforced through technology, students tend to believe that cursive writing is no longer used in today's society.

The misconception that students should just memorize facts to succeed academically can make them believe that success depends on how well you can recall information and facts. This idea is reinforced by standardized tests and how fast students can recall information, which leads them to just memorizing instead of understanding.

To help students avoid misinformation, we as educators need to teach students about information and media literacy. We can do this by teaching students how to evaluate sources to make sure they are credible. By teaching students the importance of evaluating sources, it helps them to choose out reliable and true information, rather than misinformation. You could also teach students to cross-reference and fact-check. If students are unsure about information, they can find another source that supports that information. This helps students to know that it is reliable and truthful.