While many discussions in librarianship have focused on excessive credulity in our student population, a growing issue among college students is that of complete distrust in all media. By having students create and then debunk "fake news" pages, teaching librarians can both engage them with the content and give them a clearer understanding of how information is created--and how to spot a lie. This session will walk participants through the process of creating a project that has students both put themselves in the role of disinformation disseminator and that of determined debunker, giving them insight into how misleading news is created and confidence in their own skills to counter it.
Participants will:
Be able to examine how excessive skepticism is impacting student and young adult engagement with news media.
Be able to identify useful tools and resources for sparking student understanding of disinformation.
Be able to adapt and apply a multi-part information literacy course assignment to equip students with the skills necessary to identify and analyze false or misleading information.
