Misinformation in the Information Age: What Teachers Can Do to Support Students
by Erica Hodgin and Joseph Kahne
Rather than focusing on whether a statement is accurate, youth—like adults— often focus on whether a statement supports their prior beliefs. These problems are exacerbated by (a) the growth of the Internet which makes it easier to circulate such content, (b) increasing partisanship, which means people are even more likely to focus on what their “team” says regardless of whether its accurate, and (c) diminished trust in institutions like the news media. Given these dynamics, it is fundamentally important that educators support youth in developing a “healthy level of skepticism” so they can critically evaluate online information while at the same time identifying trustworthy sources of news.