{"id":364,"date":"2022-05-30T21:58:45","date_gmt":"2022-05-31T04:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0264\/?p=364"},"modified":"2022-05-30T23:52:09","modified_gmt":"2022-05-31T06:52:09","slug":"how-have-digital-learning-platforms-impacted-the-dissemination-of-misinformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0264\/how-have-digital-learning-platforms-impacted-the-dissemination-of-misinformation\/","title":{"rendered":"How have Digital Learning Platforms Impacted the Dissemination of Misinformation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Figure 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For the latest entry on our blogs, we were asked to work in small groups and discuss how digital learning has impacted fake news and misinformation (our chosen topic). According to Farmer (2019), the term fake news refers to \u201cmisleading news\u201d, which has been created to misinform for several reasons, including to \u201cgain power or influence\u201d (p. 223). While misinformation and fake news are not new phenomena, the way people receive it, their frequency, and the networks they share it with increased (Auberry, 2018).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The impact of digital learning on misinformation and fake news comes from it being primarily shared on social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook (Auberry, 2018). Social networking platforms like Twitter are networks which exist in digital learning environments (DLEs) (Veletsianos, 2016); thus, the dissemination of misinformation and fake news can be through DLE networks.  We have categorized the impact of DLEs on misinformation and fake news into three talking points access, skills and content<\/em><\/strong> because of how they affect both students and educators.  The aim of this task for each person in our triad (Marion, Gill and I) is to discuss the positive and negative impacts of access, skills and content. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skills: Marion\u2019s Blog<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Access: Gill\u2019s Blog<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Content: Nicole\u2019s Blog – Starts Below<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Negative Impacts and the Role of Detecting Misleading and Inaccurate Content<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Requesting information online has never been easier, enter text into a search engine, speech to text, click on a link or point your camera at a QR code. These sets of commands known as algorithms are more powerful than simply retrieving and displaying information. We can’t discredit this as a primary focus but, in the broad definition of digital learning platforms, it makes sense to understand that many of these platforms additionally offer other primary features such as networks, marketplaces and direct messaging functionalities for displaying a never-ending array of targeted and generalized material.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the article, Digital Media Has a Misinformation Problem-but It\u2019s an Opportunity for Teaching, Sparrow (2018), cautions about taking the information presented online as its face or sole value. \u201cMany people are unaware that these platforms are not meant for the dissemination of information, but are, rather, as social media platforms are meant for connecting, socializing, fraternizing and\/or being a part of a group or community that interests them\u201d (Sparrow, 2018). The concern isn’t how information is accessed, but instead, the relevance of information the consumer is presented with. Alwan et al., (2021) describes the sheer mass of information being circulated as \u201cmediated and often altered or distorted by information and AI technologies in the form of bots, algorithms, and massive data-tracking scripts”; furthermore, “The changing impact of technology at a scale beyond human capacity to manage it has made conditions ripe for the spread of fake news\u201d (p 4).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Auberry (2018) points out, \u201cWhile digital natives may have an easy time accessing content, they need guidance in knowing what to do with information comes across their feeds\u201d. Its no surprise that many individuals grapple with how to critically evaluate what they read online (Guess et al., 2020), \u201cfake news touches upon more than misinformation, disinformation, or propaganda; it also includes parodic news stories, conspiracy theories, and so-called \u201calternative facts,\u201d making it extremely difficult to identify.\u201d Alwan et  (2021).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Positive Impacts and the Role of Identifying Misleading and Inaccurate Content<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being inundated with an overwhelming amount of information has created a greater need for rigour and innovation in detecting and combating forms of misinformation. Auberry (2018), highlights the difficulties for college students deciphering misinformation, and the need to have conversations with students regarding how to identify valid and reliable content while increasing students\u2019 ability to identify fake news through information literacy education and content management system (Auberry, 2018).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are copious contributors of information and so are there numerous stakeholders that are advocators for better information integrity. Hartley, (2020) looks at some of these interventions “whereby users rate the perceived accuracy of social media posts by other users, have the goal of conditioning and nudging users to reflect more deeply on the accuracy of the news they encounter\u201d. According to Guess et al., \u201conly 17% of American adults feel they 17% of American adults feel they have the skills to learn effectively online\u201d this highlights the teachers need to be more discerning when sharing information from YouTube, Twitter or Facebook (2020, para 7).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Online platforms have their own responsibilities in protecting their data. Tech giants, like FB, Twitter and Google have recently joined the conversation around mitigating and intervening in the dissemination of fake news on their platforms (Parthenis, n.d.). Moreover, \u201cgovernments have targeted putative sources of misinformation, but engagement (i.e., sharing and promoting links) with fake news by individual users is an additional realm in which the problem of fake news can be addressed\u201d (Alwan et al., 2021, p. 6). Employing a robust suite of interventions that can be employed alongside education and responsible digital citizenship can help counter the spread of misinformation in a time the \u2018World Health Organization (WHO) refers to as an infodemic (Parthenis, n.d., para 11).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In conclusion, algorithms are not well understood and neither is the ability to detect fake news when presented with it. This both lacks and invites a new digital responsibility to online platforms which cannot be understated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Auberry, K. (2018). Increasing students\u2019 ability to identify fake news through information literacy education and content management systems. The Reference Librarian<\/em>, 59<\/em>(4), 179\u2013187. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/02763877.2018.1489935<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alwan, A., Garcia, E. P., Kirakosian, A. T., & Weiss, A. P. (2021). Fake News and Libraries: How Teaching Faculty in Higher Education View Librarians\u2019 Roles in Counteracting the Spread of False Information. Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research<\/em>, 16(2), 1-30. DOI 10.21083\/PARTNERSHIP.V16I2.6483<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farmer, L. (2019). News literacy and fake news curriculum: School librarian perceptions of pedagogical practices. Open Information Science<\/em>, 3<\/em>(1), 222\u2013234. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1515\/opis-2019-0016<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guess, A. M., Lerner, M., Lyons, B., Montgomery, J. M., Nyhan, B., Reifler, J., & Sircar, N. (2020). A digital media literacy intervention increases discernment between mainstream and false news in the United States and India. National Academy of Science<\/em>, 117<\/em>(27), 15536-15545. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.1920498117<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hartley, K., & Minh, V. K. (2020). Fighting fake news in the COVID-19 era: policy insights from an equilibrium model. Policy Sciences<\/em>, 53<\/em>(4), 735-758. 10.1007\/S11077-020-09405-Z<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parthenis, D. (n.d.). Chapter 9: To what extent does fake news influence our ability to communicate in learning organizations. In Ethical use of digital learning environments: Graduate student perspectives. University of Alberta; Creative Commons.<\/em> https:\/\/openeducationalberta.ca\/educationaltechnologyethics\/chapter\/to-what-extent-does-fake-news-influence-our-ability-to-communicate-in-learning-organizations\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the latest entry on our blogs, we were asked to work in small groups and discuss how digital learning has impacted fake news and misinformation (our chosen topic). According to Farmer (2019), the term fake news refers to \u201cmisleading news\u201d, which has been created to misinform for several reasons, including to \u201cgain power or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":274,"featured_media":365,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lrnt521"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0264\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0264\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0264\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0264\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/274"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0264\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0264\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":373,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0264\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364\/revisions\/373"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0264\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0264\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0264\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0264\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}