A New Direction for Mind Manipulation
by William Jackson , Twitter @wmjackson
My Quest To Teach #MyQuestToTeach
How much more information needs to be faked, falsified, made-up and just simply lies before people hold Social
Media platforms accountable?
Fake, false, half-truths, deceptions and lies; Social Media platforms are generating global discussions about how to identify news that is misleading. Media experts are warning that false claims may lead to deceptions that have global political, economic
and educational influences.
Educators are tasked to prepare students to recognize fake news even though they are challenged with managing reading groups, literacy levels and students lacking comprehension skills. Social Media has invaded every facet of life, with such influence there has not been instruction to teach how to interpret, understand
nor guard against false and fake information.
Congressional hearing are demanding changes, but the money and resources are not there. Social Media companies claim to hire new staff, their staff need to be trained as well and may still struggle with recognizing false information if they do not have the experience. In the changing history of man in the information technology fields, information is literally at the tip of the finger tips. Children can do a Google search for anything imaginable. “Media Literacy” is seen as a minor priority as more and more people struggle with understanding how a integrate information from digital platforms to create a
foundation for interpretation.
African institutions should be on the path of “teaching” high school and higher education students how to interpret and recognize false information. Each generation of students will be task with the responsibility of creating, distributing and comprehending content. “Media Literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate and create media in a variety of forms.” Wikipedia “Media literacy builds an understanding of the role of media in society as well as essential skills of inquiry and self-expression necessary for citizens of a democracy.” The Internet is a pool of information that is global for facts. So powerful its influence there are “information wars” by groups sharing ideologies
that are dangerous.
Parents not only should be cautious about sex, porn, nudity, profanity, violence and identity theft they should be concerned about false
information the can influence thinking.
Parents that are limited in their ability to read and comprehend may be contributing to the breakdown of learning because they too are not taking the time to read and comprehend what their children are engaged in. Continued education is the right direction, parents need to be added to the equation and mentored and taught as well.
Resources:
How to Recognize False News
https://mashable.com/2017/10/03/how-to-avoid-spreading-misinformation-online/#qMnOJ9pvCmqt
How Teachers Can Fight Fake News
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/real-things-teachers-can-combat-fake-news Ways Teachers are Fighting Fake News
https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/02/16/514364210/5-ways-teachers-are-fighting-fake-news
Reading, Writing, Fighting Fake News
https://www.cnn.com/2017/03/29/health/school-kids-fight-fake-news-trnd/index.html
Teaching Strategies Fighting Fake News
http://www.teachhub.com/teaching-strategies-detect-fake-news
William is the digital innovator for his brand My Quest To Teach using the hashtag #MyQuestToTeach sharing his journey teaching, mentoring,
community activism and community collaborations.