Your state may or may not have a commitment to prepare students to learn in a world where fake news is published without apology and politicians even at the highest level endorse false narratives. As preparation for responsible citizenship, preparing graduates to identify and rely on accurate information would seem among the most important goals educators must address. Exactly how this can be done in a climate where educators can be expected to keep politics out of their classroom even when politicians take positions on some issues (e.g., climate change) that are not in keeping with the best information available from experts and considered beyond dispute is clearly a challenge. What is the point of studying the facts of science and history, if some adults purposefully ignore such findings as inconvenient and then dispute challenges to their motives when called out on purposeful falsehoods (lies)?
Some states (e.g., California) have recognized this issue and passed legislation to make this an educational priority. However, upon closer scrutiny, what states have actually committed to do are pretty weak commitments in contrast to the level of the problem. See following paragraph describing the California law.
Last week California Governor Jerry Brown signed into state law a bill that mandates the California Department of Education provide media literacy resources on its website, to help teachers and students navigate the maze of information on the internet.
On the national level, Democratic Senators have also outlined legislation issues related to online content they would like to see considered. In this political climate, I am not holding my breath as party affiliation seems to determine what issues will be considered in the Senate.
Issues must compete for classroom time in K12. Coding for all seems to have achieved a level of acceptance based on the perception that technology plays an important role in the economy. Elementary educators are urged to find ways to embed coding activities in the curriculum and secondary administrators are encouraged to offer coding courses and find the means to hire staff with the appropriate background to teach such courses.
Among the issues with digital information literacy is where does it fit and how can it be taught while avoiding the overlap with political perspectives. Consider that coding when positioned as an occupational opportunity has few dissenting voices, but climate change while clearly an issue of science is frequently considered politicized. The scientists don’t think so, but the parents of students might. Legislation at the national and state levels would go a long way to giving educators political cover for taking on important topics.
Education Week offers this perspective on the preparation of students for a world in which fake news is a growing part of the confusion that citizens must navigate.
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