It should go without saying that fighting misinformation online is up to all of us. Adults can be better. Kids can be better. And it’s up to all of us in society to make sure we continue to develop our digital literacy skills and those of our kids.
It takes a village. A village full of adults who strive to be better online. And a village of parents and teachers and leaders who are dedicated to improving our kids’ ability to think critically about the information they see online.
Digital Literacy Is Everything
It impacts how we feel, our self-esteem, our mental health, and how we interact with others. It impacts our ability to control our privacy. It can impact the way we vote, our laws, and even if we go to war. We spend more and more time online and it impacts almost every facet of our lives. There is no more important skill for humanity in the coming decades.
Who Should Be Responsible?
Governments and online media companies have a role to play, but it is up to each of us to enhance our ability to evaluate online content, think critically about it, and enter into reasonable, respectful debates around contentious issues. We can do it. Adults, leaders, parents, educators, and kids need to prioritize this learning at an early age.
This is a great analogy by Matthew Johnson, the Director of Education at MediaSmarts:
“We need speed limits, we need well-designed roads and good regulations to ensure cars are safe. But we also teach people how to drive safely,” he said. “Whatever regulators do, whatever online platforms do, content always winds up in front of an audience, and they need to have the tools to engage critically with it.”
Full article HERE.
To continue this analogy, we don’t say kids are too young to learn the rules of the road…and then give them the car keys. But we do this all the time with smart phones and access to the internet.
Contact Kermode Today
Contact the Kermode Education team today to see how our eLearning platform can help your kids or your students improve their digital literacy skills.
