Media Literacy is C.R.A.P.

C.R.A.P. 

That’s what students see on the board at the start of their 8th grade Cyber Civics “Media Literacy” lessons. It gets their attention. Believe me.

I learned this handy acronym in the book, NetSmart: How to Thrive Online (2012) by Stanford University Professor, Howard Rheingold.  At the beginning of “Chapter 2: Crap Detection 101: How to Find What You Need to Know, and How to Decide if its True,” Rheingold quotes Hemingway,

Every man should have built-in automatic 
crap detector operating inside him.

-Ernest Hemingway, 1965

This is the essence (if you can actually consider CRAP an essence) of "media literacy." Like its sister terms—digital literacy, digital citizenship, information literacy--“media literacy” isn’t well understood. You’ll find a detailed definition and description of this 21st century skill on the NAMLE (National Association of Media Literacy Education) website. On CyberWise, our Media Literacy Hub provides a load of “media literacy” resources and information, as well as our short definition,

Media Literacy is knowing how to critically 
consume and produce media messages.

But boring terms and definitions aside, how can we make “media literacy” matter to kids? Tell them it’s C.R.A.P.!

Kids today are bombarded with media messages, via their smartphones, computers, tablets, television, and more. In this newly networked world, anyone, anywhere can produce and publish just about anything and thus be viewed as an instant expert. It’s hard to cut through the, well, crap. That’s where Rheingold’s handy acronym comes in. It helps, no actually it is ESSENTIAL, to give kids the tools to accurately assess online information. That’s why I teach them to give online information Rheingold’s four-part test:

Currency -

          -How recent is this information?

          -How recently has the website been updated?

Reliability

          -What kind of information is included in the resource?

          -Does the creator provide references or sources for data? Or quotations?

  Authority          

          -Who is the creator or author? What are their credentials?

          -Who is the publisher or sponsor? Are they reputable? 

            

Purpose/Point of View -

          - Is this fact or opinion? Is it biased?

          - Is the creator/author trying to sell you something?

-Howard Rheingold, "Net Smart: How To Thrive Online"

In Cyber Civics we treat this as a two-part lesson, applying C.R.A.P. Detection skills to a host of websites that students are asked to evaluate using the four points above. We revisit the C.R.A.P. test throughout the year, applying it to all the media messages we evaluate-- from gender and race stereotypes, to political campaigns (a wealth of crap there), to doctored photos, and much more.  

Last year I even overheard one student recommending to her mother to use the C.R.A.P. test to evaluate a questionable email she'd received from a banker in Nigeria.

So in honor of this week--National Media Literacy Week--let's all start talking about C.R.A.P. Because sometimes it takes a scatological reference to make media literacy matter. Thank you Rheingold!

In celebration of Media Literacy Week please download the lessons above and try them in your classroom (or share with a teacher!).

And don't forget to visit the CyberWise Media Literacy Hub to learn more!

Participating in the First-Ever Digital Citizenship Summit

Earlier this month the first-ever Digital Citizenship Summit took place in West Hartford, CT. It was an awesome gathering of digital citizenship educators (yes there is such a thing), supporters, and advocates. These are people who work tirelessly to make the Internet a kinder and safer place for our children. 

I was honored to participate as a presenter, sharing stories from the Cyber Civics classroom. Although it's not quite engaging without audio or a chance to participate in the actual activities, here is a copy of my presentation. 

Stay tuned for an exciting announcement about next year's conference!

When Schools Use Tech, They Need a Plan

Two years ago, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the nation’s second largest school district, initiated a $1-billion plan to equip students with iPads. Within weeks, the program made headlines when hundreds of students started accessing social media sites, among other things. School official quickly recalled most of the devices and the debacle contributed to the departure of the superintendent and other top staff and led to an ongoing FBI investigation. 

We took this story to heart when designing the second year of Cyber Civics. Although, like the first year of the program, CyberCivics: Year 2 can be taught entirely without technology, many schools (like ours), use iPads for some of these “information literacy” lessons.

Therefore, the very first activity of Year 2 is the establishment of classroom agreements on the use of technology.

This is important, because today’s students spend a lot of time online, most of it away from the watchful eyes of parents and teachers. So any “rules” we set for them aren’t nearly as effective as “agreements” they make together. Kids like being the architects of the norms that rule their digital spaces.

I introduce this activity in my classes by talking to students about what happened in LAUSD; I tell them how the kids in L.A. “hacked” their iPads in only 10 days. The first question?

“What took them so long?”

Then we take a look at the Online Safety Cards offered by Good Digital Parenting. These cards set some terrific ground rules and are a great place to start. To solicit students’ input and, more importantly, their buy-in, we use these cards as a template to craft our own agreement between the students and the school. 

Working together in small groups, students suggest changes/additions to these “rules.” You'd be surprised, as I am every year, by the “what-if” scenarios students imagine. For example, my students want to know:

• What if a device is broken or a screen is cracked? Who pays for it?

• What about passwords? Security settings? Shouldn't the class set these up together as a learning activity?

• Should there be rules about taking/posting photos of other students? What about privacy?

• Should they open a class email account?

• What about educational apps? Could there be an approval process for possible downloads?

• What if/when a device goes home? Whose "rules" apply then?

And on and on.

The point is that while kids know an awful lot about how to get around our measures to “protect” them, they also know better than anyone else how to protect one another.

Last week an update on LAUSD’s technology “plan” ran in the L.A. Times. Here is an excerpt:

In that first year [of the iPad roll-out], students initially could have taken the iPads home; later, they couldn't. The next year, students were allowed to use the iPads only during a single class period, every other day. Last year, students didn't receive the devices until they were in the third month of school. 

Eventually, officials decided that schools need to demonstrate that they can make good use of the devices. Valley Academy was the first to get such a plan approved. As of last week, it was the only school with an approved plan, but other campuses are not far behind, said Bill Wherritt, a deputy director in the facilities division.

Hmmm, I’m thinking about lending some of our students out as consultants to LAUSD to help them with their plan. What do you think?

Digital Literacy Classes Raise Other Scores

Dr. Jane Karwoski of the Social Network Show recently invited me to talk to her about Cyber Civics, the middle school digital literacy program that equips students to be ethical and competent users of technology. We talked about a lot of topics, including the actual lessons, three tips for parents, and how these classes raise test scores. You can read about it here or listen to the entire podcast here.