Fake News and the “Wild Wide Web”: A Study of Elementary Students’ Reliability Reasoning
Online research presents unique challenges for elementary students as they develop and extend fundamental literacy skills to various media. Some features of internet text differ from that of traditional print, contributing to the challenges of discerning “fake news.” Readers must understand how to n...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Societies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/11/4/121 |
| _version_ | 1827669568838959104 |
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| author | Jodi Pilgrim Sheri Vasinda |
| author_facet | Jodi Pilgrim Sheri Vasinda |
| author_sort | Jodi Pilgrim |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Online research presents unique challenges for elementary students as they develop and extend fundamental literacy skills to various media. Some features of internet text differ from that of traditional print, contributing to the challenges of discerning “fake news.” Readers must understand how to navigate online texts to conduct research effectively, while applying critical thinking to determine the reliability of online information. Descriptive data from an ongoing study revealed that children in grades 1–5 lack some basic understanding of how to search the “wild wide web.” Just as children benefit from explicit instruction related to text features, children benefit from instruction related to the features of the internet. This article presents a study of website evaluation that occurs early in the search process prior to the selection of a particular website or article. The application of the web literacy skills required to conduct an internet search is addressed, and recommendations prompt teachers to consider searches beyond the “walled garden,” as well as ways to handle the “messiness” of internet exploration. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:06:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-aebcc00653c642078bb324f1abd8b777 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-4698 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:06:03Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Societies |
| spelling | doaj.art-aebcc00653c642078bb324f1abd8b7772023-11-23T10:33:31ZengMDPI AGSocieties2075-46982021-10-0111412110.3390/soc11040121Fake News and the “Wild Wide Web”: A Study of Elementary Students’ Reliability ReasoningJodi Pilgrim0Sheri Vasinda1College of Education, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, Belton, TX 76513, USACollege of Education and Human Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USAOnline research presents unique challenges for elementary students as they develop and extend fundamental literacy skills to various media. Some features of internet text differ from that of traditional print, contributing to the challenges of discerning “fake news.” Readers must understand how to navigate online texts to conduct research effectively, while applying critical thinking to determine the reliability of online information. Descriptive data from an ongoing study revealed that children in grades 1–5 lack some basic understanding of how to search the “wild wide web.” Just as children benefit from explicit instruction related to text features, children benefit from instruction related to the features of the internet. This article presents a study of website evaluation that occurs early in the search process prior to the selection of a particular website or article. The application of the web literacy skills required to conduct an internet search is addressed, and recommendations prompt teachers to consider searches beyond the “walled garden,” as well as ways to handle the “messiness” of internet exploration.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/11/4/121wild wide webfake newsnew literaciesweb literacycritical thinkingreliability reasoning |
| spellingShingle | Jodi Pilgrim Sheri Vasinda Fake News and the “Wild Wide Web”: A Study of Elementary Students’ Reliability Reasoning Societies wild wide web fake news new literacies web literacy critical thinking reliability reasoning |
| title | Fake News and the “Wild Wide Web”: A Study of Elementary Students’ Reliability Reasoning |
| title_full | Fake News and the “Wild Wide Web”: A Study of Elementary Students’ Reliability Reasoning |
| title_fullStr | Fake News and the “Wild Wide Web”: A Study of Elementary Students’ Reliability Reasoning |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fake News and the “Wild Wide Web”: A Study of Elementary Students’ Reliability Reasoning |
| title_short | Fake News and the “Wild Wide Web”: A Study of Elementary Students’ Reliability Reasoning |
| title_sort | fake news and the wild wide web a study of elementary students reliability reasoning |
| topic | wild wide web fake news new literacies web literacy critical thinking reliability reasoning |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/11/4/121 |
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