Evaluating Digital Resources
Contemporary Information Literacy
Front Page New York Times 25 April 2006
Apology New York Times 21 May 2006
 “Despite an immediate public denial by Airbus, the
stand-up seat idea stood uncorrected for a week. And
so, as often happens with nearly unbelievable stories, this
one took on a life of its own. The concept grabbed
headlines in scores of publications around the world and
was even incorporated into illustrations on the cover of
The New Yorker and on The Times's Op-Ed page.”
Apology New York Times 21 May 2006
 "And the suggestion that an Airbus A380 with stand-up
seats "could conceivably fit in 853 passengers" should
have also raised questions. Just four weeks earlier, an
[article in The New York Times] edited by Ms. Messinger
had made clear that an A380 filled with regular coach
seats was capable of carrying 853 passengers."
The change in cognitive
authority
The change in cognitive
authority
Or is it really a change?
 The New York Times and the RMS Titanic
 CBS News and the London Blitz
 Television News and the Kennedy Assassination
 Reuters and the Lincoln Assassination
 Penny Newspapers and the Mexican War
Radio had already
built some trust as
news source
CBS + London
Neighbors and Coworkers
discussed broadcasts
Murrow builds his rep
broadcast by
broadcast
+ Steadily, his “facts”
were proved “true”
Easy Availability of radios
CBS employed
some print
journalists
What’s this mean?
 How do your students “know” something is true?
 Is it the same way you “know”?
 Is it the same way your Board of Ed “knows”?
What’s this mean?
 How do I train “information intelligence”?
 Isn’t my filter important?
 What do I do at what age?
What not to do…
 http://www.allaboutexplorers.com/teachers
Are all books good sources?
 Are all newspapers good sources?
Information not medium
Critical
 Can you find this fact in other places?
 Are other things this source says believable?
 Are there citations and connections?
 To where?
 What is the agenda of this author/publisher?
 What do people I trust think?
The Wikipedia Question
The Wikipedia Question
The Blog Question
The Blog Question
Source Discovery
 Hoover Institute
 Brookings Institution
 Center for American Progress
 Manhattan Institute
 The Guardian
 Wall Street Journal
The Book Question
The Book Question
The News Question
The News Question
The News Question
The News Question
The News Question
Ideas
 Truth is always complicated
 In a dispute, are there agreed on facts?
 If not, is there a “neutral point of view”?
 We are responsible for understanding the stories we hear.
Start Points
 Trials
 Difference between witnesses and hearsay
 Differences between witnesses
 Are police always believable?
 What makes us trust one story more than another?
Start Points
 Impossibles?
 McDonald’s v. Burger King v. Wendy’s (v. Subway?)
 Mets v. Yankees
 Canadians v. Maple Leafs
 Mustang v. Camaro
 Favorite TV Shows
Training Doubters
 Current technology allows us to challenge ideas in real
time, to look things up, to compare answers.
 Use of these technologies in your classroom will train
critical thinking in ways otherwise close to impossible.
Resources
 The Essential Skill of Crap Detecting
 Teaching about Controversial Issues
 Elementary School – The Morningside Center
 Middle School – The Morningside Center
 High School – The Morningside Center
irasocol@gmail.com
http://speedchange.blogspot.com
Evaluating Digital Resources
Contemporary Information Literacy