Professional Development Opportunities

Key objectives

• Define news literacy and develop an understanding of the field’s core competencies, including:
  • Distinguish between different types of information according to primary purpose.
  • Analyze signs of credibility in both individual news reports and sources of news.
  • Evaluate viral rumors and online claims using verification skills.
• Discuss how to help students reflect on and cultivate healthy media habits.

Key objectives

• Examine NLP’s Framework for Teaching News Literacy and the Grade band expectations for news literacy to map concepts into preexisting or new curricula.
• Identify elements from the framework that you can use in your educational setting.
• Assess how NLP’s grade band expectations align with other educational standards.

Key objectives

• Describe characteristics that make high-quality journalism and other standards-based information credible, and analyze how to recognize them. 
• Consider how red flags that violate standards of quality journalism appear in questionable sources. 
• Review resources and opportunities to incorporate learning experiences about these characteristics into existing lessons and curricula.

People frequently perceive and allege bias in news coverage, but what does this really mean? What constitutes bias in a news report, and who decides if it’s present? What role do our own biases play in our perceptions of bias? In this session we’ll help you teach this vital, controversial and complex topic in ways that empower students to meaningfully evaluate the fairness and impartiality of news coverage.

Key objectives

• Explore common perceptions of bias in news. 
• Establish the stakes of thinking and teaching about news media bias with nuance and precision. 
• Analyze real-world examples of coverage for fairness and accuracy. 
• Consider strategies and resources for effective teaching about bias in news. 

Your students spend a lot of time on social media, but do they know why certain content appears on their feeds? Algorithms are powerful but often invisible forces shaping our online experiences — but whose interests are they designed to promote?

This presentation will help you dive into the world of algorithms and generative artificial intelligence so you can teach students to consider the civic and social impact of these technologies.

You’ll preview our “Introduction to Algorithms” lesson in Checkology® to gain an understanding of how search and social media algorithms work; explore the opportunities and pitfalls of large language model chatbots, such as ChatGPT; and learn about the evolution of AI image generators. We’ll also take a look at where these technologies are heading, including the rapid development of AI video, and discuss their implications for civic discourse, student research and pedagogical practice.

Key objectives

• Review how algorithms shape the information we see and find online.
• Explore the impact of social media companies’ use of data and algorithms to personalize information and online experiences to sell targeted ads in today’s “attention economy.”
• Understand key concepts in generative AI, including large language models, chatbots and image generators.
• Detect AI-generated content and verify authentic content with various resources and examples that you can use directly with students.

Teach students to develop their misinformation “spidey senses” to spot viral falsehoods on social media — and to use verification skills to debunk them for themselves and others. This session also explores the power of “prebunking” misinformation: helping students build up “immunity” to false and misleading claims by teaching them to recognize common traits of false and misleading information, and the tactics used to make them seem true. We will explore five primary types of viral misinformation along with five factors students can use to evaluate posts they’re skeptical about. We will also practice key verification skills — like reverse image searching — and close by reflecting on how these concepts and skills can be applied in the classroom to foster careful, critical thinking and a sense of responsibility among students for what they post and amplify online. 

Key objectives

• Define misinformation and discuss the personal and civic impact of viral falsehoods.
• Explore the role that our personal beliefs, identities and biases play in our susceptibility to viral misinformation.
• Discover how to use “prebunking” strategies as a road map for teaching students how to identify and resist viral misinformation, using NLP’s free resources.
• Apply key verification skills to real-world examples of misinformation.

What does it mean to use news media literacy skills as responsible participants in a democracy?  

When students encounter new information, they’re faced with choices about how to evaluate claims and engage with other people in response. Instead of leaving students feeling cynical or overwhelmed by information overload, educators can help them build competencies. In this session, participants will learn how to help students of all ages develop a personal code of ethics to guide their participation in today’s rich, complex and fraught information environment. 

Key objectives

• Explore the role and importance of a free and independent press.
• Review teen attitudes toward standards-based news and other information.
• Discuss strategies to support students in making thoughtful, responsible decisions about the information they engage with and share.