Ever since the internet has become public for people it has become very important to how we live today. However, that doesn’t mean the internet has been perfect for humans. That is because of the amount of “misinformation, fake news, and rank propaganda masquerading as dispassionate analysis.” While researching a topic it is rather easy to be misled. This can be difficult for many students as well as non-students. For students, it is much easier to stick to one website when researching. However, that is a very limited way of looking into pretty much anything. When sticking to very few sources it is much harder to know just how accurate the information being received is.
With how easy it is to receive information online it might just be more damaging than good. Polarizing topics such as the recent pandemic and politics are just a few examples of note. While it is good to know about the many sides of a topic if a few of these sides are false information it isn’t much help for the teacher and especially for the student. The best way of sorting this out is for students to learn the facts and gain all of their information from multiple sources and eventually form an opinion of their own.
In the article From Digital Native to Digital Expert, it showed how fact-checkers are the most accurate in vetting information. This is something that regular historians and students seem to struggle with. It seems that historians and students are much more likely to be misled. This shows that the best way for students to handle all the information received online is to take a more indirect approach. Instead of simply reading an article from top to bottom it may be better to read “laterally’ which will help them avoid getting too deep into the content of one website. It would be much better for them to gain a wider, more impartial view.
Technology has been a godsend for everyone. However, with all the misinformation it is better for people to think more critically about what they are reading. However, we don’t need to keep them away from polarizing topics. Polarizing topics can present a great chance for learning and growth. Polarizing topics are especially the kind of topics that you will want to look at in more than one source. Getting more knowledgeable about a given topic will be much better than simply reading one side of a topic.
You pointed out the idea of lateral reading. I think that lateral reading is more important for History than it is for any other subject. When reading about the history of certain time periods there can be bias. The people who wrote about the history may have some connection to one side of the story. Thats why it is important for students to be able to see both sides and not dive deep into either side. This will give them a broader view of a certain part of history.
One of the points that I enjoyed from your insight on digital literacy was in regards to sticking to one website when doing research. Sometimes when I am short on time with writing an assignment or trying to read for homework, I stick to one source and rely on it because of its accessbility and straightforward direction. I personally need to become better at looking into more material when doing research on any type of topic. Another point that I enjoyed from your discussion was how you specifically pointed out students and historians as groups of individuals who need to broaden their horizons when reading material online. Since I currently identify with both of those groups it was a good reminder to see!
Approaching online sources indirectly may take some time for students to understand. In school, we are taught to go directly for the key facts of an article or source instead of the background information. That is why it is very important for teachers to challenge students to research sites and other sources for credibility. While technology is a godsend, we must recognize that our students may be more up to date, they are not as digitally literate.