New Literacy Strategies for the Digital Age

Now that technology has become deeply integrated into nearly every aspect of our lives we must start to think about what that means for the information we consume.  Just as generations before needed some knowledge of the Dewey Decimal System, or perhaps which way a particular newspaper slanted, we must get a handle on how to access information on the internet. The rules of the information game are in a sense, the same but different. It is the same in that we must still know who is publishing and controlling the information that we consume, and perhaps to what agenda this serves.  Yet it is different because the actual delivery methods have undergone a face lift with the advent of the internet.  Eli Pariser explains the dangers and implications of algorithmic gatekeepers of information which cater the availability of information to a specific person's identity.  The end consequence of this practice is the dreaded "filter bubble" which omits some information from a person's radar.  Often times this means we get more fluff than important news, or we only see articles and topics that reflect our interests, or most obviously the filters misunderstand us and provide ridiculous content out of left field.  The implication of this practice is that since they are automated algorithms they are usually invisible.  This poses problems for students doing research and it also complicates being a well informed person. Eli Pariser ends his TED talk with a sort of plea to the big information corporations to give the people more say in content they are feed but I say we also need to teach students how to actively seek out information rather than passively receive it.  Students need to know how to check multiple sources, use alternative search methods, and essentially work around the filter bubbles.  I think recognizing and breaking out of bubbles needs to be stressed when teaching online literacy because students aren't only going to be searching scholarly databases for their whole lives.  Students really need to know how to navigate google and recognize the bias in forums and other less reputable sources because in all honesty those are the places that we most often go for information in our day to day lives.  The internet isn't a completely black and white place in terms of credibility and I think students need to know how to work through the grey areas.

Online Reading Comprehension - Strategy Exchange

Eli Pariser: Beware online "filter bubbles"