College Adulting 101

Digital Literacy

"the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills" 

From: https://literacy.ala.org/digital-literacy/

In short, these are the skills that allow an individual to live, learn and work in a digital society.

Why are these skills important?

• most jobs require excellent digital skills
• increase online safety by empowering with knowledge and tools to avoid problems
• help to learn digital responsibility, which is the ability to consume and communication information ethically (e.g. avoid issues with plagiarism, cyberbullying, fake news etc.) 
• improve social opportunities by allowing social interactions outside your immediate circle 

From: https://edureach101.com/teaching-students-digital-literacy/

What is Fake News or False Information?

False information is news, stories or hoaxes created to deliberately misinform or deceive readers. Usually, these stories are created to either influence people’s views, push a political agenda or cause confusion and can often be a profitable business for online publishers. False information can deceive people by looking like trusted websites or using similar names and web addresses to reputable news organisations.

In evaluating the credibility of an information source there are several key areas to consider:

• the Authority of the author and the background of the publisher
• the Objectivity of the author
• the Quality of the work
• the Currency of the work
• the Relevancy of the work

From: https://fordham.libguides.com/FakeNews/Evaluation