Winnipeg students learning the skills needed to deal with online misinformation, disinformation
CBC
It's a Tuesday morning at Dakota Collegiate in Winnipeg and a Grade 9 social studies class has just begun.
"In 2022, how many of you when you have to start research for this class, that class, any class, how many of you go to [the] library first?" asks teacher-librarian Kevin Osachuk.
"I really could use a cricket sound effect," he goes on to say, before pointing out the laptops and smart phones sitting on their desks that give them instant access to information.
The question is part of a lesson Osachuk teaches at the Grade 9-12 class called "Information Literacy in the Age of Fake News."
At a time when the spread of disinformation and misinformation online has the potential to affect people's choices, from their health to where they stand on issues such as climate change, Osachuk thinks teaching students how to verify information and find and use credible sources is critical.
"I've never felt it's a more important time for teacher-librarianship and information literacy skills," Osachuk said in an interview with CBC News.
"I'm a dad and a teacher, and seeing how quickly and pervasive misinformation-disinformation are spread makes me very concerned."
In the lesson Osachuk explains that what you hear about issues ranging from Russia's invasion of Ukraine to COVID-19 vaccines will change depending on where the information comes from.
He discusses concepts such as bias, how to search for information on databases, explains the difference between misinformation and disinformation and the importance of checking multiple sources.
"What we want is for our students to be able to make up their own minds," he said, and have the skills to check out information for themselves.
Learning how to interpret, critique and analyze news outlets, social media and novels is part of what Kelvin High School English teacher Angela Remillard says she's teaching students.
One of her projects involves using a media bias chart in the shape of a horseshoe that represents left, right and centre as a way to analyze several articles on a single topic.
"It's amazing how once they look at that across three spectrums they're, like, it is not consistent at all. And I find that it's not saying what is right, it's just, can you pinpoint the language use and what that's trying to convince you of," she said.
Remillard has been teaching English for nearly two decades, but has started putting greater emphasis on misinformation and disinformation in recent years.