Alec Couros

Hello!
This past week we had a very informative presentation by Alec Couros. He joined our Internet for Educators class #14ED via Zoom. Does that name ring bell? If it does, you're right, I've blogged about his works previously. He was the one who created the typical teachers network vs. modern connected teachers network diagrams. 

Alec's presentation was about how students should keep a close eye on what kind of news could be FAKE NEWS. He states that fake news is all about power and money. There are several different forms of fake news and some are harder to detect than others. Alec writes on his webpage "education plays a more urgent and important role than ever before". This is something that we as educators really need to think about because when those students walk through the door, they are looking to us to help them navigate through the growing digital world. 

Alec brought to our attention ways in which we can look at materials and to use our critical thinking skills while we are using the internet . These are:

Cognitive bias:

Cognitive bias occurs when we are searching for something and then once we find what we thought its was all along, we convince ourselves thats the truth so them we stop searching. We don't go beyond other possibilities because we've already "confirmed" what we thought was true. This is something that we can really do some self-assessment on and think about if this is something we also do. This is also a great one to do some role-modelling with students on.

Propaganda:

Propaganda is when information is presented in a misleading way, is objective, and is especially bias. The point to propaganda is to persuade people to believe in information that is untrue in order to win people over for their cause.  

There are eight propaganda techniques that people use to persuade their opinion.

Filter Bubbles: 

Filter bubbles occur because the computer identifies what websites to share with you based on your likes. This can be negative because it doesn't allow us to be challenged by opposing ideas, therefore our thoughts can become biased and one sided. 

Here is a video that provides some great visuals and information about the consequences of filter bubbles. 

Internet Scams:

Internet scams come in all different shapes and sizes now a days. You can be catfished, be subjected to money theft, and even have your identity stolen. Alec shared about his experiences of identity theft just by using the basic information he has on his social media platforms. This is something that may students might face if they are not careful about what they share online.

More interesting points that Alec introduced: 

• Did you know that you can take pictures or videos of peoples faces and put someone else face on it? 
• Here is an even more crazy application called Adobe Voco where you can actually replicate someones voice. Well- the tech has not been released to do so, but imagine the security issues then. 
• AI Google can now make phone calls for you and book appointments. 

Alec states that less than 20% of high school students can critically think about things they see on the internet such distinguishing what is true and real.

So what can we do about this? 

Aside from really teaching those critical thinking skills, we can help students verify information by using these websites:

• verificationhandbook 

• Little Black Book of Scams (from #14ED class resources) 

• webliteracy

• Media Bias Chart

You should find out the nature of the site before you invest you time into reading something. Use the media bias chart to find if it's skewed hard right or left. 

Keep your students safe out there by arming them with the critical thinking skills and resources they need in order to make their own judgments about social influences.