First Lifeline, Now Broadband Program for Schools and Libraries in the FCC’s Crosshairs Posted by Editor on March 1, 2017 in Education, Info Literacy, Technology 0 Comment “Recently the new Federal Communications Commission majority revoked the approval of nine companies to become Lifeline providers and how that would weaken the Lifeline program and widen the digital divide. Now it appears that the E-Rate program, which makes broadband services more affordable for America’s schools and libraries, is in the FCC majority’s crosshairs. And much like the case of Lifeline, the majority is using procedural steps and administrative tools to weaken the E-Rate program.”
The True History of Fake News Posted by Editor on February 21, 2017 in Info Literacy 0 Comment “In the long history of misinformation, the current outbreak of fake news has already secured a special place, with the president’s personal adviser, Kellyanne Conway, going so far as to invent a Kentucky massacre in order to defend a ban on travelers from seven Muslim countries. But the concoction of alternative facts is hardly rare, and the equivalent of today’s poisonous, bite-size texts and tweets can be found in most periods of history, going back to the ancients.”
FactCheck.Org Posted by Editor on February 21, 2017 in Info Literacy 0 Comment “We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit ‘consumer advocate’ for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.”
How to Choose Your News: TED-Ed Lesson Posted by Editor on February 21, 2017 in Info Literacy 0 Comment “With the advent of the Internet and social media, news is distributed at an incredible rate by an unprecedented number of different media outlets. How do we choose which news to consume? Damon Brown gives the inside scoop on how the opinions and facts (and sometimes non-facts) make their way into the news and how the smart reader can tell them apart.”
How to Identify Fake News in 10 Steps Posted by Editor on February 21, 2017 in Info Literacy 0 Comment Helps students become skeptical news consumers.