Integrating News Literacy into Teaching in the Age of Social Media

Abstract

This workshop demonstrates how the two authors have been integrating news literacy and critical thinking into their curriculum for the last three years to guide the future generation of discerning news media consumers who could critically distinguish reliable facts and knowledge from the problematic. It introduces the key concepts adopted from various literatures while showcasing some of the fresh case studies with “ripped-from-the-headlines” examples developed for exercises and discussions, which especially addresses the issues surrounding today’s social media-saturated, mobile world. It highlights some of the students’ research that exemplify the skills their pupils acquire. The authors also suggest a variety of ways their teaching modules could be modified according to the academic environment in different institutions and countries. The news literacy initiative is part of the Asia Pacific Digital Citizens Project at their university, for which the two have been collaborating with like-minded scholars and educators around the world.