SLIS 761 Post #2 - Information Literacy and Critical Thinking
That the beginning of the podcast that I was assigned to listen to for class began with a discussion of conspiracy theories as the lead into a discussion about fake news felt like serendipity to me. Over the past several months, I have been listening to a podcast called Conspiracy! The Show, which is hosted by two comedians who take a conspiracy theory and present the alleged proof both for and against the theory. On several occasions, one of the hosts, Adam Tod Brown (2017-Present), has made the observation that the same level of scrutiny is not often applied to the people who debunk conspiracy theories, as it is to the people who present them. The validity of that point might be considered questionable by the metrics laid out by The Liturgists Podcast host Science Mike (2014-Present), in the episode “Fake News and Media Literacy,” as I have referenced it without a direct citation. I feel like one of the main points that Science Mike was trying to make in that episode though, was that information needs to be approached with a healthy level of skepticism, which I think is echoed in Brown’s point. Additionally, I think that it pairs well with the first frame from the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, which states that, “Authority is constructed and contextual” (ACRL Board of Directors, 2016, p. 12). It is through our own judgement that we decide whether or not information and its source are credible, and a little extra scrutiny can only serve to strengthen the confidence placed in that credibility.
Aside from skepticism though, I think that the primary element linking information literacy to technology and media is the use of critical thinking. Dictionary.com (n.d.) defines critical thinking as, “disciplined thinking that is clear, rational, open-minded, and informed by evidence.” In the Partnership for 21st Century Learning’s (2009) P21 Framework Definitions, under the “Information Literacy,” section, one of the goals is to, “Evaluate information critically and competently” (p. 5). In the “Media Literacy” section, one of the goals is to, “Understand both how and why media messages are constructed, and for what purposes,” which again requires the use of critical thinking (p. 5). Where technology comes in is as a tool to help you evaluate and understand information. As Science Mike (2014-Present) warned in the podcast, fake news is the “whirlwind we are reaping as a culture for not engaging more critical thinking.” Through the application of critical thinking in the different literacies, we can hopefully improve the quality of the information that we choose to ingest.
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| (Fadel, 2011) |
I would like to think that my own information diet has been improving over the last couple of years. From 2017 to 2021, I got much of my news from a couple of different pages on Facebook and through suggestions on my Google homepage. I was indulging in the same kind of social media fast food that The Liturgists Podcast warned against, clicking the links to articles with headlines meant to make me feel outrage. One day I just realized that I had really put myself into a bubble where I was just reading articles that were playing to my biases and I felt like I was not getting anything positive from it, so I stopped following those pages. The only page I follow with news now is my local news channel’s page. I try to avoid any news articles that express a clear opinion, because I want to be able to form my own opinion about the information without any influence. With all the research into library and information science that I have been doing in the last year or two, the Google algorithm has begun promoting related stories to me, which I find very helpful. I think that the information diet of a school librarian should be healthy, and if you want it to be healthy, then you cannot be lazy. You have to put in the work to maintain it, which means doing your research and checking sources.
References
ACRL Board of Directors. (2016). Framework
for information literacy for higher education. The Association of College
and Research Libraries. https://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/issues/infolit/framework1.pdf
Brown, A. T. (Host). (2017-Present).
Conspiracy! The show [Audio podcast]. Unpopular Opinion. https://unpops.com/show/conspiracy-the-show
Dictionary.com. (n.d.). Critical
thinking. In Dictionary.com dictionary. Retrieved January 28, 2022, from
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/critical-thinking
Fadel, C. (2011). P21 skills [Picture].
Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:P21_Skills.jpg
Gungor, M. & Mike, S. (Hosts).
(2014-Present). The liturgists podcast [Audio podcast]. Spotify. https://anchor.fm/the-liturgists-podcast
The Partnership for 21st
Century Skills. (2009). P21 Framework Definitions. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED519462.pdf
Hi Jason,
ReplyDeleteThe podcast you have been listening to sounds very interesting to me on the topic of conspiracy theories. I also agree that a main takeaway from The Liturgists podcast was to approach information with a healthy amount of skepticism and I liked that they pointed out this statement also included being skeptical of what they had to say and use critical thinking. Another great point you made was the "information diet of a librarian should be healthy, and if you want it to be healthy, then you cannot be lazy". This was perfectly said, and finding credible information and fact checking can be extra work, but it is worth it in the long run. Thanks for sharing!
Hello Jason. I enjoyed reading your blog. Like you, I believe that a key element in evaluating information is critical thinking. I would also pair critical thinking with problem solving skills in the aspect of thinking about and assessing the information. When using these skills, typically they are coupled with evidence and compared against other sources that support or oppose the accuracy. Skepticism is healthy and needed. Anyone who quickly dismisses it is suspicious...lol.
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