Sam Wineburg Profile picture
Sep 15, 2020 10 tweets 6 min read Read on X
The article below has about the same credibility as POTUS's claim that the Coronavirus would disappear by Easter. It's an embarrassing piece of misinformation that flies in the face of piles of evidence. axios.com/gen-z-is-erodi… @Mantzarlis
The best evidence for GenZ's ability to make sense of misleading content is a recent national survey of 3,446 high school students who were tested using a live internet connection. 2/8
Teens were asked was whether a grainy Facebook video showing alleged ballot stuffing (the video was actually shot in Russia) provided "strong evidence" of US voter fraud. A simple search pulls up Snopes, the BBC, and dozens of other sources instantly debunking the claim. 3/8
Over half of these "savvy GenZer's" fell for the ruse. It gets worse . . . 4/8
Two thirds (!) couldn't tell the difference between an ad and a news story on Slate's landing page. The words "sponsored content" went over the heads of most. 5/8

Unfortunately it doesn't end there, folks.
96% failed to link a climate change denying site to its backers, (e.g., ExxonMobil) a fact easily discovered by entering the organization’s name in a browser and reading laterally. (see
cor.stanford.edu/videos/lateral…
see as well the awesome materials from @holden) ). .
Our research has been replicated by dozens and dozens of studies across an array of national contexts. There's too many to count, in fact. 7/8
@SHEG_Stanford has teamed up with MIT @mit_tsl to provide this FREE course. No charge to sign up--it starts today. edx.org/course/sorting…
No one has the answer for how we're going to get out of this digital swamp. Pretending our students already possess the wherewithal to see through anti-vaxxers, Holocaust deniers, & climate change cynics will only land them deeper into the swamp. psmag.com/ideas/how-we-c…
One more thing: this little video from the amazing librarians at the University of Louisville, drawing on @SHEG_Stanford's concept of lateral reading, will save your kids much grief. Three minutes of your time, that's it. @robdetmering

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More from @samwineburg

Sep 22, 2022
History teachers: want to help students understand the central role of chronology in historical thinking, using the Montgomery Bus Boycott as a case study? Listen up. a short🧵
Here’s the story many will bring to class: Rosa Parks refused to yield her seat on December 1, 1955 & spontaneous protests broke out, leading to the boycott.
Few will understand the immense planning that went into this collective action. Give students this document, from Jo Ann Robinson, President of Montgomery Women’s Political Council, one of 68 organizations in Montgomery dedicated to advancing the rights of Black Americans.
Read 6 tweets
May 4, 2022
Google's "3 dots" will save your students much grief by making @lateralreading simple. Have you noticed the 3 dots to the right of each result? 🧵 1/4 Image
Press on them and a new panel pops up Image
Press on "More about this page" Image
Read 4 tweets
Nov 22, 2020
With Thanksgiving coming up, let’s talk about formative assessment (There’s a connection..stay with me for a sec). 1/15
You’ve heard the term: “Formative assessment”-- it’s a buzzword of sorts. What is it? 2.
Let’s start with the “form” in formative. What’s being 'formed' is you, not your students. You’re assessing your students in order to figure out your next instructional move. 3/15
Read 15 tweets
Nov 11, 2020
Tomorrow's lesson for students on the mechanics of disinformation. A smoking gun video allegedly showing ballots being wheeled to Detroit's counting center during the wee hours of the night. The video's been viewed a million times (here & elsewhere). 1/10
It gets amplified by YouTube amplifiers with an agenda to cast doubt on the integrity of the election. (at 7:12) Notice the ominous framing
Smoking gun, right? How can we tell? That's the question we'd put to students. Their response (typically): "Google it." 3/10
Read 11 tweets
Nov 9, 2020
Here's an easy (& timely) lesson for your kids tomorrow. Let's start with this tweet. What's the difference between mis- and disinformation? It's big. 1/11
"The media doesn't select the president," with the headline President Gore. As we know, there was no Pres. Gore--it was Pres. Bush (you'll have to fill in some context for kids). Then, you'll need to discuss a) who is Tim Murtaugh, & b) why would he want to push that message now?
Have kids search Tim Murtaugh and teach them to "hover" (a term from @holden's infodemic.blog), putting their cursor by the person's name, 3/11
Read 12 tweets
Nov 6, 2020
Expect an avalanche of misinformation (& the confusion that follows) in the next few hours. We educators have our work cut out. See our latest in today's LA Times. @nadavsziv @SHEG_Stanford latimes.com/opinion/story/…
Looking for useful activities to do with your students today, no matter their politics? See cor.stanford.edu for free, research-tested lesson plans.
Here's a vision of what it looks like in a high school classroom (but it can be done online too!) youtube.com/results?search…
Read 4 tweets

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