Social media has become one of the most essential aspects of our lives today. We use social media to connect with friends and family. We use it to connect with other professionals in our fields. Our students use it daily to talk to all their friends the same way that we wrote notes back and forth between classes when I was in school. This is why we have to start teaching them how to be safe and learn to find quality information at a very young age.
Arguments on social media can be used for good or bad and it's up to the reader to make sure that they get the right information. Most educators do not consider the possibility of actually using social media to teach their students how to argue online effectively and appropriately. The question is how do we decide what is the most accurate information we read when following these arguments.
For example, I like to follow several different news sources to distinguish between the stories and how they are covered by the different sources. We all know that the news media has become a very bias industry and if you haven't, then you must have been living in a box for the last 10 years. The different news outlets are either bias toward the right or the left. Most people, depending on their own political views choose to follow the ones that lean the same way they do. I choose to keep a little of both just to see the differences and make my own judgments.
Below you can click to view a video from CNN News. In the video, they completely dismiss TV personality, Tucker Carlson, and call him a liar. Click here to view the video.
You can form your own opinions about that. I will not try to influence you either way. That is your business. I would like for you to see the video from Tucker Carlson Tonight responding to what was said about him and what he wanted to know. Click here to view the video.
You can see that the argument is used to try to persuade anyone watching either of the videos. It all depends on the viewer to make the right decision on what to believe for themselves. This is where the MINDFUL strategies will come into play. We can teach students how to use these actions to determine the usefulness and validity of something they read or listen to on their own. You can find the explanation of the MINDFUL strategies on pages 109-110 in the book Argument in the Real World by Kristen Turner and Troy Hicks. You can find the book to purchase here. The steps of the plan are listed below.
Monitor your reading and writing
Identify the claim
Note the evidence
Determine the framework and the mindset
Facts
Understand the counter argument
Leverage your response
In the end, we all have to learn to be MINDFUL of what we read and see. It may be something that sounds too good to be true and it's up to us to know how to separate the fact from the fiction.
Dr. Anthony FAUCI on Tucker CARLSON'S COMMENT: Typical crazy conspiracy theory - CNN Video. (2021, April 14). https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2021/04/14/dr-anthony-fauci-tucker-carlson-covid-19-vaccines-newday-vpx.cnn.
FOX News Network. (n.d.). Tucker responds to Dr. Fauci calling his vaccine questions a 'conspiracy theory'. Fox News. https://video.foxnews.com/v/6249029916001#sp=show-clips.
I agree, we as educators need to teach our students how to monitor what they read as well as know how to make good judgement on the source’s credibility. I like how you mentioned not just relying on one source, but gathering information from multiple sources to form your argument. Turner and Hicks say, “Misinformation has become a problem as open access to the Internet allows users to share content that has not been vetted” (2017, p. 105). Teaching our students how to share credible sources properly is the first step in teaching our students how to use credible sources. You made a great point on not being biased towards one side of the story. The authors also point out that, “users mostly tend to select and share content according to a specific narrative and to ignore the rest” (2017, p. 105). In addition to how you said the videos “try to persuade anyone watching”, the book also touches on this topic.
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Turner, K. H., & Hicks, T. (2017). Argument in the real world: Teaching adolescents to read and write digital texts. Heinemann Publishers
Barbara,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you too! We need to teach our students and ourselves to monitor how we use social media and the outlets it portrays for us. As teachers, "we want them [students] to monitor their reading and writing, analyze the argument being made, and think carefully before sharing with other readers" (Turner & Hicks, 2017, p. 108). We want our students to be able to create their own comprehension and understanding with what they are reading to have their own thought and comment. Our students are the future, and we need to ensure that they know how to look past arguments to determine the meaning behind them and to create their own comment towards them.
Nina Mascia
Reference:
Turner & Hicks (2017). Argument in the real world: Teaching adolescents to read and write digital texts. Heinemann Publishers.