Monday October 17, 4-5:30pm
Location: Online

Workshop description:
Critical evaluation of online sources has become a necessary skill in both everyday life and education. With the prevalence of fake news, pseudoscience, and deep fake videos, how can a person determine if a source is legitimate? While in some cases it’s fairly obvious when a source is suspect, at other times determining the credibility or origins of a source isn’t so straightforward.

Recent research indicates that both university professors and college students have difficulty recognizing misleading online sources that at first glance look reputable. The close reading skills that are key to academic work differ from the online evaluation strategies needed when quickly determining whether a source is trustworthy enough to be worth a closer look.  

In this 90-minute hands-on virtual workshop, librarians Andrea Baer and Dan Kipnis will introduce “lateral reading” strategies for online source evaluation. “Lateral reading” strategies essentially involve quickly moving off of a webpage and learning more about a source from other online information. This workshop is informed by the work of Mike Caulfield and of the Stanford History Education Group.

Learning Outcomes:
- Become familiar with and apply lateral reading strategies to evaluating online sources.
- Explore ways to teach lateral reading to students in your educational context.

Audience:
New Jersey educators, including those who teach in grades 6-12, college, or other educational settings. Relevant to educators with all levels of teaching experience.

Please email questions to Andrea Baer (baera@rowan.edu) and Dan Kipnis (kipnisd@rowan.edu).

Zoom link to be emailed 2 days prior to workshop.