Much has been written about the potential civic ramifications of online misinformation, and scholars have identified many useful strategies for helping students discern fact from fiction on social media. However, those strategies make an assumption, which is that consumers of digital media have a desire to identify and share accurate information.…

We assess the underlying topics, sentiment, and types of information regarding COVID-19 vaccines cycling through Twitter during the initiation of the vaccine rollout. Once tweets about COVID-19 vaccine posted between 1 December 2020 and 28 February 2021 were collected and preprocessed, they were categorized as either relevant or irrelevant by a…

Media literacy empowers students to critically analyze, evaluate, and create media, becoming informed and responsible digital citizens. This Spotlight will help readers guide students when navigating questionable mental health advice; provide readers with strategies to spot AI manipulation; identify how to help bilingual students be media literate…

This paper looks at Google's NotebookLM, an AI-powered research assistant tool that can represent dense academic content in a range of output modes, like FAQs, timelines, study guides, and, most uniquely, as "Deep Dive" discussions. The discussions mimic a talk-show, where two AI-hosts unpack complex ideas from reading or audio texts,…

Misinformation is a global pandemic, fueled by the sophistication of the human intellect, algorithmic systems among other factors. Enhanced by the proliferation of algorithms optimized for engagement and reactions on social media, misinformation has ignited or hampered sociopolitical participation and movements and dissuaded citizens from being…

Since September 2020, Fox News spawned an anti-critical race theory (CRT) disinformation campaign, that has reverberated in the whitestream's echo chamber. The disinformation largely appeals to white people who refuse to see racism, unless they feel it is impinging their rights. The campaign against CRT has penetrated the e-tailer site Amazon.com…

As meaning-making increasingly happens in digital spaces, it is essential for researchers to examine how students learn to critically read and navigate within and across constantly changing online platforms. This qualitative study examines university students' experiences reading and navigating online. To do so, the author examines self-created…

Since time immemorial, disasters have been part and parcel of the human experience; hence the ever-present need for disaster management. These disasters can take place everywhere and at any time, including institutions of higher education. The use of social media platforms as a tool for disaster management has gained traction in recent years due…

The aim of this study was to explore how autistic adults experienced using social media to find information about autism, and how they experienced online autistic communities. There is little research on the rationale why autistic people look for information on autism via social media, and on how such information is perceived from an autistic…

An analysis of 640 posts from the social media platforms of 14 students at a historically Black university revealed that entertainment accounted for 68% of their social media content, "uplift" 17%, and empowerment 14%. Educators worry that students may be squandering online resources that could help improve their lives when they choose…

This study examines the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots within higher education, focusing on the early feedback from STEM faculty members in Lebanon, particularly in the context of their widespread use among students. As AI intersects with traditional scientific inquiry, its incorporation into educational frameworks introduces…

The spread of misinformation has underscored the importance of cultivating citizens' competency to critically evaluate popular accounts of scientific evidence. Extending the prevailing emphasis on evidence in the natural sciences, we argue for fostering students' understanding of psychological evidence and its communication in the media. In this…

As college campuses expand co-curricular approaches to civic engagement, faculty and staff are challenged to consider how to develop and support students' online civic engagement through experimental programming. This essay focuses on the instructive component of conversing in online spaces by offering recommendations for assisting students'…

This paper discusses operationalization of open educational practices (OEP) using innovative, Internet-influenced pedagogies to expose dangers of post-truth narratives. The first part reviews interpretations of OEP (associated with open-access and tools, collaboration, problem-centered learning, and democratic pedagogy) and explores possibilities…

The spread of fake news (FN) has attracted attention from disciplines ranging from social sciences to Artificial Intelligence. This work is novel because it explores the news-sharing behaviour of social-media users, focussing on those that spread FN, rather than the psychological motivations behind them. The 14-item Risky News-Sharing Quotient…