Enlightening and Inspiring Generations with Generations of Ideas

News Literacy Project for Sixth to Eighth Grade

Event Date: 
May 24 2016 - 10:00am

Love social media...its immediacy and sharing features? When you use 21st century digital media you become both a digital consumer and a digital journalist.  Enjoy lunch at a new restaurant that you’ve discovered via Facebook...you're a consumer; share that post, and you're a journalist -- passing on news to your followers.

With the tremendous popularity of social media, users need to be able to judge the credibility of posts and tweets before acting on them.  What information can be believed? Who or what sources can be trusted?  How can information be verified? What techniques can be used to decipher what is real?

While a disappointing experience at a recommended restaurant is fairly trivial, inaccurate information posted or tweeted about a disaster or community emergency, could have more serious consequences.  How can users be smart about online news literacy…the News Literacy Project!

The News Literacy Project is a new 21st century learner program that brings together students ages 10 through 14 years, primarily via the internet and Skype, with leaders in Journalism...news anchors, investigative reporters, photo journalists, and online correspondents.   Facilitated by News Literacy Project Mentors, Sarah Arter and Shelly Hardy, students and journalists will explore "news," the enormous opportunities and profound challenges for accessing information that is both immediate and accurate, and, the importance of “news” and access to accurate reporting in a free society. The News Literacy Project will help participants become savvy users of social media.

Beginning on Tuesday, May 24th, from 10:00 a.m. to Noon, and running six weeks, twice per week, through Wednesday, July 6th, participants in 6th to 8th grade, equipped with supplied laptops and IPads, will be able to acquire the necessary skills that will enable them to verify fact from fiction, become empowered to take an active approach to the information encountered, and gain additional online experience each time they enter onto the World Wide Web.

North Central Area Transit (NCAT) will provide free transportation, if requested, and participants will receive a provided snack/lunch.   Registration is required and space is limited to eight participants.  For a complete list of dates, please see our website or Facebook.  To register, please call the Library at 815-223-2341 or send an email to: [email protected] Tuesday sessions begin at 10:00 a.m. and end at Noon; Wednesday sessions begins at 1:00 p.m. and end at 3:00 p.m. Each session is approximately 2 hours in length.

The News Literacy Project, tested with students in Chicago, New York City, Houston and Washington, D.C., is now being offered at the LaSalle Public Library through funding from Project Next Generation, awarded from the U.S Institute of Museum and Library Services to the Secretary of State/Illinois State Library under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA).