Peer Review

Center for News Literacy

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Reviewed:: Feb 5, 2022 by ICT Literacy

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:

The Center for News Literacy teaching community maintains the Digital Resource Center as a course online website, which aims to strengthen democracy by teaching students and professional educators reliable information from the information superhighway. The group created reputable new resources, a searchable archive of previous materials, a semiprivate forum for professional debates, a publication platform, a teacher training course, and a new course development template. Registered users can access all of these on their devices for free.

Type of Material:

Online Course Module

Recommended Uses:

Instructors can use individual lessons or the course pack of 14 lessons as a self-contained course or as part of an existing course.

Technical Requirements:

Any web browser available to any operating system and on any mobile phone device

Identify Major Learning Goals:

Build critical thinking skills;

Appreciate the power of reliable information and the importance of the free flow of information in a democratic society;
Understand why news matters and why becoming a more discerning news consumer can change individual lives and the life of the country;
Understand how journalists work and make decisions and why they make mistakes;
Understand how the digital revolution and the structural changes in the news media can affect news consumers, and our new responsibilities as publishers as well as consumers.

Target Student Population:

High School, College General Ed, College Lower Division, College Upper Division, communications and journalism majors, library and information science majors

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

basic ICT literacy skills

Content Quality

Rating:

Strengths:

This curriculum is designed by news scholars and practicing experts. Information is current and relevant -- and is updated regularly. The concepts and supporing skills are well developed and integrated. Lessons are ready-made, and can be done independently or as part of an educational unit; the use and context is flexible. Links work, and materials are cited appropriately.

Concerns:

Access to the complete set of materials arequire registration (free).

The module content of resources varies; some scholarly works are highly unique due to the use of different reference formats such as the APA 7th Referencing style. This could entail examining the various lenses of the global context, as this criterion will serve as a means of determining the work's credibility.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:: The material reflects many aspects of ICT literacy standards. Each lesson includes content, exercises, presentations, and assessment. Concepts are built progressively and efficiently, and lessons relate to each other. The fully illustrated Course Online emphasizes the significance of taking into account an individual's core knowledge and skills. Numerous illustrations are provided under examples to explain relationships. The lessons are ready-made so are easy to implement. Instructors can also build original lessons using the site's template, and can connect with other news literacy teachers. Demonstration and application are constantly stressed in the course, which aims to transform newly empowered customers into 21st-century consumers.
Concerns:: Some of the lessons look as if they are part of an online course, and cannot be used well outside of that venue.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:

Strengths:

The website is professional looking and has attractive images; it is also easy to navigate independently. Lessons are clear and engaging. A forum and contributor feature facilitates further involvement. The site is largely ADA-compliant.

Concerns:

There is some visual content that cannot be viewed and is blurred; it may be worthwhile to consider adding more visuals to make the site more appealing.

No help feature is available, although one can contact the site and send feedback.

Other Issues and Comments:: Pictures have been granted fair use authorization and have been registered as intellectual property. To meet the standard of doing this, it is highly recommended to revisit and apply all essential measures in order to legitimize the information, particularly the images associated with each link and site.
Creative Commons: