NH educators take part in media literacy symposium

PLYMOUTH, N.H. (WCAX) - "Finding facts in the forest of fiction" was the title of a symposium held at Plymouth State University Friday. In today's digital age, society is being bombarded with information. The day-long symposium was aimed at educating educators on how to navigate that ever-changing world.

K through 12th-grade teachers in the crowded conference center will tell you that things are not always as they seem.

"We can be living day-to-day in a false world," said ((Amber Wright from Bethlehem's Profile School

That's because every day, the experts say a tsunami of information is being shared on our devices. Some of it is true, some of it - not so much.

"Any kind of social media information where a student will say 'X, Y, Z' and repeat something, maybe that has gone viral," said Dennis Magliozzi, an English teacher at Exeter High School.

And now, especially with the advent of artificial intelligence, determining fact from fiction can be a challenge. That's the point of the media literacy symposium at Plymouth State.

"It is important that we can figure out, that we can parse out the information that is not helpful with the information that is helpful," said PSU's Pam Harland.

"And so we are trying to build a habit of information hygiene," said Mike Caulfield, a keynote speaker at the event and the co-author of the book "Verified." He also created the SIFT method, which stands for Stop, Investigative, Find, and Trace. It's a tool to help people navigate online information. If something you read really gets your heart pumping or elicits an emotional response - stop - and realize that could be a red flag. Next, investigate who wrote it and find a different or better source to back up the claim. Lastly, try to trace the information back to its original author.

"Rather than spending a lot of time reflecting and looking at the thing itself, to get off that page, open up another tab, and find some background information of what you are looking at," Caulfield said.

The teachers say their students are not only living in this digital age, but they will also help shape its future. "Days like this are incredibly crucial for the information professionals in our world because we can come together and stay ahead of what's happening in our world," said Caitlyn Bennett of Londonderry.

More than 100 teachers took part in the daylong event. They will bring what they learned back to classrooms across the region.