The coronavirus crisis has highlighted the need for schools to equip students with the skills necessary to combat misinformation but many teachers felt ill-prepared to do so, a recent survey from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and Western Sydney University (WSU) reveals.
The “News Literacy and Australian Teachers: How News Media is Taught in the Classroom” report, a collaboration between QUT’s Digital Media Research Centre (DMRC) and WSU’s Institute for Culture and Society, surveyed hundreds of primary and secondary school teachers across Australia about news media literacy education.
The study revealed that an overwhelming majority of teachers felt it was extremely important for students to learn how to critically read the news and fact check for themselves, as well as identify news bias.
However, a third of the respondents lacked confidence in approaching the topic in class, while others said internet access was a challenge.
“News media literacy should be a critical component of a broader digital media literacy education program, but most teachers surveyed said they are not well supported to teach it under the Australian Curriculum, and some schools do not value it highly” said Associate Professor Michael Dezuanni, Associate Director of QUT’s DMRC.
Online news engagement starts early
WSU’s Dr Tanya Notley, who co-authored the report, said the study was driven by the way the internet has “dramatically changed how all Australians participate in society, and how they gather their news and entertainment.”
She added that this was especially the case for the country’s youth as online news engagement starts during the primary school years for many children.
“[N]ews is now produced and circulated more rapidly, using an ever-growing number of social media platforms. Quite often social media users encounter news from a range of sources even while events are still unfolding,” Dr Notley said.
She also noted that the constant 24-hour news cycles across different digital platforms has made verification even more difficult.
“This has created flashpoints for claims and counterclaims of fake news at critical moments during elections, natural disasters, and most recently, as the world struggles with COVID-19,” Dr Notley said.
“In the past couple of months, we have seen a rash of conspiracy theories, bogus remedies and more spread, often by celebrities many young people follow on social media,” she said.
Ample preparation needed
The report suggested that teachers be given sufficient resources, more time to prepare, and enough curriculum support to effectively deliver the subject.
However, Associate Professor Dezuanni admitted that very little information was available on how news media literacy was taught in schools and this has posed a great challenge for educators.
He added that even less was known about how teachers felt about the subject and how teaching can be improved.
“Our project is aimed at helping federal and state governments develop strategies for advancing news media literacy in the education system and to ensure it has more prominence in the 2020 review of the Australian Curriculum,” Associate Professor Dezuanni said.
“We also hope the research will be of interest to news media organisations looking to grow their engagement with young Australians, schools, and teachers, as well as the producers of news media literacy support materials,” he said.
The survey was funded by the Museum of Australian Democracy (MoAD) and Google Australia, and was latest outcome of the “Advancing the Media Literacy of Young Australians” project.