3. Digital literacy

Digital Literacy

A very important part of literacy in history is understanding digital literacy.
Yes! There is a wrong way to use the internet in history class!
Yes! It is important to get the right information!
Yes!This is a part of literacy!

Let us look at an example.
If you are using the internet researching for an essay on the life of Adolf Hitler (The former leader of Germany who started World War 2 and made the decision to kill Millions of Jews), would you use a friend's opinion from a comment on their facebook page? Should you reference facebook? wikipedia? blogs? opinion sites?
hmmmm...

                                                                           

How do we find the RIGHT kind of information?

                                                                                   

To know how to use  the internet is very important to our everyday lives.Some of use never get off the computer!
Everyone who uses the internet should understand which are official web sites and which are not.

If you did not know this already it may come as a shock.
NOT EVERYTHING YOU READ ON THE INTERNET IS CORRECT!!! 
There are considerable amounts of information on the internet that is uniformed, opinionated or just plain wrong.

We have to learn how to find which information is reliable and which is not.



WE MUST USE OUR BRAINS!!

So let's see how we can get rid of the garbage and focus on the relevant and reliable information that we should use.


Where do we find information?
How do we know if it's reliable?

Most sites are ".com" (commercial) sites. usually these are not credible/reliable. Check who the author is cause you may be able to use the site if they are an expert in their field.
".org" (organisation) sites are an organisation and are, generally speaking, okay to use.
".net" (network) typically are not used.
But ".edu" (education) and ".gov" (government) sites can be used.

Of course, not all of these domains can be used. Always double check the reliability of the author and their credentials (if they are an expert)!!

Primary and Secondary Sources

History requires you to read, analyse and interpret primary and secondary sources.
This is also important in real life. Take for instance, a news program. Did the person being interviewed see the incident with their own eyes? Do they have first hand knowledge? Were they there when the incident happened? Should we believe them? The same questions are asked in history.

Don't believe everything people tell you, research it for yourself. Make sure that whoever is trying to convince you of something is an expert and knows what they are talking about. After, if they seem reliable, make sure someone else corroborates (backs them up) that persons research.


Primary sources are sources that existed or were made at the time in the past being studied.
e.g. historical document, pottery, historical photographs, books and documents written by historical people at or very close to the events of an event.


Secondary sources are sources created after the time being studied.
e.g. school text books, documentaries (although these can contain primary sources) and public speeches.  


Here is a video to help you further understand primary and secondary sources.

Please, if you have time, follow the link and use the Interactive Historical Thinking Poster. This will help you to enhance your historical thinking skills! It will help you think like an historian!


 Click on this link to begin.

When it comes to assignment time (and that time will come!!) you will have to research your topic. The first thing to do is to read widely. That means read as many different resources as you can, including older texts and the original documents (primary and secondary sources). Find photos and images to help your understanding of the topic.

Research Questions

Guide your research around these questions:

• When was the text written? 
• Is the information up to date?
• Apart from informing, does the text have any other purpose?
• Are they an expert in the area?
• Who is the author of the text?
• Has any evidence of research been provided?
• Do they refer to the work of experts or knowledgeable people? 

These questions are good to ask yourself when anybody is trying to persuade you of something. 

You cannot walk out of your house or turn on any media without someone trying to convince you of something!!

Let us now look at numeracy in history. Please, turn the digital page by clicking on this link.