Free lessons developed by the New Literacies Alliance (NLA) challenge students to critically engage with and create information. Faculty, instructors, and librarians can build on these interdisciplinary materials and invite students to engage further with discipline- and course-specific information literacy concepts.
Ask the Right Questions (How to determine the scope of an investigation by creating proper research questions)
Types of Information (Different types of information are used for different purposes; how to choose the right type)
Search Strategies (How to create and modify efficient search strategies)
Question Authority (How authority is constructed and contextual and how the authority you seek changes based on the purpose of your research)
Value of Information (How to identify the characteristics of information which contribute to its value)
Scholarly Conversations (Learn five strategies for following a research conversation)
Access Matters (Information access barriers and their consequences)
Additional lessons are in production; we anticipate releasing new lessons twice a year. Upcoming lessons include fake news, how to read a research article and evidence based practice.
Each lesson takes 8-15 minutes to complete. NLA's online learning platform (open edX) allows students to master skills at their own pace. It records students' scores, which can be shared with course instructors, lab instructors, and other faculty or instructors mentoring students' research and creative activities.
Lessons can be:
The News Literacy Project (NLP) is a nonpartisan national education nonprofit that works with educators and journalists to teach middle school and high school students how to sort fact from fiction in the digital age. NLP provides these students with the essential skills they need to become smart, active consumers of news and information and engaged, informed citizens.
Lesson plans, syllabi, and handbooks are available from a number of organizations related to both the media and education.
