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"Making Sense of The News: News Literacy Lessons for Digital Citizens" Course @ Coursera - Free (for Audit Only/No Assessment)

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I just came across this course on Coursera. It's rated 4.8 stars, & thought it looked pretty handy given the current COVID-19 crisis & the misinformation about it that's been doing the rounds in the news & online, often from what may appear to be reliable sources.

It should take about 13 hours to complete, which they recommend doing over 6 weeks, allowing 2-3 hours per week, but as it's self-paced, it's entirely up to you. You can access this course for free, for audit purposes, however if you wish to complete the assessment for it & obtain a certificate, it'll cost you ($75, I think it said when I was enrolling, but now I'm enrolled for audit purposes, I can't seem to find that price anywhere).

About the course:

Never before has the need for News Literacy been more urgent. As news consumers are bombarded with a constant stream of fake news, propaganda, hoaxes, rumours, satire, and advertising — that often masquerade as credible journalism — it is becoming more and more difficult to distinguish fact from fiction. While the public’s faith in the news media erodes, purveyors of misinformation have helped give rise to troubling cultural trends and alarming political movements.

This six-week course will help learners develop their critical thinking skills to enable them to better identify reliable information in news reports and to become better informed about the world in which we live. The course will discuss the key elements of journalism from the viewpoint of the news audience.

The language of instruction is English, but Chinese and Spanish subtitles will be available. Each week will tackle a challenge unique to the digital era:

Week 1: The power of information is now in the hands of consumers.
Week 2: What makes journalism different from other types of information?
Week 3: Where can we find trustworthy information?
Week 4: How to tell what’s fair and what’s biased.
Week 5: How to apply news literacy concepts in real life.
Week 6: Meeting the challenges of digital citizenship.

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closed Comments

  • +1

    Any ideas if available in Chinese, for my parents?

  • +1

    If you need this course, you're not spending 13 hours doing anything.

    Otherwise, you'd spend more than 5 minutes looking at the daily news provided from whereswally.com that appears on the facebook.

  • what misinformation?

    • +1

      lols. This is not the course you are looking for…move on.

      • maybe because i deleted my facebook account and im not subject to piles of fake news? idk

        • OK cool, sounds like you;re on the right track then. :)
          I got the impression for your other reply that you thought the media might actually be truthful and trustworthy. :)

      • that's cool! checked all the sources. happy to report i dont read any of those sources. except for reuters occasionally. not sure what s wrong with the reuters headline tho

  • +2

    Here's the Cliff notes for westerners:

    Trust only CNN, The Huffington Post, the BBC, The Guardian….

    For Asian countries: trust only state-run media….

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