Media Literacy Critical Thinking Web Quest: How good are you with technology?

100 question video lesson to help students think critically about the internet and technology.

Easy to teach slideshow lesson with PDF and Google Docs™ handouts.

IN PERSON or ONLINE learning friendly.

We use technology everyday! But, have we become a little too trusting, too complacent, and too naïve?

Watch the video: https://educircles.org/youtube/digital-literacy-quiz

The hardest part of this quiz is how quickly the 100 questions fly by. 

If you only watch the video, there’s not enough time for students to… listen to the scenario, read the questions, and think about the answer.

This lesson package provides a slideshow lesson and handouts to structure the process: 

• Step 1: Watch version 1 (no questions) to get a sense of what’s going on. 
• Step 2: Watch version 2 (with questions) to read the questions and turn our minds on!
• Step 3: Get the scoring handout. Watch version 2 again and keep track of your score!

WARNING: This product is NOT for everyone. PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

• This product is EASY to teach because it's no prep.
• Print the PDF handouts, use the slideshow to teach the concepts, watch the YouTube videos, give your class work periods to find the answers on the internet, have a class discussion to take up the answers.

• This product can be CHALLENGING and FRUSTRATING because it's an open-ended real-world activity.
• It is NOT a click-here, type-this, record-that kind of web quest.
• The questions are open-ended and the handouts DO NOT tell your students what to search up. They need to figure that out themselves.
• Oh, and an answer key is NOT provided.

IMPORTANT NOTE: ANSWER KEY NOT PROVIDED 

• This is by design: Technology is constantly changing and the answers can quickly become outdated. 
• The slideshow lesson explains how there is no answer key in real life, how to know if you’re right, and tips on how to find the answers.
• Some answers are google-able, and other questions require us to infer or tinker to figure out the answer

If, after your class discussion, you and your class are stuck on one of the questions, let me know and I can point you in the right direction.

• Email me at Mike@Educircles.org using your school / work email address.
• I will only give hints to teachers, so if you could include some information in your email to help me confirm you’re a teacher, that would be great.
• For example, including a link to a staff-directory on your school webpage
• Many school boards use a different email pattern for students than for teachers - what does your school do?

SO, WHY WOULD I WANT TO INVEST IN THIS LESSON if it's potentially CHALLENGING and FRUSTRATING?

• Because, if you're still reading, this is the kind of project and lesson that you love to teach.
• You know that bringing open-ended real-world questions to the classroom is important if we want to help students learn how to struggle and find answers for themselves.
• If that's you, I definitely want to support you and your students.
• Watch the video: https://educircles.org/youtube/digital-literacy-quiz
• Look at the preview file.
• Ask me your questions at Mike@Educircles.org

In this package, you get:

• the slideshow lesson to structure the quiz and explain why digital literacy is important
• a scoring handout with time stamp links that go directly to the question in the video.
• A handout for recording answers with time stamp links
• -- with lines (for writing answers on paper) or
• -- no lines (for typing answers in the Google Doc)
• NO-PREP print the PDF or
• Edit the Google Docs / Slides

Just because our students live on their phones and were born with the internet (digital natives!) does not mean they are digital literate.

Ask them to watch the video: https://educircles.org/youtube/digital-literacy-quiz

Then, have them answer the questions on the handouts.

Psst, this is a real world problem. 

There is no answer key in real life. Likewise, there is no answer key for this quiz.

• Things constantly change!
• What works now will not work for everyone, all of the time!
• There may be multiple solutions and solutions can be different depending on your situation.

How do you know if you’re right?

The best answers are the ones that you can defend to other people.

Can you answer the question using

• evidence from the video (media text) 
• with evidence from somewhere else (i.e. things you’ve personally tried or things you’ve researched online)
• and an explanation of how your evidence proves your answer.

Some answers are google-able

• First, you need the right phrase to search.
• Then, you need to figure out which search result has an answer that best fits this quiz.

Some answers are not google-able

• You need to use information from the text (things you see or hear) 
• combined with stuff you know (prior knowledge)
• to make an educated guess (inference) - here’s a video lesson on inferring: https://youtu.be/qw0cd4VNpc4
• PRO TIP: You may have to tinker around on a computer to try to re-create what was done in the video. That may shed clues about how to answer a tough question!

Resources that go well with this lesson

• Did I Cheat? critical thinking challenge
• Who is Invisible diversity challenge
• Inferring reading strategy
• Evaluating reading strategy
• 6Cs Critical Thinking lesson package

This is a hard quiz because the answers aren’t directly given. 

• This lesson package on how to stay in a growth mindset may help: 6Cs Character

If you have students working in small groups, chances are the stronger students will simply tell other students what the answers are. 

• These lessons on how collaboration is not the same as teamwork may help:
  6Cs Collaboration
• This package about how to communicate when you disagree may help:
  6Cs Communication