Hi Sasha,

I appreciated reading your post as it was an important reminder of the power/influence of visual media. (My posts and internal dialogue thus far in this course have been heavily weighted toward written media sources.)

I read the "Fake AI Images Being Spread Online" article you posted. One quote from the article particularly resonated with me:

“It does add noise during crisis events. It also increases the cynicism level,” said Jevin West, a professor at the University of Washington in Seattle who focuses on the spread of misinformation. “You start to lose trust in the system and the information that you are getting.”

In my more cynical moments, I find myself comparing my access to media and information in the digital age to the Rime of the Ancient Mariner:

Hi Sasha! This is a timely and important lesson plan. In the college course that I teach, adults are always surprised by how much images can be distorted to represent a certain perspective or contribute to a particular argument. It's a good reminder that, at all ages, images can be deceiving in the world of AI and digital manipulation. One activity I have found useful in my class is to share how photographers can capture the same person or scene and it looks entirely different depending on their editing techniques, angles, and cropping. These are the kind of manipulations that most individuals could manage, even for those who may not be able to make drastic changes using AI or photoshop. This demonstrates just how easy it is to change images. 

One feature I like that Twitter has (or used to have) is a reminder that asks people to read an article before sharing it or retweeting it. If a user tries to retweet a tweet that links an article without clicking through to that article, a warning pops up. This is a small but useful way of reminding people to read and carefully consider sources before sharing information that they have not validated. 

This thread is fascinating. I teach 19th C British literature, and so my classes cover a moment right at the beginning of many new technologies for communication. There could be confusion about how different parts of newspapers and other publications meshed fact and fiction (per Matthew Rubery's great book *The Novelty of Newspapers*). Also, some were confused or concerned about photography, that very new technology. How true were the images? Is the technology somehow capturing the soul? Would there be a future for painting and engraving or would photography replace everything? I wonder sometimes with visual literacy if we are returning to a moment of folks having too much faith in images as "real" or at time having too little faith in images captured by technology. Yes, images can be manipulated, cropped to convey a certain impression that is false, even fabricated entirely. On the other hand, we often rely on video and photographs when the written versions of an event come into conflict. I'd love to think more about the visual side of digital literacy.

I think this is a great idea. I don't think it should be stopped with junior high kids either. This is relevant for high school and beyond. With so much fake news and manipulated information in the interwebs, I think students need to always be reminded of the problems of consuming information without checking sources and sharing it as well. 

Honestly, with the way things are today, I think adults should be doing this too.

If only all of the social media outlets had a warning button on them, like Alexa mentioned...

Hi all!

I appreciate all the comments shared throughout this thread and the work you have done Sasha on the assignment.  I too am out of the classroom this year and have to think a little more outside the box as I have to plan for an "imaginary" class as well.  I regularly teach the fourth grade, and most of these lessons are designed with middle school and beyond in mind.  

However, I feel that even our younger students would benefit from some of these lessons.  We need our students to be savvy social participants, and my students come from a vulnerable population.  I appreciate your comments, Sasha, about needing to differentiate these lessons for various needs, as I would have to do with my students.  

With regard to the inclusion about AI images and other media - I very much agree.  We need to help our kids navigate what they are seeing and so they know whether or not they can make decisions based on what they are experiencing.  As with any advancement, there will be both positive and negative things with AI, hopefully we can help our students develop the ethics they will need to interact safely with these advancements.  

I enjoyed reading your ideas. I too can see this working well with my 7th graders. We've been working in our district on helping our students understand the effects of social media on themselves and others. It would help them learn to become better stewards of information and kinder human beings.

Right now, students take everything they see on social media and the internet as truth, and this lesson will help them weed through the facts and lies. It will also help them become proactive, critical consumers of media in a way that could also positively view their role in the world.

Your critical thinking and acuity is invaluable. Thank you for sharing ideas that I think could work well for my own classroom.

Hi Sasha,

I appreciated reading your great ideas! I am noticing that recently, students are talking about AI more and more. With the rapid spread of AI all over the media lately, it will become even more difficult for students to distinguish authentic media from what is fake. The skills that they practice in your lesson will help them hone their analytical skills and not take what they see for face value.

I also really appreciated that you outlined how you plan to differentiate. For me, small group interaction is one of the most powerful ways for students to learn the content.