Life Skills
Memes and Me: Social Media, Misinformation, and Critical Thinking for Teens
In this jam-packed workshop, learners and their families will get a rich overview of the history of our digital world, the issues it poses to democratic decision-making, and what best-practices are out there for you to stay safe!
There are no upcoming classes.
13-18
year olds
3-12
learners per class
$18
Charged upfront
Meets once
80 minute class
There are no open spots for this class.
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Description
Class Experience
Is Reddit dangerous? Will Facebook rot our brains? Are memes ruining the world? Of course not. But it is important to understand how today’s digital world works in order to stay safe and informed. This is a workshop designed for learners (and their parents) to have a better grasp on what today’s media landscape looks like, how it works, and what you can do to feed your head trustworthy information. The workshop will include a presentation covering the history of digital technology and...
Learners will walk away knowing that the phone in their pocket and computer on their desk has a specific history attached to it. They will understand, in broad strokes, the timeline along which modern digital technology emerged and the economics behind today’s largest companies. They will receive an overview of the relationship between today’s technology and current worries surrounding misinformation. Finally, they will learn important habits for navigating social media, online forums, and other websites where sensationalized content circulates.
I have previously led discussion on this topic as a teaching assistant at an undergraduate level, and currently use such thinking in my own work as a researcher and journalist.
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
1 hour 20 minutes per week in class, and no time outside of class.
Resources I recommend and draw from on this topic include: The Social Dilemma (popular Netflix documentary, 2020) "Surveillance Capitalism and the Challenge of Collective Action," Shoshana Zuboff (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1095796018819461) "You Are Now Remotely Controlled," Shoshana Zuboff (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/24/opinion/sunday/surveillance-capitalism.html) Platform Capitalism, Nick Srnicek (https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Platform+Capitalism-p-9781509504862) What Tech Calls Thinking, Adrian Daub (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374538644) Voices from the Valley, Moira Weigel & Ben Tarnoff (https://logicmag.io/voices-from-the-valley/) “What If Technology Belonged to the People?,” Edward Ongweso (https://www.vice.com/en/article/xg8k5d/what-if-technology-belonged-to-the-people)
Teacher
About Me
There's an indescribable magic to when a young learner discovers a new way to think about the world. This is the real work of education, and what I treasure most from my own past as a learner. The true reward was uncovering what was possible,...
