Put yourself in the shoes of a typical news consumer and learn how to handle breaking news responsibly as a citizen with “Information Meltdown,” one of three interactive episodes in the Elements of Verification series.
screenshot21Students follow the story of Neelam, who is asked by her employer to go on a business trip. However, when breaking news of a potential environmental crisis threatens to deter her journey, it is up to the student to make decisions on how her story ends.
Students will have to decide what type of news to take seriously, picked up from non-traditional sources, like Facebook, gossip and even casual conversation overheard on the bus – things typically not published.
The episode also explores their role as a publisher of news and how social media can be valuable — or destructive – when sharing and spreading information during a crisis.
The Elements of Verification series is a project produced in 2011 by the Committee of eov2Concerned Journalists and the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute. Stony Brook University Center for News Literacy Director Dean Miller contributed to the creation of the module.
“We were honored to be asked to cooperate on this with the Committee of Concerned Journalists,” Miller said. “It was our first work on game-based learning, an area the has great promise in News Literacy. Any student feedback we can get from teachers will be valuable in work we have undertaken with undergraduate game builders here at Stony Brook.”