(2) Digital Media, Youth, and Credibility

There are a few books of research (see the list at the bottom of this post) done on students in high school and beyond, which point to an inability to assess information found on the Internet, which hardly comes as a surprise to teachers:

"(in a study done by Shenton and Dixon, students) tended to assess the value of a source on the basis of the quantity rather than the quality of information. (...) ...young people in their study often used the most accessible information sources first and were very concerned with finding information as quickly and effortlessly as possible. As a result, they ended up using only a few sources and relied heavily on the same Web site or successive issues of a magazine over a long period of time. (...) ...the most fundamental pattern of young peoples' information behaviours was an attempt to simplify the search process and ignore more thorough and conscientious approaches."

In another study done by Agosto, "credibility was not a factor that students used in evaluating information. (...) ...students paid greater attention to the amount of graphic and multimedia content than they did to information quality. (...) students relied on design and graphics of a Web site to determine its relevance and quality, while rarely mentioning credibility as an important factor for consideration."

[From College Students' Credibility Judgments in the Information-Seeking Process, an article by Soo Young Rieh and Brian Hilligoss (University of Michigan, School of Information), found in Digital Media, Youth, and Credibility (edited by Miriam J. Metzger and Andrew J. Flanagin, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning; 2008, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)]

If we are to graduate students who are truly digital literate, these issues must be taken into consideration and dealt with at all levels, and reviewed with classes more than once. It's perhaps in light of the above studies and teachers' experience that a blended approach (i.e., projects where both Internet and book sources are required), should be used.


Beach, Richard. A Web-Linked Guide to Resources and Activities (www.teachingmedialiteracy.com). Teachers College Press, Columbia University, New York and London. 2007.

Buckingham, David (Editor). Youth, Identity, and Digital Media [The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning]. 2008. MIT.

Pink, Daniel. A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future. 2005.

McPherson, Tara (Editor). Digital Youth, Innovation, and the Unexpected [The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning]. 2008. MIT.

Metzger, Miriam J. and Flanigin, Andrew J. Digital Media, Youth, and Credibility [The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning]. 2008. MIT.

Also, take a look at The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Web site:

http://www.macfound.org/site/c.lkLXJ8MQKrH/b.3599935/k.66CA/MacArthur_Foundation_Home.htm