News Literacy

Robert W. Janke is professor of education at Baldwin Wallace University with almost 50 years of experience as a teacher, psychologist, and professor. He received a PhD from the University of Michigan.Bruce S. Cooper is professor emeritus in education leadership, administration, and policy at Fordham University. He receive a PhD from the University of Chicago and has published over forty books on policy, finance, leadership, and school improvement.

Is there a subject that we need to study as urgently as the matter of what is, and is not, fake news? Social media have provided a platform for the dissemination and absorption of untruths in a way our ancestors could not have dreamed of—with what now looks like grotesques implications for societal progress, citizenship, and the social contract. Janke and Cooper could not be writing at a better time and their excellent and very readable exploration of this topic should be on every teacher’s (and teacher trainer’s) reading list.

• Preface Acknowledgments PART I: Background and Hurdles for Evaluating the News 1. Background 2. Hurdles PART II: Sources and Terms of Accurate and Fake News 3. Sources 4. Terms and Vocabulary PART III: Collecting Information in Real and Fake News 5. Obtaining a Sample of Persons or Documents 6. Instruments Used to Collect Information 7. Types of Information 8. Analyzing Information 9. Interpreting Information 10. Promises or Recommendations PART IV: How Fake News Persuades11. Techniques of Fake News Communication 12. Fake News about Education PART V: Preventing Fake News from Spreading13. Protecting Against Fake News 14. Instructional Activities15. Recommendations ReferencesIndex