digitalliteracy
Latest
Facebook offers educators lessons to teach kids online responsibility
It's important for all of us to stay safe and act responsibly when we're online, and that holds doubly true for young people. To help educators teach kids how to be more mindful when they use the internet, Facebook has released a batch of resources in its Digital Literacy Library. The materials guide educators in helping young people aged 11 to 18 understand issues such as privacy, reputation, security, safety and identity exploration.
Google puts $300 million towards fighting fake news
Like Facebook and Twitter, Google has come under fire for its role in spreading misinformation and it has taken steps to address the problem. Over the past few months, the company has teamed up with fact-checking networks, started showing more publisher info, introduced trust icons and revamped its "snippets" feature to purge it of fake news. But Google says its previous efforts may not be enough to combat the spread of misinformation. "It's becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish what's true (and not true) online," Google said in a blog post today. "Business models for journalism continue to change drastically. The rapid evolution of technology is challenging all institutions, including the news industry, to keep pace." So to continue its efforts, the company is launching Google News Initiative (GNI).
Facebook's latest community push is on-site small business training
Facebook has been quietly supporting small businesses around the globe to the tune of $1 billion. The company says that it has trained more than 60,000 small businesses with Boost Your Business, and that over one million small businesses have used its free online learning hub Blueprint. 70 million small businesses use Facebook Pages, too, according to the company. Now Facebook is launching Community Boost, a new program to help small businesses in the US become more digitally savvy.
Microsoft's new literacy tool teaches language skills in a browser
Microsoft has partnered with the nonprofit organization CHOICE Humanitarian to release a browser-based digital literacy tool, called Accent, for underprivileged populations. It's designed specifically for Microsoft Edge so users can interact with its touchscreen mechanics, tracing out letters for kinaesthetic learning. Ideally, the tool will economically empower folks in undeveloped areas to seize opportunities in business and local government.
