Our group focused our project on the subject of fake news and media literacy. This was done through the creation of a pamphlet describing what fake news is, why it is dangerous, and how to spot it. Working in a group of six people required a lot of coordination. We kept good communication through email-chains and in-class discussion. This project has allowed to learn more about how false information often gets pushed online through untrustworthy news outlets. It has also allowed us to help inform others on this pressing issue and how it can be solved in the future.
Our project has helped us learn the habits of mind in a few different ways. Firstly, we developed purposeful communication by setting up a system for how we would plan and talk to one another throughout the project. We also had to respond to correspondence in a timely manner, and work around conflicting schedules however we could. Next we have problem solving, which we practiced by coming up with our project. The wicked problem our class covers is polarization in American politics, and our project on fake news is designed to help raise awareness on one of the issues that can cause polarization. We chose to make pamphlets about fake news to help raise awareness on the issue, and on how you can spot fake news and avoid falling for it. We used integrated perspective when gathering questions for our podcast. We were given questions about fake news by people from different backgrounds, and with varying degrees of knowledge about fake news. This allows us to view the issue from different angles, and relate it back to how this may affect polarization. Lastly, this project helped us develop self-regulated learning by having us in charge of how and when we finished tasks. We were given a due date, and requirements we needed to meet before then, and it was up to us to delegate the work and finish it within a timely manner.