Activity Preparation - Information Echo Chambers

Preparation

Required Materials

1. Information Echo Chambers handout

2. Print reference materials (e.g., related periodicals or articles from school library)

3. Online reference materials may include the following:

Where do Americans get their news?

• News Use Across Social Media Platforms 2018
• Americans Still Prefer Watching to Reading the News – and Mostly Still Through Television
• News and America's Kids: How Young People Perceive and Are Impacted by the News
• Social media outpaces print newspapers in the U.S. as a news source

Limited access to news

• Definition of information echo chamber
• The Reason Your Feed Became An Echo Chamber — And What To Do About It
• How to Fight a News Silo
• Internet Silos

Vetting news sources

• Media Bias Chart 4.0
• Media Bias Fact Check
• Evaluating News Sources
• Most Credible and Reliable Sources for Students

Advanced Preparation

1. Students may complete the Information Echo Chambers handout for this activity on or off line.

• Review the Information Echo Chambers handout.
• Print one copy of the Information Echo Chambers handout per student or post the link to the Information Echo Chambers handout wherever you distribute digital files so each student can access the handout.
• If students complete a digital copy of the Information Echo Chambers handout, decide how you want them to rename the file for easy identification later. For example, do you want each student to create a file or will it be sufficient for each pair or trio to share one file?

2. Gather print reference materials or arrange to visit school library.

3. Identify and review online research resources. You may want to post links to some of the suggested Online Resources for students wherever you distribute digital resources to students.

4. Divide class into pairs or trios who will work together to complete the assignment.