Darren Hudgins

🎶 Everything Has Changed: Shaking Up Your #MediaLit Lessons! Back in January, Heather Turner and I began moderating educator chats for Teacher Librarians (and those who love them!) over on Bluesky. It's been so much fun and it reminds me a lot of the "golden ag...

My current WIP dives much more deeply into all of this. I’m working as fast as I can to get it to you. In the meantime, over the yrs, I’ve created many, many resources to support educators in this work. Some can be found here: www.librarygirl.net/post/everyth...
I hope you find them helpful.

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All of that said, I recognize the barriers that make teaching these ideas and in this way very challenging. I get how exhausting & disheartening it all feels right now. AND I know that those benefit from an ignorant, radicalized populace want us to feel that way.

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4️⃣ ALL learners need to be taught to regulate their emotional response to online content so that they are in control of their engagement.

And…

5️⃣ As learners get older, they need to be taught the brain chemistry related to this and the role of dopamine in our online lives.

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2️⃣ ALL learners need to be taught what social media engagement is (it’s a lot more than double tapping y’all) and that engagement has consequences - for themselves and for others.

3️⃣ ALL learners need to be taught to notice when content sparks big feelings that affect their urge to engage.

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So what’s the answer?

The longer I do this, the more I believe a few things:

1️⃣ ALL learners need to be taught that all media/info is created by a human (even AI generated content b/c a human created the AI and a human created the prompt) and humans have goals that often involve our emotions.

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Can we still learn something from finding out who is behind the info we consume? Of course. But traditional #infolit strategies that focus on identifying the source and other “clues” (like the presence of clickbait) are useless in today’s dopamine driven information landscape.

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All of this is both the result of, and complicated by, the fact that we all get info from revenue biased, social media platforms that exploit our emotions in order to monetize our attention, our engagement and, in some cases, our radicalization.

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For better or worse, we live in a time when source is polarizing.

If I were to post an article from the NYT, some ppl would automatically trust it b/c of how they feel about the source. Others would dismiss it for the exact same reason. The same for a video from Fox News or The White House.

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Illustration titled “The Digital Detective’s Credibility Pyramid.” Three tiers show: top, Information; middle, Source; bottom, Platform. Text explains that credibility should be judged by the information itself, not by who shared it or where it appeared.

When @dhudgins.bsky.social and I created this “Credibility Pyramid” 4 yrs ago, we were taken to task by educators who couldn’t let go of “source” as the sacred cow of #infolit. Now, I see many of those same ppl lamenting that they can no longer teach kids that .gov websites are trustworthy.

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It was an adventure for me too.

Yay! This makes me soooo very happy! Confession: I've been feeling a bit down recently. *gestures at all the things* It's helpful to know that our work is reaching people. Thank you for sharing your learning - it makes a difference!

a man is wearing a hat and scarf and says bingo ALT: a man is wearing a hat and scarf and says bingo

Did you notice anything about the Evidence Locker?

Thrilled to be in Salt Lake City with @nmangum.bsky.social @dhudgins.bsky.social and @leadingedgelearn.bsky.social for the UEN Leading Schools Summit. In addition to working with top notch school leaders - I get to frolic in the mtns a bit. #edusky

Last week, @nmangum.bsky.social and @dhudgins.bsky.social got the opportunity to facilitate several workshops at the Idaho Education Technology Association in Boise, Idaho. They presented workshops to rooms filled with eager-to-learn IETA attendees. Rock on, educators!

Social Media Behaviors - A Deeper Dive

#TLSkyChat A2. This activity is based on my work with @dhudgins.bsky.social and was designed to help educators have meaningful conversations with kids about their behavior online - including engagement.

#TLSkyChat A3. This conversation with @caitlinrebekah.bsky.social captures how my thinking around information evaluation + information mindfulness has changed over time. (It also contains an infographic @dhudgins.bsky.social and I made!)

Awwww. Thanks! That makes me so happy! @dhudgins.bsky.social is the wind beneath my wings! #TLSkyChat

YES! #Shamelessplug In Developing Digital Detectives, @dhudgins.bsky.social and I built a crosswalk between the SEL core copentencies and #medialit. In short: I AGREE! #TLSkyChat

Memeland

#TLSkyChat A6 @dhudgins.bsky.social and I created this game to help HS (and older) learners think about the varied and potent ways that memes influence us. TW: Some of the memes in this game are upsetting. (That's the point!)

Developing Digital Detectives: 9781564849052:Paperback,Books:Curriculum Design,Digital Citizenship and Media Literacy,Social-Emotional Learning,Libraries and Makerspaces,Teaching Strategies This book offers meaningful lessons to help students become digital detectives who think critically about the media and information they encounter.

#TLSkyChat A8 Every resource I shared tonight came from or was inspired by my book, with @dhudgins.bsky.social, Developing Digital Detectives. Darren & I have created (and given away!) hundreds of resources. We hope you find them useful. And if you've read DDD - THANK YOU for supporting our work!

I appreciate this part of the article. "As we continue to face a flood of misleading and polarizing content, creative, psychologically informed techniques like this may help us communicate more effectively and compassionately." That said, @dhudgins.bsky.social and I actually suggested this very...

Nancy Mangum and Theresa Gibson founded Leading EDge Learning to support K-12 educators. With our valued team member, Darren Hudgins, we engage in projects to rethink what educational institutions can do to apply learning science and research-based practices to support and empower all learners.

When I drove from RDU to Boone in early Summer, I saw four of these billboards. Sadly, I chuckled every time, saying the same thing in my head: “I agree.” Why did I chuckle? It's like saying, “Remember to eat because your body needs nourishment.”

Nothing but blue skies from now on…#imnotsureaboutthis #humanshavealotofworktodo