HARRISBURG – A comprehensive toolkit to help the next generation of Pennsylvanians learn how to discern fact from fiction online has been unveiled by the state Department of Education.
“Our children are being fed half-truths, prejudices, and propaganda every day on their phones and social media,” said Gov. Josh Shapiro. “I’ve heard from teachers across our Commonwealth about how kids find misinformation online and bring it into the classroom, where our educators are forced to confront it.
“We need to address that – and the first step is giving teachers and parents more tools in their toolbox to help teach our kids how to think critically about what they find online. That’s why I directed the Pennsylvania Department of Education to develop a toolkit for teachers and parents on digital literacy and critical thinking. Because we need to ensure our young people are equipped with the skills to tell fact from fiction and navigate online spaces safely and responsibly.”
State Education Secretary Khalid N. Mumin noted, “The media landscape of the 21st Century offers a richness of information available to anyone with an Internet connection and the curiosity to click. But it is also complicated, messy, and difficult to interpret – even for those of us who have been consuming news and information online for decades.”
“We must be thoughtful and deliberate about empowering our children with the skills they’ll need to navigate this ever-evolving world of information at our fingertips,” Mumin continued. “That’s why we developed this toolkit — to help Pennsylvania’s educators incorporate age-appropriate media literacy into their lesson plans and their conversations with students.”
The information literacy toolkit, which is available to the public on PDE’s website, offers resources about how to recognize biases, distinguish between credible information and misinformation and create and share content responsibly. Through a collection of evidence-based resources, the toolkit encourages critical thinking, active participation in society and contextual understanding of past and current events.
Resources in the toolkit are primarily geared toward educators, but there are also tools to help families and their children navigate the media landscape.
Shapiro said he is committed to ensuring Pennsylvania students have the resources they need to learn and grow from early childhood through adulthood.
The state 2024-25 budget includes a historic $1.1 billion in total increases in K-12 public education funding, the largest year-over-year increase in Commonwealth history. This budget, developed in a bipartisan fashion, delivers significant progress on building strong and safe school communities, adequately and equitably funding public schools, supporting teachers and ensuring that every Pennsylvania child has the freedom to chart their own course for success, state officials said.
