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Perspectives from Algeria and the United States: Media and News Literacy Perceptions and Practices of Pre-service Teachers
Authors: Slimane Aboulkacem, Lory E. Haas, Abigail R. Winard
Number of views: 452
Part of being a 21st century citizen is experiencing the polarization and the divisiveness of the world, especially across digital social spaces. We live in a new media environment that is personalized for everyone. Additionally, today’s media life is characterized by the speed of information production, consumption, as well as and often absence of trustful information sources. Information is available in unprecedented amounts at the touch of a fingertip and finds us through an armada of digital services. Hence, the purpose of this research is to explore the perceptions and practices of 268 pre-service teachers from Algeria and the USA. Responses to four open-ended questions, which were part of a mixed methods survey, were analyzed for this study. These questions were posed to investigate pre-service teachers’ views of today’s news, its sources, and how they proceed into verifying and sharing information. The findings revealed that students indicate they verify information but did not share how they verify sources other than frequent use of Google search engine. Moreover, friends, family members, and Facebook comments were found to potentially sway the pre-teachers’ opinions or even sometimes determine their news believability.