CIVIX Information Literacy is a website from the charitable organization CIVIX. Launched in 2018, CIVIX Information Literacy has the mission to help Canadian students in grades 5 to 12 build skills and grow into engaged, committed and informed citizens by providing educators rich resources to empower students under the voting age.
On the website, you can find many amazing content and activities, teaching how to find reliable information and how to identify fake news. CIVIX’s digital information literacy initiative’s purpose is to support teachers to give students the tools to build skills and make informed decisions, finding the information they can trust.
In today’s world, this initiative is precious, as we are living in the internet and digital era where fake news spreads easily and can cause severe consequences. According to CIVIX, our online information environment has become increasingly polluted with false and misleading information, challenging to distinguish reliable information from what is untrue or biased.
The site brings great resources for teachers and students to keep them well informed and prevent fake news and misleading information. The organization has created many online and offline activities to help students improve their ability to evaluate information. You can find the core activities listed on the activities page, where each activity is supported by lesson plans, slide decks, videos and other tools. Classroom activities are based on current events. There are also case studies that include background information, activities, key terms and related resources.
CIVIX Information Literacy offers a module called CTRL-F (Find the Facts), a verification module that teaches simple digital literacy skills. Students can use it to determine if certain information is reliable or not. The idea of the module was based on the CTRL-F, the keyboard shortcut for ‘find,’ so students can develop a habit of using quick strategies to investigate and determine what information is true and what is not by investigating the source, checking the claim, and tracing the information to find the original context.
The organization’s vision is “a world where students view themselves as citizens, care about what is true or credible, routinely evaluate sources and claims, and know where to look for reliable information.”
CIVIX believes that for democracy to work, citizens need to be informed and engaged. Therefore, the website’s resources are designed to help educators empower students with the habits and skills of informed citizenship. That being said, this national charitable organization provides experiential learning opportunities to help young Canadians practice their rights and responsibilities as citizens; it also services teachers and students with programming, which focuses on democratic participation, current affairs, deliberative dialogue and professional development.
