Digital Deceit: Fake News, Artificial Intelligence, and Censorship in Educational Research

Never has it been more urgent for educators to be aware of the perils of\r\nresearch in education using digital searches in today’s world of\r\ndisinformation, misinformation, artificial intelligence and censorship. As a\r\nresult, we are more reliant on strong researchers than ever before. In the\r\ndiscipline of Education, students are often asked to research issues pertaining\r\nto curricula, pedagogy, educational information and theories. Pupils are using\r\nInternet and digital library searches to gain knowledge within public and\r\nprivate K-12 schools and within higher education. In this article, an\r\nEducational Librarian and an Education Professor outline their approach to\r\neducating all Faculty of Education students about using digital platforms in\r\nrelation to unmasking fake news, artificial intelligence (AI) usage,\r\nand increasing Internet censorship. Using case study research, we\r\nexamined 34 Bachelor of Education students in training at the high school level who created environmental digital art\r\nprojects. Information/media literacy was taught in order to provide students with\r\nthe necessary tools to identify credible, diverse, well-informed, strong, and\r\nrobust research. In addition, they\r\nneeded to be able to discern when artificial intelligence was utilized. Outlined are students’ projects. Our findings include “top ten” practical suggestions for educators at all levels when teaching students about\r\neffective researching in our current digital era.