On September 23, 2024, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) unveiled a comprehensive toolkit to develop the information literacy skills of educators, students, and families to help the next generation of Pennsylvanians learn how to discern fact from fiction online.  

As children find misinformation online and bring it into the classroom, educators are forced to confront it. According to Governor Shapiro, the first step is giving teachers and parents more tools in their toolbox to help teach kids how to think critically about what they find online. Thus, PDE has developed a toolkit for teachers and parents on digital literacy and critical thinking.

The toolkit, which is available to the public on PDE’s website, is designed to help Pennsylvania’s educators incorporate age-appropriate media literacy into their lesson plans and their conversations with students and 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.  

Click here  to access the information literacy toolkit.

Click here to access the press release.