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Our aim is to help students learn to be smart consumers of these messages, not to accept them at face value; to dig for facts using the Internet, not to stop looking once they get to Wikipedia; and to weigh evidence logically, not to draw conclusions based on their own biases. The materials on this site, then, are meant to help students acquire the skills to see through the spin. Under the heading Tools of the Trade we’ve outlined a five-step framework for analyzing information and avoiding deception. That process is the essence of what we do at FactCheck.org, where we have been debunking false and misleading claims in politics since 2003.

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills explicitly lists communication and collaboration together in their Framework for 21st Century Learning.

Greg Kulowiec (@gregkulowiec) reminded teachers, "Technology is not the emphasis. It's the tool to do thoughtful work." Apps will change. Operating systems, capabilities, and even devices change. However, if we focus on a core set of essential skills -- communication, collaboration, connection and creation -- and start to develop curricula that will benefit our students regardless of the technology, then we can truly embrace a mobile curriculum.

Social media, contrary to its reputation, actually seems to improve certain prosocial behaviors—empathy, to name one—in teenage populations.

So we have a dash of “good news,” a pinch of “bad news,” and a potential framework to turn “no news” into “know news.”