Web Literacy (Video)

Unless you've been living under a rock, we're guessing you're not a total noob when it comes to the internet. Maybe you play online games with your pals. Maybe you surf the web for the latest John Cena merchandise. Or maybe you have a secret YouTube channel where you review the latest John Cena merchandise.

Shhh, don't blow up our spot.

But just because you spend some time on the internet doesn't mean you understand it. Do you know how to determine if a website's credible? Do you know how to handle a variety of sources—primary, secondary, and even biased—when online researching? Do you know that there's more to Google than the "I'm Feeling Lucky" feature?

In this course, we'll teach you about "web literacy," which is basically the same as regular old literacy, but with the internet instead of words. To put it simply, web literacy is the ability to understand things you find online. We'll kick off the course with a discussion of the power of fame, a culture of escapism, and celebrities' affinities to fitness, hygiene, and kale. Well, maybe not that last one. Then we'll move into navigating the sometimes tricky world of web research, because in the same way that celeb culture engulfs our internet, so do plenty of subjective, biased, and non-credible sources.

So, listen up, internet aficionados, because this is how things are going down. You're going to take a load off your feet and enjoy nine videos on web literacy, created by the Spielberg-caliber filmmakers here at Shmoop. Not that we're biased or anything. After each video, you'll be challenged with a few quick quizzes to check your comprehension. Along the way, you'll: 

• gain V.I.P. entry into the world of celebrities and discover why our culture is so fascinated with them.
• learn the most effective tools and techniques for determining the credibility of online sources.
• uncover the distinction between primary and secondary sources, as well as how to determine bias.
• gain insight into the importance of tone in online media.
• arm yourself with the most effective techniques for using search engines like Google.
• find out how to research like an academic titan.
• master the art of crafting a thesis and using research to back up your claims.

Doesn't sound too bad, right? When everything's said and done, you'll be so adept at scouring the information superhighway that it'll basically count as a superpower.

Here's a sneak peek at a video from the course. BYOP (bring your own popcorn).

Unit Breakdown