The wide availability of user-provided content in online social media facilitates the aggregation of people around common interests, worldviews, and narratives. However, the World Wide Web is a fruitful environment for the massive diffusion of unverified rumors. In this work, using a massive quantitative analysis of Facebook, we show that information related to distinct narratives––conspiracy theories and scientific news––generates homogeneous and polarized communities (i.e., echo chambers) having similar information consumption patterns.
Basically, Facebook becomes an echo chamber for like minded individuals, limiting access to information that is contrary to the beliefs of the echo chamber.
Audio books have surged in popularity in recent years, enabled by their ease of use and advancements in smart phones. Gone are the days of numbered cassettes and bulky players. Technology has created more opportunities to listen to good books. But not everyone believes listening to books is a good thing — biases in favor of reading…
Articles about new technologies in the general media usually fall into one of two categories: breathless, this-is-the-coolest-thing-ever puff pieces or those it’s-gonna-kill-you-if-you’re-not-careful apocalyptic warnings. Occasionally writers manage to do both at the same time, but that’s rare. A recent piece in the Washington Post leans toward that second theme by letting us know right in…
Three exercises to get students writing with vivid detail—a key step to developing a distinctive style of their own. Source: Helping Students Find Their Writer’s Voice | Edutopia It makes me sad that information like this didn’t seem to be available when I was in school. I like writing so much more now that I’m…
If you want your preschooler to grow up with a healthy attitude toward artificial intelligence, here’s a tip: Don’t call that cute talking robot “he” or “she.” Call the robot “it.” Today’s small children, aka Generation Alpha, are the first to grow up with robots as peers. Those winsome talking devices spawned by a booming…
Chromebooks have become popular educational devices that are used in thousands of schools across the US and worldwide. They offer an attractive price and can be used very effectively to target many 21st century skills such as connecting, critical thinking, and collaboration. However, one very important skill that we don’t generally associate as much with…
…a year ago we called for better methods for evaluating educational apps to help states, districts and schools have more transparency into what technology was really making a difference for teaching and learning. The need to make good decisions based on evidence, as opposed to relying on marketing hype or the buzz among a small…
