Building Resilient Communities

MEDIA LITERACY AND CRITICAL THINKING ONLINE CERTIFICATION COURSE

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$50 Amazon Gift Card for the first 20 people to complete the course by the end of March, 2024.

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Fake News. Misinformation. Click Bait.

Citizens of the United States face an unprecedented level of access to information, and it’s not always easy to tell the difference between reliable information and faulty, misleading information. Current and future generations must learn the necessary skills to navigate the complex web of news stories, data points, and social media posts that inform our daily lives. Otherwise, they risk being misled at best or radicalized to commit violent acts at worst. In fact, several recent mass casualty events were committed by people who were radicalized by online messaging.

No community is immune from these tragedies, but we can become more resilient, starting at the local level. This program invites educators, law enforcement personnel, and other civic leaders to engage with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University professors to co-opt pedagogical tools and methods that increase awareness of the ways in which misinformation works as well as the recruiting methods of extremist organizations. With these tools, we can help our communities challenge violence mobilization narratives and increase the capabilities of our community to resist and counter extremist online messaging.

Participants of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Building Resilient Communities’ Digital Media Literacy and Critical Thinking online course will learn about how the process of radicalization works and critically evaluate several examples of extremist messaging. Then, participants will learn to break down the problematic assumptions, data, or logic of those messages by understanding how they work on audiences. With this knowledge, participants can develop strategies within their own communities to increase awareness of how misinformation works as well as resilience to potential radicalization to violence.

Who Is this Training Intended For?

This training was developed with secondary and post-secondary educators, public and school librarians, as well as law enforcement personnel (especially school resource officers) in mind.

Registration (click to register)

This project is partially funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships, opportunity number DHS-22-TTP-132-00-01