The Investigate module introduces participants to several simple online tools they can experiment with to help analyze media content and compare content from different sources. Investigating the basic data of online content— words and phrases—is the first step in media literacy. The tools provide sample content to analyze, but the facilitator and the participants can also supply their own content. The Databasic tools allow learners to do simple word counts, word clouds, and comparisons of word frequencies in political speeches, news stories, press releases, or any other relevant media texts. The facilitator helps participants reflect on how word choices and frequencies affect how we interpret content and how we respond to it emotionally. This first lesson emphasizes careful analysis of media content, intent, and impact.
WORDCOUNTER
WordCounter invites participants to build their data literacy by finding and visualizing a story about what words are found in local news stories.
Samediff
SameDiff contrasts two or more text files and allows participants to compare the content of each file. It helps participants see differences and similarities in the words used in each file so they can learn about quantitative analysis of text.
Connect the dots
Connect the Dots demonstrates how data can be analyzed using a visual network diagram. This hands-on activity helps participants learn about network data by creating and analyzing a dataset about their own interests.