Glossary
- Aggregator
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A republisher of information originating from other sources. Republishers like Facebook use an algorithm to determine what content to display.
- Algorithm
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A set of rules used to calculate an answer to a query, or question. Web search engines use highly complex search algorithms.
- Black Box
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A way to describe a device that is characterized by its inputs and outputs and where the calculations at work are hidden. An algorithm is a kind of black box.
- Clickbait
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Online content with an intriguing title or pitch but insubstantial content. A product of the contemporary digital information environment.
- Confirmation Bias
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The tendency to selectively search for and interpret information in a way that confirms one’s own pre-existing beliefs and ideas.
- Content Mill
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A disreputable type of online publication where writers are often anonymous and content is produced quickly and often without verification of facts.
- Critical Thinking
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The objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgement.
- Cyberchondria
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Anxiety produced by browsing online medical information.
- Digital Capabilities
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Those capabilities which fit an individual for living, learning and working in a digital society
- Digital Footprint
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The trail of ‘electronic breadcrumbs’ you leave behind you as you use the internet both intentionally but also unintentionally.
- Digital Identity
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Refers to your “online self”, the electronic representation of who you are.
- Digital Literacy
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The ability to understand and use information in multiple formats from a wide range of sources when it is presented via computers
- Digital Native or Net Generation
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The idea that a person who has been born or brought up during the age of digital technology will be familiar with computers and the Internet from an early age.
- Digital Self
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The way you use the range of technologies and digital tools you use in different aspects of your life
- Digitally Mediated Communication Space
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Any online location or platform that can be used to communicate with others. Examples include Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, WordPress, and Tumblr.
- Echo Chamber
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An online environment that reinforces pre-existing biases and beliefs.
- Evaluative Literacy
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The ability to assess information, especially by contextualizing, critiquing, and confirming its truthfulness.
- Fake News
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Misleading or biased information, usually political in nature, enabled by digital forms of information sharing.
- Index
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For search engines, an index is a collection of webpage information compiled by spiders and used to generate search results.
- Inlink
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A hyperlink connecting one webpage to another. If site A links to site B, that counts as one inlink for site B.
- Intellectual Property
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An original work or invention to which an individual or company has rights. For example, a research paper that you write for class is an original work and you own the copyright to that paper; no one else can use your paper unless they cite you. Depending on copyright law where you live, you may also be able to apply for a patent, copyright, trademark, etc. for your original work.
- Lateral Reading
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Fact-checking by reading contextually about a website.
- Metaliteracy
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The ability to identify gaps in one’s own knowledge, understanding, or literacy skills.
- Metanarrative
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From postmodern theory, a grand, overarching story of the way the world functions, which is used to explain and justify; a narrative about narratives.
- PageRank
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An initial rule used in Google’s algorithm where webpage relevance is determined by inlinks.
- Positionality
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The notion that personal values, views, identity, and location in time and space influence how one understands the world.
- Propaganda
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Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or a particular point of view.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
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The practise of editing a website to improve Web search-result ranking.
- SMART Goals
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Goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
- Spider
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Also called a crawler or a robot, this snippet of code is used by search engines to webpages and retrieve information for the index.
- Typology
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Classification based on types or categories. For example, linguistic typology classifies languages according to their structure.