Abstract:

Manipulation of information and images to influence individuals' opinions and views is not a new phenomenon. The art of propaganda has influenced opinions and created divisions related to politics, wars, companies, and products. The ease of creating AI-generated images, high dependency on social media for information, and lack of critical thinking skills to evaluate problematic information and sources have increased the need to develop interdisciplinary cybersecurity curriculum for all technology users.

Twenty years ago, the disruption in technology and web-based applications, better known as Web 2.0, created an environment focused on user-generated content. These technologies empowered individuals to share ideas and information and participate within different subcultures. The impact of Web 2.0 and its use in schools highlighted the need for more technology-based education and a focus on 21st-century skills. The need for skills to navigate technologies also highlighted technology gaps and skills among digital natives and digital immigrants. Teaching 21st-century skills became critical for all students, and the shift in these topics became more interdisciplinary.

Two decades later, education faces a similar issue: an increasing need to shift cybersecurity topics to interdisciplinary curriculum. During the Web 2.0 era, the term digital native was used to describe individuals who grew up with technology access. Today's K12 students are not only digital natives but also have never known a time without high-end smartphones and social media. Like the 2000s and discussion around digital natives, today's students, although they have lived in a world of smartphones and social media, have not developed the critical thinking skills to navigate the extensive amount of information they encounter on these platforms. These platforms play a significant role in the information students encounter and how it influences them. Many of these students do not understand the risk of sharing and consuming problematic information on social media. For this reason, cybersecurity topics focused on problematic information must be integrated as an interdisciplinary topic within all grade levels.

A quantitive quasi-experimental study was conducted to evaluate the ability of technology users between the ages of 14-16 to identify fake and real news stories posted on social media. In addition to evaluating their ability to identify social media posts, participants also provided data about what items in the news story influenced their choice.

The study's data was collected from two high schools. Participants were presented with six news stories in a pre-and post-survey. The pre-and post-survey also asked participants questions about consumption and sharing of problematic information and items that influence their choices. One site received instruction on identifying problematic information posted on social media. Data collected was used to calculate an accuracy score and determine information that influenced participant decisions.

The study's results highlight the inability of young technology users to identify problematic information and biases and information that influence decisions. The information collected is essential for its contribution to research in problematic information and the development of interdisciplinary cybersecurity curriculum to develop critical thinking skills to detect problematic information and evaluate informational items within sources.

Keywords:

Problematic Information, Adolescent technology users, Social Media, Fake News, Interdisciplinary Cybersecurity, Media Literacy.