This whole thing started because Sedro-Woolley high school teacher Linsey
Kitchens saw the people in her life struggle with the Internet. Specifically, she saw
them struggle with what to believe and how to engage their critical thinking skills.

Whether that was a teenager in her classroom, convinced that if they bought a
protein powder from their favorite influencer, it would make them stronger and
more popular. Or the senior citizens in her life, who went down rabbit holes of
conspiracy theories online. Or fell for online scams.

So Kitchens became obsessed with teaching media literacy to people of all ages.
She even won a fellowship at the University of Washington’s Center for an
Informed Public where she studied how teachers can incorporate media literacy
into their classrooms.

This past spring, she created a day-long event where teens and seniors could spend
the day together, at what you might call a “giant skills swap.” The teenagers gave
presentations about how AI scrapes information from reliable and unreliable
sources.While the seniors gave presentations about animal rescue and how to fix a
flat tire.

But the event almost didn’t happen, because one of those groups was scared to
engage with the other group.

SoundSide’s Kyle Norris was at the event, called “Ageless Intelligence,” and has
this story.

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible!

Right now, we're asking for listeners to give us a full review of the show. We want to know what you want from the show, so share your thoughts with us at kuow.org/feedback. 

Also, if you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

This whole thing started because Sedro-Woolley high school teacher Linsey Kitchens saw the people in her life struggle with the Internet. Specifically, she saw them struggle with what to believe and how to engage their critical thinking skills.
Whether that was a teenager in her classroom, convinced that if they bought a protein powder from their favorite influencer, it would make them stronger and more popular. Or the senior citizens in her life, who went down rabbit holes of conspiracy theories online. Or fell for online scams.
So Kitchens became obsessed with teaching media literacy to people of all ages. She even won a fellowship at the University of Washington&rsquo;s Center for an Informed Public where she studied how teachers can incorporate media literacy into their classrooms.
This past spring, she created a day-long event where teens and seniors could spend the day together, at what you might call a &ldquo;giant skills swap.&rdquo; The teenagers gave presentations about how AI scrapes information from reliable and unreliable sources.While the seniors gave presentations about animal rescue and how to fix a flat tire.
But the event almost didn&rsquo;t happen, because one of those groups was scared to engage with the other group.
SoundSide&rsquo;s Kyle Norris was at the event, called &ldquo;Ageless Intelligence,&rdquo; and has this story.
Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! Right now, we're asking for listeners to give us a full review of the show. We want to know what you want from the show, so share your thoughts with us at <a href="http://kuow.org/feedback">kuow.org/feedback</a>. Also, if you want to help out, go to <a href="http://kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes">kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes</a> Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

Soundside

How a high school teacher created a day-long event where teens and seniors could spend time together at a “giant skills swap.” 