Category: Media literacy

What should you do when a press release claims multilingualism can make your brain 13 years younger?

This weekend, I came across this piece on ScienceDaily. Like any good press release, the message is one that rather invites you to click: speaking several languages could keep your brain up to thirteen years younger. This sounds promising, especially if you speak several languages. The newspaper articles almost write themselves, but before you download… Read More What should you do when a press release claims multilingualism can make your brain 13 years younger?

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This Study Does Not Show That We Can Multitask

“See? Humans actually can multitask.” I’ve had that message sent to me several times over the past month, usually by people who know I occasionally challenge the multitasking myth. The reason was a new study published in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. The researchers trained participants more than 30,000 times to categorise novel, artificially morphed… Read More This Study Does Not Show That We Can Multitask

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The Multimodal Learning Confusion

A Substack post that suddenly seemed to appear everywhere in my feed led me to an interesting systematic review recently published in Review of Education. The authors did something that, surprisingly, had never been done before. They searched for experimental evidence supporting the Pedagogy of Multiliteracies, a framework that has become highly influential in some… Read More The Multimodal Learning Confusion

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Synthetic Authenticity: Be Careful With AI Testimonials About Education…

Yesterday, I came across this message (in French) on Twitter. Because the person who shared it isn’t named Éléonore, I assume she didn’t write it herself. So I went looking. Call it an obsession. I found the same message a few times, including on Facebook , but also a similar message from a certain Claire on Instagram:… Read More Synthetic Authenticity: Be Careful With AI Testimonials About Education…

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Google published AI study tips to make learning easier. That’s exactly the problem.

Google recently published a set of (easy) study tips built around Gemini. They sound familiar: organise your materials, generate study guides, turn notes into audio, visualise concepts, test yourself, and identify gaps through feedback. At first glance, this looks like a neat translation of learning science into practice. But look a bit closer and something… Read More Google published AI study tips to make learning easier. That’s exactly the problem.

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Do carrots really improve your eyesight? A myth born in World War II

We’ve almost all grown up with it: carrots are good for your eyesight. And spinach makes you strong (but that’s another story, or is it?). In some places, there’s an even stronger version of the claim: carrots can help you see in the dark. But where does that idea actually come from? And is it… Read More Do carrots really improve your eyesight? A myth born in World War II

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Everyone Uses Everyone in the Manosphere

I have been a fan of Louis Theroux for a long time, and of his brother as well. Since his early documentaries, he has had a rare way of working: friendly, almost naïve in appearance, yet remarkably persistent. He asks questions that sound simple, but are often difficult to avoid answering. So when his new… Read More Everyone Uses Everyone in the Manosphere

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Why MrBeast Gets Education Wrong (A Short Rant About a Familiar Myth)

I have to be careful now, as some of my kids used to be fans of MrBeast, but what he’s saying in this video, which I found in this tweet, is close to complete nonsense. I’ll ignore the learning styles claim he casually throws in. No, you are not a visual learner. That discussion is… Read More Why MrBeast Gets Education Wrong (A Short Rant About a Familiar Myth)

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What a Nest Thermostat Says About Digital Dependence

yA few months ago, my smart thermostat stopped working. Not with a dramatic error message, but quietly. The app no longer behaved the way it used to. Several functions simply disappeared. Let me tell you a story about technological sovereignty and digital dependence. The reason was simple and uncomfortable: the company behind it decided to… Read More What a Nest Thermostat Says About Digital Dependence

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Is AI the Problem, or Does AI Reveal What Was Already Broken?

It can feel as if AI has suddenly become the problem. As if hallucinations, incorrect citations, and superficial texts only appeared with the arrival of ChatGPT and its peers. From my perspective as an education mythbuster, that story does not quite hold. Poor or incorrect citations are not an AI problem. They have always been… Read More Is AI the Problem, or Does AI Reveal What Was Already Broken?

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