IMPACT OF ONLINE MISINFORMATION AS DIGITAL DISTORTION ON LEARNING PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES OF YOUTH

Abstract

The rise of online information sources has revolutionized the process of knowledge acquisition and communication, and it also predisposes individuals to misinformation. University students, who often rely on the Internet as a source of academic and social information, are especially prone to factual misinformation that can affect the learning processes and credibility of sources of information. Despite growing international concern, empirical evidence on the educational consequences of misinformation in Pakistan remains limited. This paper will look into the connection between exposure to misinformation, the perception of learning, and attitude towards the authoritative sources of information among university students. The research was performed in a positivist research framework and was a quantitative cross-sectional survey. A structured online questionnaire was used to obtain data on 300 undergraduate and graduate students with measures of misinformation exposure, learning perceptions, cognitive bias and trust in authoritative sources of information. The SPSS was used to run statistical analyses, which included descriptive statistics, reliability tests, correlation, regression, t-tests, and ANOVA. The results show that exposure to misinformation is a significant predictor of distorted perceptions of learning (r =. 654, p <. 001, R 2 =.428) and negative attitude towards authoritative sources of information (r =.539, p <.001, R 2 =.291). Students who reported a greater exposure to misinformation had more confusion in learning and were more skeptical about the academic institutions, experts, and reliable media. The research concludes that misinformation is a major learning issue that influences the learning outcomes and institutional trust. Enhancing digital literacy, critical thinking, and source-evaluation skills are necessary to promote informed and resilient learning experiences