The Reliability of Information Sources: Student Perceptions and Educational Opportunities

The modern digital age demands the skills to be able to assess information. In the current world, access to information and knowledge is abundant from different sources. Indeed, high-quality data are much needed in education and professional development, as the quality and accuracy of information directly influence the process of learning and decision-making. The study aims to investigate the perceptions of computer science students at the University of Dunaújváros related to the credibility of diverse information sources. Within a questionnaire, on a voluntary answer basis, 68 students took part, 59 males and nine females. This work is aimed at assessing the degree to which the surveyed students evaluate information sources based on a five-point Likert scale. The data shows that students find print books and textbooks as the most reliable sources; social media are the least reliable. The study also supports the importance of source credibility evaluation, for which lateral reading techniques and AI-based news source credibility identification systems can be helpful. These findings suggest the necessity of bettering the educational approaches to foster better source criticism skills in the students, especially for online content and social media. The study generally contributes to understanding the information society and helps prepare students to obtain and use reliable and accurate information in their future careers. Using AI-based tools and systems can then further support these educational efforts with robust mechanisms to evaluate information credibility in an ever more complex digital landscape.