Module One
Middle, high and college students from 12 states were asked to evaluate the information in tweets, comments and articles. 7,800 student responses were collected. Stanford University found that students were unable to tell fake accounts from real ones, activists groups from neutral sources, and ads from news articles. Students were consistent in their responses getting “duped and duped again” by fake news. (Lesson from PBS News Hour)
Warm-Up
Warm-Up
- Where do you get your news?
- If you say social media, can you name the specific news sources where the majority of information you read comes from?
- Why is there growing concern surrounding fake news sites?
After Video Activity:
- Do you agree with President Obama’s statement that it is problematic if people can’t distinguish between real news and propaganda? Explain.
- How do you think fake news could influence individuals’ beliefs or even presidential elections?
- Do you think tech giants like Google and Facebook deserve to be criticized over whether they used insufficient discretion in weeding out fake news?
- What should these companies do about fake news sites?
Module Two
Why do you think people are so concerned about this? Why was it front page news?
Prof. Wineburg says one mistake schools make is to block certain websites from students while they are at school. “In many schools there are internet filters that direct students to previously vetted sites and reliable sources of information. But what happens when they leave school and they take out their phone and they look at their Twitter feed? How do they become prepared to make the choices about what to believe, what to forward, what to post to their friends when they’ve given no practice in doing those kinds of things in school?” Do you agree with this? Should schools block certain websites?
Prof. Wineburg says one mistake schools make is to block certain websites from students while they are at school. “In many schools there are internet filters that direct students to previously vetted sites and reliable sources of information. But what happens when they leave school and they take out their phone and they look at their Twitter feed? How do they become prepared to make the choices about what to believe, what to forward, what to post to their friends when they’ve given no practice in doing those kinds of things in school?” Do you agree with this? Should schools block certain websites?
Module Three
The News Literacy Project Ten Questions for Fake News Detection
Which points will help you detect fake news the best?
Fake News Articles:
Trump Offering Free One-Way Tickets to Africa & Mexico for Those Who Wanna Leave America - TRENDING
Which points will help you detect fake news the best?
Fake News Articles:
Trump Offering Free One-Way Tickets to Africa & Mexico for Those Who Wanna Leave America - TRENDING
Use the checklist to look at the above headlines. Next get with a partner and look up one of the articles on Snopes or find the original article and using the checklist, determine how it is fake.