Digital Skills for Democracy: Assessing online information to make civic choices Lesson Plan

Authenticating Information
Digital Citizenship
Internet & Mobile

Level: Grades 9-12

Duration: 60 minutes

This lesson plan was developed by MediaSmarts for Elections Canada.

This lesson is part of USE, UNDERSTAND & CREATE: A Digital Literacy Framework for Canadian Schools.

Overview

In this activity, students :

  • think about the importance of making sure they have trustworthy information before they make a decision on a political or electoral issue
  • explore a series of scenarios designed to teach five strategies for verifying information: find the original, verify the source, check other information, read factchecking articles, and turn to places you trust 
  • reflect on the impact of false and misleading information in politics

Competencies and Skills

  • Students will think critically about online information.
  • Students will understand the importance of verifying information about political and election issues.
  • Students will learn and practise skills for verifying online information.
  • Students will learn about trustworthy sources for information on election issues, including the Elections Canada website and social media channels.

This lesson and all associated documents (teacher's guide, scenario cards, handouts, etc.) are available on the Elections Canada website at: https://electionsanddemocracy.ca/digital-skills-democracy-0.