Resources for Teachers - Finding and verifying information

Spotting Deepfakes

Have you ever seen a photo or video online that seemed too good to be true? With today's technology, it's getting harder and harder to tell what's real and what's fake, especially with things called deepfakes.

Reality Check: News You Can Use

In this lesson, students consider the meanings of the term “fake news” and learn facts about the news industry that will help them recognize legitimate sources of news. They use an educational computer game to learn how to track a news story to its original source before evaluating its reliability, then practice the same skills “in the wild” with actual news stories.

Break the Fake Tip #1: Use fact-checking tools

Sometimes a single search can Break the Fake if a professional fact-checker has already done the work for you.

Break the Fake: Becoming a Fact–Checker

This lesson is designed to help students determine the validity of information that is presented to them on the Internet. After reviewing a series of evaluation techniques for online resources, students form groups to assess selected websites.

Break the Fake: Correcting disinformation

Here are three ways to respond to false info online:

1. Ask a question

If the false info is coming from a friend or a family member, or you’re worried that your reply might help spread the false info, you can just ask a question like “Are you sure that’s true?” or “Is that source reliable?”.  

That nudges them to think more about whether what they're sharing is true, and shows other people that you don't agree with the bad info.

Research has found this works almost as well as correcting or debunking false information!