Ontario is currently in an election campaign and the entire country will have a federal election at some point this year as well (the exact date is yet to be determined). As a parent, elections pose a valuable time to have discussions with kids about the privilege of voting, the ways democracy works, how the Canadian government functions, how political advertising works, why sharing accurate info about politics matters and more.
Level: Grades 9 to 12
About the Author: MediaSmarts
Because it’s so easy to copy and share things online, it’s important to find out where something originally came from before you decide whether or not to trust it. Someone might have shared it with you on social media, or a news story might be based on someone else’s story.
In this lesson, students participate in a workshop that teaches them four quick, easy steps to verify online information. After practicing these four steps they create a public service announcement aimed at teaching one of these steps and spreading the message that it is necessary for everyone to fact-check information we see online every time we are going to share it or act on it.
The Break the Fake: How to tell what's true online workshop will teach audiences four quick, easy steps they can take to spot misinformation and find out if something online is true or not. The workshop includes methods for recognizing AI-generated misinformation, including deepfakes, as well as tips on how to use AI for verifying information.
The Workshop facilitator guide has been developed to support facilitators who are presenting the Break the Fake, and includes background information about the workshop, advice on preparing and presenting the workshop, a supporting script, Frequently Asked Questions and handouts for participants.
Sometimes a single search can Break the Fake if a professional fact-checker has already done the work for you.
Whether you’re looking at a website, photo, video or news story, what really matters is whether or not the people who originally created it are trustworthy. Even when it has been shared with you by someone you trust, like a friend or family member, you can’t know if they checked the facts. So it’s up to you!
Here are four quick and easy steps to find out the truth and share good information. Sometimes you only have to do one of these things, and most steps take less than a minute.
Sometimes a single search can break the fake, if a professional fact-checker like Snopes has already done the work for you.
This step may sometimes be the last one you do, but it could also be the first. The News tab is better than the main Google search for this step because it only shows real news sources. While not every source that’s included is perfectly reliable, they are all news outlets that really exist.