Online Propaganda and the Proliferation of Hate
In this lesson students learn about the ways that propaganda techniques are used to promote hatred and intolerance online.
Stay on the Path Lesson Three: Treasure Maps
This four-lesson unit on search skills and critical thinking teaches students how to target and specify their online searches to avoid unwanted results, how to judge whether a link, search result or website is legitimate or phony, and how to find legitimate sources online for media works such as music, videos and movies. In this lesson, students apply what they have learned in the first two lessons to find and verify information online.
Stay on the Path Lesson Two: All That Glitters is Not Gold
In this lesson students learn how to authenticate online information by comparing “facts” from the website www.allaboutexplorers.com with more authoritative sources.
Reality Check: Authentication and Citizenship
In this lesson, students consider the ways in which misinformation can have an impact on history and politics. After discussing a number of historical examples of misinformation, they examine the ways in which news sources may be biased and use an interactive online game to practice skills in getting more context on a story. Finally, students read a current news story and use what they have learned to find the context they need to understand it.
Reality Check: We Are All Broadcasters
In this lesson, students consider the ways in which our own biases can prevent us from being objective. They then learn ways to recognize and account for our biases and practice these by playing an interactive online game. Finally, students learn about how public service campaigns can change social norms and create their own PSA to promote ethical sharing of online information.
Digital Skills for Democracy: Assessing online information to make civic choices
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
Stay on the Path Lesson One: Searching for Treasure
In this lesson students learn how to create well-defined search strings and to use tools and techniques such as bookmarking, browser filters and search engine preferences to avoid unwanted material.
Stay on the Path Lesson Four: Scavenger Hunt
In this lesson, students apply their searching and critical thinking skills to learn how to find legitimate online sources for downloading and streaming movies, music and videos.
A Day in the Life of the Jos
A Day in the Life of the Jos is a comprehensive digital citizenship tutorial that prepares students in grades six to eight to deal with all of the issues they face when using digital technology – from online privacy, to cyberbullying, to recognizing what’s real and what’s fake online.
Decoding the News
“Be skeptical, not cynical.” Lori Robertson, managing editor of Factcheck.org