If you haven't already been convinced that you need to teach your students about fake news, here are a few statistics for you:
- In its <LINK URL="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/uploads/research/census_executivesummary.pdf" LINKTARGET="_blank">2015 study</LINK> of media use by tweens and teens, Common Sense Media found that American teens use an average of nine hours of entertainment media daily, not including time spent at school or on homework (Rideout, p. 15).
- <LINK URL="http://www.americanpressinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Media-Insight-Millennials-Report-March-2015.pdf" LINKTARGET="_blank">Research conducted</LINK> by the Media Insight Project found that "88 percent of Millennials get news from Facebook regularly … and more than half of them do so daily" (2015, p. 2).
- <LINK URL="https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/viral-fake-election-news-outperformed-real-news-on-facebook?utm_term=.fs4BQ88XL#.iiXOdwwl5" LINKTARGET="_blank">An analysis by Buzzfeed</LINK> shows that, during the last few months of the presidential campaign, the top 20 fake election news stories were shared on Facebook more than a million times more than the top 20 legitimate election news stories (Silverman, 2016).
- A <LINK URL="https://sheg.stanford.edu/upload/V3LessonPlans/Executive%20Summary%2011.21.16.pdf" LINKTARGET="_blank">2016 report</LINK> from the Stanford History Education Group claims that 80 percent of middle schoolers couldn't tell the difference between a native ad and editorial content (p. 10) and 93 percent of college students didn't realize that they were reading information put out by industry PR (p. 5).
These statistics are overwhelming to say the least. And yet they also give educators a clear goal. We need to teach our students how to fight the battle against fake news, and we need to do it as soon as possible.
I've looked around for tips on how to teach about fake news, and although that search has resulted in some fascinating articles, I haven't found much in the way of specific suggestions for how to create meaningful and successful lesson plans. Teenagers are tricky, but it isn't impossible to get through to them. For me, there are a few requirements for a good lesson plan on new media literacy.
Here are my four suggestions for effective lesson plans on fake news:
- Show students why it matters. Millennials have been known to be difficult to impress. They often think that they have seen it all. Therefore, giving them specific information about how fake news can be harmful is key to any lesson plan on new media literacy. When students read real news articles about <LINK URL="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/pizzagate-from-rumor-to-hashtag-to-gunfire-in-dc/2016/12/06/4c7def50-bbd4-11e6-94ac-3d324840106c_story.html?utm_term=.6104bfb88f38" LINKTARGET="_blank">real life consequences of made up stories</LINK>, they'll be more likely to want to learn what they can do to stop the spread of fake news.
- Show students what they don't know. Although statistics about what students don't know and where they get their news might convince an adult that this is a necessary topic to teach, my guess is that most teenagers think they fall into the 20 or 7 percent (in the Stanford study cited above) that didn't get it wrong. Starting a unit with a little quiz that reveals gaps in knowledge, similar to starting any new unit with a diagnostic pre-assessment of background knowledge, can be helpful in getting students to acknowledge blind spots.
- Get specific and get detailed. Most of the lesson plans I have found for teaching students to deal with fake news are helpful and brightly colored, but they don't contain enough information. It's not just flashy headlines on Facebook that students need to learn about—it's also Twitter bots, Facebook algorithms, URLs that have been designed to look like legitimate news sites, and so much more. Telling students to verify news on credible news websites is fine, but what if they don't have a list of credible websites? What if they don't understand the difference between exponential growth and linear growth and how that effects a viral post? The information involved in teaching students to stop the spread of fake news is daunting, but this is not the time to just gloss over it all with some cheery generalities. Sites like <LINK URL="http://www.npr.org/tags/502124007/fake-news" LINKTARGET="_blank">NPR</LINK>, <LINK URL="http://www.slj.com/2017/03/webcasts/experts-share-insight-tools-to-help-students-fight-fake-news/" LINKTARGET="_blank">School Library Journal</LINK>, and the <LINK URL="http://www.thenewsliteracyproject.org/sites/default/files/GO-TenQuestionsForFakeNewsFINAL.pdf" LINKTARGET="_blank">News Literacy Project</LINK> have resources to get you started.
- Task them to put their knowledge to work. If students aren't given time to explore online and test out their newfound knowledge, they won't fully internalize the lessons they've been taught. They need to put their knowledge to work in a real way. Bringing in examples of fake news stories to show their peers or finding examples of native advertisements in magazine articles are ways students can solidify their knowledge by applying what they have learned. No matter how you do it, they'll need time to get online and explore.
I know that most educators feel like they just can't add one more thing to their list of responsibilities, but the spread of fake news is something we all need to address. Step by step, you can teach your students what they need to know.