Posted in digital life, evaluating news, fact-checking, information credibility, media literacy, parents and technology

7 Games & Simulations that Can Strengthen Fact-Checking Skills

7 fact checking games
Click to read about the games at the Poynter fact-checking newsletter.

Today everyone needs to get better at fact-checking –a critical digital world skill. Interestingly, as we parents and educators help young people learn to distinguish what is true from what is not, we quickly discover that many adults need as much or more practice than the kids.

Online games and simulation activities can help people supercharge their fact-checking and evaluation abilities and even have a bit of fun doing it. Recently the weekly Poynter fact-checking newsletter, Factually, featured a list of seven of these games that can help people fine-tune their content evaluation skills. While each of the games is different from the others, all of them aim to help individuals gain the confidence and competence to determine what is true and what is misinformation or disinformation. All can be good teaching tools.

I recently wrote a blog post about Factitious, a game that is included in Poynter’s list, but the other six games look like they have enormous potential when it comes to helping kids and adults practice and understand a lot more about the need to fact-check and how to go about it.

Posted in evaluating news, Evaluating Web Resources, health information on social media, medical information, misinformation, parents and technology

Misleading Medical Info — Be Aware

inaccurate health info
Click to visit the Health Feedback site and view this graph.

You’ve just visited your physician or your child’s pediatrician and still have questions, so you decide to look up some health information online. Be careful and be aware that what you see on Facebook and on many websites, even some well known and respected media sites, may be misleading.

 

When you need to seek medical or health material on the internet, be sure to use curated sources — websites that are posted by hospitals, medical schools, medical libraries, and the National Institutes of Health. This post at my other blog, AsOurParentsAge, offers lots of information about identifying and using sources with accurate health and medical information. Continue reading “Misleading Medical Info — Be Aware”

Posted in evaluating news, media literacy, media literacy quiz, parents and technology

How Well Can You Identify News That’s Not True?

Screen Shot 2019-04-19 at 7.59.02 PMI am still having great fun with Factitiousa quiz that tests my ability to distinguish real news from the fake stuff. It’s a resource that can help individuals fine-tune their media literacy skills,  assisting them as they consider the truthfulness (or lack of truthfulness) of a news story.

I wrote about Factitious in June 2017, but recently I went back to the site and discovered that the game has expanded, with updated news for each year and a few more news evaluation levels. Last week I asked a group of friends play the game, and we all agreed it is a helpful teaching tool.     Continue reading “How Well Can You Identify News That’s Not True?”

Posted in 21st Century life, 21st Century parenting, 21st Century teaching, digital citizenship, digital citizenship case study, evaluating news, hoax, parents and technology

Oh No! It’s MOMO! … Psssst — It’s a Hoax

Well my title says it all. I read, quite by accident, a crazy MoMo post by someone named Wanda —a scary, urgent, bang-on-the-drum essay. Then there was the video… I am pleased to say that my hoax antenna is pretty well-tuned, and my reaction was, “Here we go again.” In truth I also realized that something similar had been around the digital world a few times before. But since then I’ve watched it travel, once again all over the world.

A viral hoax travels around the world.

Both the New York Times and the Atlantic have published articles about the MoMo hoax. They are worth reading and sharing, so check them out.

I am stunned that guidance counselors, police departments, sheriffs, and all sorts of other community leaders, even a few national leaders  (ummm, not to mention parents) did not do their media literacy evaluation homework before they responded, no freaked out.           Continue reading “Oh No! It’s MOMO! … Psssst — It’s a Hoax”

Posted in 21st Century Learning, commenting, digital world conversations, digital world reading habits, evaluating news, fact-checking, parents and technology

Fact Checking & Commenting Skills Go Hand-in-Hand

commenting sprialLearning to comment well, avoid chatter, and identify made-up news and comments — before sharing or forwarding them —  is a critical 21st Century literacy skill.

Each week I receive a terrific email on fact checking, sent from the Poynter Institute, an independent group that promotes excellent and innovative journalism in our 21st Century democracy.  Poynter’s weekly email message contains all sorts of interesting tidbits, quotes, and information that can help people learn more about information accuracy.

Several weeks ago the Pointer email contained the following quote that can be used as a teaching tool with students in class or with the family discussions around the dinner table.                        Continue reading “Fact Checking & Commenting Skills Go Hand-in-Hand”

Posted in connected world problems, digital literacy, evaluating news, fake news, media literacy, parents and technology

Distinguish True vs. Fake News With Factitious Quiz

Visit the site and play Factitious.

I am having great fun with Factitiousa quiz that tests my ability to identify real news (as well as the fake stuff). It’s a resource that can help middle and high school kids fine-tune media their literacy skills, guiding them to figure out the truthfulness (or lack of truthfulness) of a news story. Oh, and maybe it can help adults, too.

Developed collaboratively by JoLT and the AU Game Lab,  two organizations at the American University in Washington, DC, the quiz highlights news stories that have appeared in print and asks players to read and evaluate them. At the bottom of each story is a button to click to identify the source of the story. With these two bits of information, players decide whether the news story is true or false. The game indicates whether an answer is correct or incorrect, and then provides a description of the news source, explaining whether it’s known for false or reliable information.                                   Continue reading “Distinguish True vs. Fake News With Factitious Quiz”

Posted in 21st Century life, 21st Century teaching, choosing reliable resources, credibility, democracy and digital life, digital kids, digital life, evaluating news, fake news, parents and technology, raising digital kids, teaching digital kids

How Are You Helping Kids Learn About MediaLit & Fake News? Progress?

Screen Shot 2017-04-09 at 9.30.15 PM
Check out Google’s new fact check feature.

Teachers all over the country are sharing ideas about how to help their students identify news that is made-up, unsubstantiated, or just plain false. Now Google has added a feature that identifies false information that comes up on user searches. An April 7, 2017 article at the Pointer Journalism site describes Google’s new fact check in detail and explains how the company went about developing its new feature. You can also read the CNET article about Google.

I’ve been delighted by the articles, such as Five Ways Teachers Are Fighting Fake News, an NPR education article that describe how three teachers are incorporating media literacy activities into their curriculum.  Plenty of other similar reports have appeared in various media. I hope that, somewhere, there is an organization that is archiving as many teacher ideas as possible.                          Continue reading “How Are You Helping Kids Learn About MediaLit & Fake News? Progress?”