[NEWS] Google’s new media literacy program teaches kids how to spot disinformation and fake news – Loganspace

Google launched this morning it’s rising its two-one year-worn digital safety and citizenship curriculum for youths, “Be Files superhighway Superior,” to now consist of media literacy — particularly, the capability to name so-called “unfounded news” and other faux protest material. The corporate is launchingsix unique media literacy activitiesfor the curriculum that will abet bid kids things like how one can take some distance from a phishing attack, what bots are, how one can compare that data is credible, how one can decide into consideration sources, how one can name disinformation on-line, plan unfounded URLs, and more.

The unique media literacy lessons — which frankly, some adults might well well just composed be taught thru as effectively — had been developed in collaboration with Anne Collier, executive director of The Accumulate Safety Collaborative, and Faith Rogow, Ph.D., co-author of The Teacher’s Manual to Media Literacy and a co-founder of the Nationwide Affiliation for Media Literacy Training.

“We need the reliable instruments and sources to abet kids invent the most of technology, and while magnificent digital safety and citizenship sources exist for families, more might well well just moreover be performed for media literacy,” writes educator and teachmama.com founder Amy Mascott, in anannouncementon Google’s blog this day. “I’ve worked alongside dozens of educators who deem that media literacy is a must delight in to safety and citizenship in the digital age, nonetheless agree that it’s a subject that can perhaps well just moreover be tough to conceal.”

The lessons provide kids no longer biggest instruction, nonetheless also a combination of activities and discussion starters aimed at helping them develop serious taking into consideration expertise in phrases of pursuing on-line sources.

Its total theme, the course materials explains, is to abet kids take note the truth that the protest material they regain on-line isn’t necessarily just or reliable  — and it’ll also even get malicious efforts to acquire their data or identification.

The teens be taught how phishing works, why it’s a possibility, and how one can take some distance from it. They then comply with their anti-phishing expertise by acting out and discussing reactions to suspicious on-line texts, posts, just appropriate friend requests, photos, and emails.

Within the bots allotment, they be taught about how A.I. works and compare and distinction talking to a bot versus talking to a human being.

Within the following media literacy sections, kids be taught what a respectable source is, how one can determine what a source’s motives are, and be taught that “reliable attributable to a person is an authority on one factor doesn’t invent them an authority on all the pieces.”

In a linked faculty room exercise, the kids capture a search data from linked to one thing they’ve seen on-line or are studying in faculty and are attempting to regain the answers on-line, while figuring out if the sources are credible.

They also be taught to truth test credible sources with other credible sources as an answer to gape a range of sources.

“When you happen to can’t regain a range of credible sources that accept as true with the source you are checking, you shouldn’t deem that source,” the curriculum explains.

Children are moreover taught how one can plan unfounded data the use of clues like unfounded URLs as effectively as checking the sources for credibility. They’re suggested that every other folks don’t know how one can manufacture that, and piece unfounded data on-line — which is the plan it spreads.

“There are heaps of different folks and groups who are so alive to by what they deem that they twist the truth to regain us to accept as true with them. When the crooked data is disguised as a news tale, that’s disinformation,” the curriculum says.

Children are also told that one of the unfounded news organizations are onerous to plan attributable to they use names that sound like they’re proper.

And the course delves into varied tricks some web sites use — like the use of photos that don’t affirm to the tale, the use of clickbait phrases like “graceful” or “contaminated” which they know invent other folks consuming,” the use of valorous, underline, exclamation aspects or ALL CAPS, to persuade you to accept as true with them.

This allotment concludes with an on-line game, Actuality River, that asks kids to use their biggest judgment in protest to miserable the river rapids. This takes place inInterland, the game developed as a companion to Google’s digital safety and citizenship curriculum.

The total purpose of the media literacy course is to attend the kids to invent checking all news and data a dependancy — no longer reliable these they get seem suspicious.

Google says the unique curriculum is provided on-line for both lecturers and families alike to use, and are provided in English, Spanish and eight other languages.

Google is partnering with theYMCAandNationwide PTAacross a couple of cities to host on-line safety workshops, as effectively.