By Dr. David J. Childs, Ph.D.
Fake News Sites and Disinformation
Anyone that spends any reasonable amount of time on Facebook or other social media outlets would notice that there is an abundance of websites that offer false information. In a recent search on information about the past election I came across countless articles citing false information, many which relied on wild conspiracy theories including QAnon, voter fraud theories and perhaps worst of all, the belief that COVID-19 is a hoax. The term “fake news” was popularized by former President Donald Trump. And unfortunately he used the term to discredit anyone who disagreed with him. The Trump years have been ones plagued with misinformation, misunderstanding, miscommunication and even outright disinformation.
Importance of Finding Valid Sources
It is of the utmost importance that students and society in general can adequately differentiate between valid and invalid sources. If we do not have reliable information it can lead us to make uninformed decisions that can adversely affect every aspect of our lives; indeed disinformation can impact us politically, socially and economically. For example, disinformation can sway elections and cause corrupt politicians to be voted into office based on false or misleading material. A Democracy and Me article from May 2020 entitled Critical Thinking: An Essential Skill to Have in the Age of Disinformation provides more information on this topic.
There are a number of classroom resources and lessons available to help students identify fake news in the classroom in social studies, science and language arts classrooms. All three of these core subjects are heavily reliant on having accurate and reliable sources, therefore it is of the utmost importance that students can differentiate between valid and invalid sources. A good starting point is the PBS article entitled “Lesson Plan: How to Teach Your Students about Fake News” that offers a middle and high school focused lesson plan for teachers. The lesson provides the tools to combat false and misleading information in our society.
Here are some other teaching resources and lesson plans on identifying valid sources.
How to Spot Fake News (and Teach Kids to Be Media-Savvy)
Lesson Plan: Fighting Fake News
How to Teach Your Students About Fake News – Lesson Plan
Don’t Get Tricked By Fake News!
News Media Literacy Collection
Media Misinformation, Viral Deception, and “Fake News”
Fact Checking and Fake News Lesson Plans – The Ultimate Teacher Guide
Fake News — What’s the Big Deal?
Discussion Questions
1. What are some things you do to ensure that the sources you read or videos you view online are offering valid and reliable information?
2. Discuss why you think there seems to be a rise in misleading information being put out to the general public?
3. Why do you think there is an increasing amount of people in the US that believe conspiracy theories?
This articles pretty accurate, I can’t believe that people think covid is fake. I do think it can be difficult sometimes when it comes to figuring out what is fake news or not. Its crazy to me how some fake news can completely alter someones opinion on something when none of it is a fact.
A lot of fake news was going around and still goes around revolving the pandemic. It was causing unnecessary panic.
I have taken so many classes on spotting fake sources and knowing the difference between a reliable source and non reliable source, but still struggle sometimes. There are just too many sites online and we are expected to be experts in spotting the unreliable sources.
I personally have struggles using fake advertising on assignments because of the way these fake advertisements sound so real. It is difficult sometimes when you find that information out and think it will work, but it turns out to not be a creditable resource. There are several fake advertisements out there and people just need to find that tips to tell if they’re real or fake.
When looking for sources I feel as if people should avoid looking for videos to support the biases. I also think that people should try and research the validity of any claims someone makes.
I have had trouble in the past finding credible sources and the pandemic did not make it any easier. Fake news has littered the internet and makes it hard for people to truly believe what is real and what isn’t. Social media is a good example. It can be a good place for news but also a bad place for news, because people will look at sources that aren’t credible while others do. It’s a frenzy.
Finding credible sources in the age of the internet at our fingertips can be a challenge in its self. I’ve seen countless people on my Facebook share ridiculous information about Covid-19 because if it’s online it must be true right? We can combat this by doing research on credible cites such as government and educational sites that have been around for decades and have been previously acknowledged as accurate.
Fake News can make a lot of people have a completely different outlook on something or a certain topic. I really liked this article because it helped me better understand the importance of finding valid sources. Finding valid sources can help us navigate decisions that can adversely affect every aspect of our lives. This was a great read and I really enjoyed getting to better understand how to teach my students about fake news and essentially how to ignore it. Thank you for sharing.
“Fake News” is a bigger issue than ever right now. Ironically it is the people that are so concerned about “fake news” that are the ones that spread it the most. I recently received the Covid vaccine and I was amazed by the amount of people that cited fake news sources to try and sway me out of my decision. It only took me two minutes to Google and research different accounts to disprove their sources but they argued that there is a conspiracy theory behind covering up the “real story”. I think these beliefs come from having a leader in office that perpetuated them, lack of education regarding how to find credible sources, and the sudden shift in the number of news sources available due to technology. This is especially true for older generations who are suddenly on social media platforms such as Facebook.
I found this article to be important especially when navigating the ever-growing popularity of media sources and the spread of false news and articles. As a future educator, knowing the correct information is essential to my career. I need to be aware of current events, questions students may ask about topics, and the ability to prevent potential misinformation among students. Considering this, I want students to be aware of finding the correct information. The article gives a lot of resources for helping students find correct information, an activity that would be fun and useful in the classroom.