Communications Lesson on Identifying Fake News

According to a study conducted by Stanford History Education group (2016, November 22), “in open web searches, only nine percent of high school students in an advanced history course were able to see through” the language on a biased website to determine that it was a front for a “D.C. Lobbyist.” College students performed even worse on the same task…

I find this statistic to be appalling and deeply disconcerting - especially because I know how susceptible I am, as an adult, to the deluge of advertisements constantly bombarding my social media feeds (just this morning I bought a pair of Chucks from an Instagram ad that had books all over them...BOOKS! I mean, how could I not?!). But I worry that students may not always know that the ads their friends "like" are trying to sell them something or the article that their favorite celebrity retweets may contain sponsored or blatantly false content. So, our communications teacher graciously allowed me to conduct a lesson with her students on evaluating resources...ie identifying "fake news."

Nearpod is the best format for this lesson, as I was able to control the presentation on

student screens, students could respond to short answer questions analyzing ads and articles, and I was able to provide full color photos and news samples (whereas our copy machines do not provide this option). I could share exemplary student responses to all iPad screens, which sparked discussion and gave students a sense of pride for their thoughtful responses.

Additionally, I incorporated a a two-minute audio clip from the NPR podcast Planet Money, which told the story of one fake news producer. Students then had the opportunity to discuss what his motivation may have been for creating fake news, which was not necessarily what students had anticipated. I was thankful to have the excellent work of the Stanford History Education Group that I could incorporate into the lesson. Their activities with sample student responses were the basis and inspiration for the lesson.

Overall, the lesson was engaging and relevant. Much of the lesson structure I learned from Nearpoders and teachers at the PioNear Summit I attended a couple of weeks ago, so I am very thankful to them for their help in structuring this lesson. Check out the embedded links to resources, as well as the Nearpod presentation below!

Stanford History Education Group. (2016, November 22). Evaluating Information: The cornerstone of civic online reasoning. Retrieved from https://sheg.stanford.edu/upload/V3LessonPlans/Executive%20Summary%2011.21.16.pdf