THE PROJECT

School Policies to Address and Detect Fake News
Erasmus + KA2 Strategic Partnership in the field of school education

Background

The European Commission’s effort to combat misinformation and the spread of fake news online has increased over the past four years, placing the issue at a high level of concern in the European Union.

In January 2018, the EU Commissioner for Digital Economy established an expert group made up of heads of digital platforms, media agencies, research organizations and civil society in order to design solutions to address the dissemination of fake news. The final result delivered by the group
Experts is a report that highlights the following needs:

  • Media and information literacy should be implemented on a massive scale in school curricula and teacher training curricula;
  • Increase the long-term resilience of EU citizens;
  • Information and media literacy clear methods of evaluation and comparison between countries;

Along with this, an EU Fake News Public Consultation was launched to monitor public perception of fake news. Two-thirds of respondents say they encounter fake news at least once a week, and the majority of respondents see it as a problem, with only 15% feeling “very confident” in identifying the sources and reliability of information.

Goals

Raise awareness among youth and high school teachers about false news and information on the Internet.

Promote and improve the use of media literacy in secondary schools to counter misinformation and help young people navigate in a secure digital information context.

  • Promote research on the effects of disinformation in Europe.
  • Improve the capacities of young Europeans to identify and analyze the information available on the Internet.
  • Fighting the spread of hate speech and radical undemocratic ideas on online social media among young Europeans.

Outputs

IO1

Online Disinformation Digital Assessment Tool for European High School Students; A tailor-made REA to test young people on their ability to spot fake news, track the source of information, understand information dissemination processes and possible reasons for misleading the reader The output will be digital as it will be based on real fake news and digital characteristics.

IO2

Media and information literacy guidelines for schools with a proposal for an information literacy curriculum for teachers An OER to guarantee the transferability of digital methodologies and non-formal activities within European schools.

IO3

e-Learning about misinformation online for teachers and students.

E-learning will enhance and update teaching and learning by providing useful online training for both teachers and students on information literacy in order to raise awareness about online misinformation and how to deal with it.

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