Checkology

Last week I attended a demonstration at Nassau BOCES School Library System on the News Literacy Project's Checkology. "Young people are dealing with the most challenging information ecosystem in human history, rife with misinformation, hoaxes and falsehoods that distort students' understanding of their world. To become critical thinkers who demand the truth, they must develop news literacy skills."According to recent research 89% of teens get their news from social media. 44% of teens and pre-teens believe they know the difference between fake and real news. 31% of teens and pre-teens shared information in the last 6 months that they later learned was false or inaccurate. News literacy education is the answer to these challenges we are facing. 

With 13 interactive lessons, Checkology is a browser-based platform that enables our teachers to equip our students with the tools to evaluate and interpret news and information so they know what to trust, share, and act on. 

The 13 interactive lessons cover:

• InfoZones*
• Democracy's Watchdog*
• Misinformation*
• Practicing Quality Journalism*
• What is News?
• Be the Editor
• The First Amendment
• Citizen Watchdogs
• Introduction to Algorithms
• Branded Content
• Understanding Bias
• Arguments & Evidence
• Press Freedoms Around the World 

We have decided to add this database to our curriculum for the 2019-2020 school year. Our hopes is that it will help our students tell fact from fiction. 

*These lessons are available at no cost. 

** Full disclosure: Checkology is partially funded by the Facebook Journalism Project.