DIGITAL RESISTANCE An empowering handbook for teachers on how to support their students to recognise fake news and false information found in the online environment Democratic and Inclusive School Culture in Operation (DISCO) DIGITAL RESISTANCE An empowering handbook for teachers on how to support their students to recognise fake news and false information found in the online environment Council of Europe Acknowledgements This publication is the outcome of the Digital Resistance project financed by the European Union- Council of Europe Joint Programme "Democratic and Inclusive School Culture in Operation (DISCO)". The handbook supports teachers’ and students’ development of competences and digital skills to recognise fake news and false information found in the online environment. The handbook was piloted during several teacher training sessions and by tea- chers with their students in five participating countries, namely Austria, Germany, Greece, Italy and Romania. Project leadership: Dr Moritz Peter Haarmann Institut für Didaktik der Demokratie Leibniz Universität Hannover This publication was produced with the financial Project co-ordination: support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole Richard Heise ([email protected]) responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union or the Council of Europe. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated, reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic (CD-ROM, internet, In collaboration with: University of Pavia etc.) or mechanical, including photocopying, (Italy), University of Vienna (Austria), 1st EPAL recording or any information storage or retrieval Korydallou/Athens (Greece) and Inspectoratul system, without the prior permission in writing Școlar Județean Buzău (Romania) from the Directorate of Communications (F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex or [email protected]). Produced in co-operation with Austria, Germany, Greece, Italy and Romania. Cover photo: © 1st EPAL Korydallou/ Athens – Public VET school (Greece) Cover and layout: Documents and Publications Production Department (SPDP) Council of Europe. ISBN 978-92-871-8715-4 Council of Europe: Sarah Keating, Katia Dolgova- © Council of Europe, December 2020 Dreyer, Arzu-Burcu Tuner, Gloria Mannazzu, Printed at the Council of Europe Korneliya Koleva, and Pierre Varasi Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5 About this handbook 5 About the Digital Resistance project 6 INTRODUCTION 9 Council of Europe and digital citizenship 9 Competences for democratic culture 10 Competences needed to resist digital manipulation or indoctrination 12 Enquiry-based learning and competences for democratic culture 14 Creation of a digital output and competences for democratic culture 14 Peer-to-peer learning and competences for democratic culture 15 Why is it useful to focus on competences for democratic culture? 15 “FAKE NEWS” – A CHALLENGE FOR DEMOCRATIC SOCIETIES 17 What can be expected from this chapter 17 Which domains of digital citizenship are addressed in this chapter? 17 What do we mean when we speak of “fake news”? 17 Narrow versus broad definitions of online disinformation 19 Digital information market 22 Where does fake news originate? 23 How does fake news travel? 24 A closer look at visual misinformation 25 Acting against fake news 29 DIGITAL COMPETENCES TO DEAL WITH FAKE NEWS 33 What can be expected from this chapter 33 Which domains of digital citizenship are addressed in this chapter? 33 Online media use of young Europeans 33 Media and information literacy and critical thinking 36 Guidelines and tools 40 How to recognise fake news 41 How to understand fake news 47 How to manage fake news 51 STARTING THE SHORT MODULE: ENQUIRY-BASED LEARNING AND RESEARCH ON FAKE NEWS 59 What can be expected from this chapter 59 Structure of the short module 59 Learning environment, preparation and schedule 61 Methodological guidelines for the research 63 CREATION OF A DIGITAL OUTPUT 65 What can be expected from this chapter 65 Introduction 65 Creating a digital output 65 Presentation 67 Poster 68 Video 69 Animation 71 Digital storytelling 72 Blog 73 Wikis 74 Podcast 74 Instagram account/Stories 75 Challenges and limitations 76 ► Page 3 SHARING THE RESULTS OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS 77 A guide for activities using peer-to-peer learning 77 Peer-to-peer learning 77 Peer-to-peer activities 78 Peer-to-peer activities online 79 CONCLUSION 81 REFERENCES 83 ► Page 4 Executive Summary “The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousand-fold.” Aristotle About this handbook This handbook and additional dossiers, freely available at the Digital Resistance project homepage (www. digi-res.eu), provide all the information teachers need to conduct a short module on the topic of “fake news” in the classroom or other settings with a group of students aged between 14 and 20 years. The methodology suggested in this handbook can easily be adapted by other actors in the educational sector working in differ- ent learning contexts. It begins by providing background knowledge about the topic of fake news and digital competences, followed by guiding steps on how to work on this topic with students in a short module. The learning methodology used is based on enquiry-based learning, so students can be supported to conduct a small-scale research project on a self-chosen topic connected to fake news. Information on this can be found in Chapter 3 of this handbook. In Chapter 5, the concept of peer-to-peer learning is used to set up learning processes between students attending the short module. An overview of each section of the handbook is provided in the figure on the next page. Chapter 1 begins with a description of the concept of fake news, followed in Chapter 2 by an introduction of digital competences that can be used to resist and act against fake news. Chapter 3 explains the methodology of enquiry-based learning that can be used for a short module to enable students to deal with real-world cases of fake news. Chapter 4 offers guidelines for teachers to assist students in the creation of a media output as part of the short module. The media output will reflect their learning process and summarise the findings of the research undertaken. Chapter 5 offers support in establishing peer-to-peer activities at school or online as an additional part of the module. It enables students to share the media outputs they have created and their experiences with other students. It is recommended to use this handbook chapter by chapter, particularly if teachers have little background knowledge on the topic. Those with more experience can select the chapters that they want to use in class. The section of the short module in Chapters 3 to 5 provides various elements that can be added to already existing teaching modules. Teachers seeking to implement the domains of digital citizenship as defined by the Council of Europe (2018a) can refer to the beginning of each chapter, where the particular domains addressed are noted. ► Page 5 Introduction Chapter 1 (pp. 17-32) Chapter 2 (pp. 33-57) pp. 5-7 “Fake news” – Digital competences to A challenge for deal with fake news democratic societies Introduction of the concept of digital Foreword Description, terminology and competences to counter fake news pp. 9-15 definition of “fake news” Introduction of counter-measures Chapter 3 (pp. 59-64) Short module Starting the short module: enquiry-based learning and research on fake news Research concept to start the short module Chapter 4 (pp. 65-76) Creation of a digital output Tools and explanations of suggested media formats for students to create a digital output that reflects their research and learning Chapter 5 (pp. 77-79) Sharing the results of the research process Guidance on how to set up peer-to-peer activities for students using the digital outputs (online and offline) Conclusions (p. 81) Tableau In addition, each chapter provides further recommendations, suggestions and information in text boxes. Suggested classroom activities across the sections of this handbook, in the orange boxes, also provide differ- ent levels of difficulty: “foundation”, “intermediate”, “advanced” or “expert”. Orange boxes provide activities and didactic recommendations Green boxes provide resources such as links or videos Blue boxes provide definitions Further definitions of key terms related to fake news can be found in the glossary of the “Reference Frame- work of Competences for Democratic Culture: Volume 1” (Council of Europe 2018b: 67). About the Digital Resistance project The development of technological structures in the course of a globalised digitisation has led to wide-ranging impacts on the societies of the 21st century. Possession of and access to information, as well as the ability to process it competently, have developed into central forms of social capital (Touraine 1971, Bell 2010). Modern digital infrastructure opens up new possibilities for accessing information, but also allows users to cre- ate and publish information free of the technical restrictions that existed in the media landscapes of the past. Distributing information of a political nature with the aim of manipulating or indoctrinating people, or to encourage discrimination against individuals or social groups, is not a phenomenon of the digital age. But the dynamic flow of information that is connected to this technological and social process works as a catalyst for the use of misleading information, disinformation or fake news aimed at particular political goals connected to discrimination or indoctrination. Page 6 ► Digital resistance Political concepts that rely on a mechanism of exclusion and aim at homogenous societies are mostly based on a nationalistic perspective and advocates also use digital channels to spread their agenda, even though traditional geographical borders are no longer of major importance for digital infrastructure. The use of digital age tools to resist the spread of hatred and prejudice online is a transnational project per se, because it takes into account the global importance of protecting human rights that are permanently contested on the internet.