‘Fake news’ is an existential crisis that is here to stay. Identifying misinformation is an essential skill to build within this digital age of accessible and easily misconstrued media. Yesterday Buzzfeed tweeted a video…
You won’t believe what Obama says in this video 😉 pic.twitter.com/n2KloCdF2G
— BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) April 17, 2018
Misinformation is advancing into other mediums like videos and images. There are speculations being made expressing opinions which state this prominent issue will most likely never be solved but many organizations, media companies, educators, and institutions are trying to fight it. After tweeting their jaw-dropping fake video of President Barack, Buzzfeed makes some excellent recommendations:
Here’s how to avoid falling for fake videos like this one:
1) Don’t jump to conclusions
2) Consider the source
3) Check where else it is (and isn’t) online
4) Look closely at the speaker’s mouth
5) Slow the video down https://t.co/VfVAbZy4Vr— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) April 17, 2018
Although many companies and institutions are making a valiant effort to fight ‘fake news’, it is evident users of all ages will need better resources and tools to teach them how to overcome this issue. Therefore, I created of a web app media literacy tool called Fake Me Out.
Fake Me Out is a tool specifically designed for readers to build a path of skepticism and promote critical thinking skills. Fake Me Out encourages users to take a step back from the text, video, or any information presented and analyze the information carefully. The ultimate goal is for users to become pragmatic, critical thinkers. The learning activity within the application is supported by literature and theoretical frameworks. To learn more about Fake Me Out, review the slide deck which includes a video walk-through of the web app. Read my blog post Mobile Learning Design Challenge to learn about the design process of this application.
If you’re interested in collaborating with me on this project, please contact me here.
Andrea Mozo 