ASPECTS TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IN THE CLASSROOM

               

•  BEFORE THE ACTIVITY
• Assessment of students' level of digital literacy: Before addressing the issue of misinformation, it is essential to know the students' level of digital competence. This includes their ability to navigate the internet, identify different types of sources and use technological tools. Conduct a brief initial assessment or survey to assess their familiarity with terms such as fake news, algorithms, artificial intelligence or source verification. 
• Selecting sources and materials: Make sure you have reliable materials and resources available that clearly explain what misinformation is and how it impacts society. Choose recent and relevant examples that resonate with students, so that they can observe the real effect of misinformation in areas such as health, politics or gender. 
• Plan clear objectives: Set clear objectives related to identifying misinformation, developing critical thinking and information verification skills. Define how these objectives will be assessed at the conclusion of the activities, whether through discussions, collaborative projects or practical activities. 
• Prepare verification resources: Ensure that students have access to reliable verification tools, such as fact-checking sites, reverse image search engines or news analysis platforms.
• Contextualising the phenomenon: Introduce students to the phenomenon of misinformation, its history and the reasons behind the creation of fake news. This could include a discussion on how social media algorithms contribute to the spread of disinformation or how certain groups benefit from its spread.

• DURING THE ACTIVITY
• Teach critical thinking: Throughout the activities, it is essential to foster critical thinking and teach students to question what they read or see online. This includes the ability to detect bias, identify red flags (flashy headlines, lack of sources, etc.) and understand the context of news stories. 
• Source analysis and verification: Encourage students to use varied and reliable sources when researching a topic. Provide examples of how to verify the provenance of information and check the history of the source to ensure credibility. Guide students in the practice of verifying news stories or images they find, using digital tools to determine whether the content is authentic or has been altered. 
• Collaborative work and debates: Encourage teamwork for students to share their findings and discuss possible cases of misinformation. Debate promotes the exchange of ideas and helps students strengthen their critical analysis skills. Initiate debates or simulations of situations in which false or true news stories are analysed, encouraging students to argue their positions based on verifiable evidence. 
• Active learning: During activities, promote project-based learning that allows students to create their own content, such as a campaign against misinformation or a blog where they post their research on verified sources. 
• Continuous reflection: Ask questions that prompt students to reflect on the information they consume: How do they know a source is reliable, what strategies can they use to verify information?
• AFTER THE ACTIVITY:
• Assessment of learning: Assess whether students have achieved the stated objectives by checking their ability to identify misinformation and the strength of their arguments when discerning between fake and real news. 
• Use formative assessment tools: such as self-assessments or rubrics, to examine progress in skills such as critical thinking and digital literacy. 
• Discussion and metacognition: Encourage a discussion afterwards in which students reflect on what they have learned and how they can apply this knowledge in their daily lives. Have they changed the way they consume information? Do they feel more confident to verify content? Analyse mistakes made during the activities so that students learn from their experiences and improve their approach in the future. 
• Practical application: Motivate students to apply the skills acquired in real-life circumstances. This may include verifying news or identifying cases of misinformation in their environment, as well as using digital tools to disseminate trustworthy content on their social networks. 
• Creating final projects: At the conclusion of the activities, students could develop projects that integrate what they have learned, such as an educational video on misinformation or a guide on how to identify fake news. These projects can be shared with the school community or online to raise awareness of the importance of combating misinformation.
• Follow-up and ongoing practice: Provide additional resources for students to continue practising fact-checking and further develop their digital skills. They may be advised to continuously use fact-checking platforms or participate in school programmes focused on media literacy. This systematic approach ensures that students not only acquire skills to detect misinformation, but also put them into practice, internalise the knowledge and apply it critically and effectively in their daily lives. .