It happens daily: you open your social media and notice that the same family member or friend has shared something ridiculously unreal again.
Perhaps it’s an AI-generated image that claims to depict an elaborate statue created by someone’s pet chicken out of paper clips, or maybe it’s more political. Either way, you’re frustrated that this stuff keeps fooling people, and you may be worried about what the outcome could be as the technology improves, and as your kids make their way into online spaces.
Media literacy is becoming an increasingly important part of interacting with the world, and one school technology specialist has created a simple game that teaches media literacy to children as early as first and second grade.
It Begins With The Difference Between Fact & Fiction
As early as toddlerhood, kids begin to understand that some things are real and some are not. If you pour pretend “juice” from an empty jug into an empty cup, your child may laugh and play along.
As kids enter the preschool age, they begin experimenting with making up false stories — their first “lies.” You may be shocked the first time your child assures you she’s put her cup in the sink when she hasn’t, or when she tells you that her yellow shirt is pink. Those false statements are less about deception than about experimenting with reality and fantasy, and with the idea that someone can believe something that isn’t true.
Elementary-aged kids are learning about fiction and nonfiction, and may read short stories and discuss with their teacher how they know these are about real people, or why they can’t be.
At this age, kids know that dogs can’t fly, pigs can’t talk, and the bathtub isn’t an ocean, but they love pretending otherwise. That pretend play is healthy and important, but in some cases, the line between reality and fantasy blurs. (If you didn’t know which was real, would you find a unicorn or a giraffe more likely?)
This Game Places Kids In The Role Of Detective
Judy Keller, a technology specialist for a school district in Pennsylvania, has developed a game that helps kids play detective to determine whether stories are true or false, as EdWeek explains.
The stories in her game include things that kids likely already know are silly, like the idea that dogs can drive cars, and others that seem obviously false to adults, but that kids may have been told as true (often by a joking adult), like that chocolate milk comes from brown cows. One of the stories suggests that rabbits lay eggs.
There’s also one question showing a chicken in space, and asking kids to determine if it’s real.
The idea is not just for kids to understand which of these stories is true, but to use critical thinking to determine what is likely to be true, so that they can then apply the skills to other stories they hear.
Keller created the game for first- and second-graders in her district, but has also released it online, where anyone can access it.
The Game Isn’t Complicated, But The Concept Can Be
We see adults get confused about what is real and fake every day, as their social media feeds are teeming with images created with AI or Photoshop, stories that twist reality, and urban legends that bear a strong resemblance to some of our favorite short horror fiction.
This game also comes with worksheets and teacher materials that encourage kids to notice things like website URLs that don’t seem legitimate or trustworthy, as well as lettering or other artifacts in an image that hint it may have been created with AI rather than a camera.
There’s also a short story in which second graders discover a fake news story about dancing squirrels shutting down the school. They examine clues such as the absence of a lock symbol in the address bar, similar to their school’s actual website, the image that resembles crayon art rather than a photo, and a story that sounds too unbelievable to be true.
The kids learn that sometimes, ‘fake news’ isn’t created with malicious intent, but rather for entertainment, and that it can still deceive people. They also learn that it’s a good idea to check more than one news website to verify a story, and to think before passing it on.
The Lessons Can Be Taught With More Low-Tech Methods, Too
Keller says that by gamifying the lesson, she ensures that kids will play it repeatedly, increasing the likelihood that they’ll internalize the lesson. Technology is an important aspect, since kids are now logging on to social sites well before the age of 13, regardless of website rules that forbid it.
However, schools that don’t give kids direct access to devices can still use much of the material without individual access to the game (which Keller is still refining and building onto). Teachers can use their smartboards or any shared screen to share the short story, and can even run through the game and videos on a shared screen with student input.
There are also worksheets and other printables, including detective badges and hats, as well as guidance for discussion that teachers can use with the material or as inspiration for their own lesson plans.
Meanwhile, parents can also review this material and consider having family discussions at home to help boost their kids’ awareness of how to distinguish fact from fiction.