During the COVID-19 pandemic we have been challenged with a huge volume of intentional online misinformation about the virus itself, about its origins, about potential treatments, and about government responses. This parallel “infodemic” has been spread by individuals, various organizations, media outlets (e.g. Russia Today, Fox News) political leaders and even governments. And especially at turbulent period like this, false health information can be extremely dangerous and have violent outcomes. More than often “fake health news” are strongly tied to political, ethnic/racial and class bias. Nearly 90% of such “news” are spread in social media and other digital channels of communication.The project "Join us in the battle against disinformation" is based on the production of 3 intellectual outputs, translated into 9 languages (EN, IT, TK, RO, GR, LT, BG, SP, RU) with the following characteristics and impact expected. - Online Manual for School Teachers against Fake News (O1) a 240 pages e-book targeted on school Teachers including methodologies for favouring critical and lateral thinking among students through problem-solving exercises focused on Fake News debunking, A psychological test dedicated in identifying students at risks for being subject to negative effects of fake news, a gamification methodology for debunking, lateral thinking, critical thinking detection of fake news led by school teachers and Practical examples and exercises for teachers designed to explain the effect of fake news in the several fields of teaching for the dedicated integration into classic school programmes - Massive Open Online Course for Fake News Detection among School Students (O2) - a MOOC dedicated to improving students capacities to correctly identify fake news and to improve learning of school programmes through an innovative methodology, including 32 problems to be solved referring to subjects studied at school and 16 lectures for increasing fact checking approach, debunking, lateral and critical thinking - Motivational Research Study for the implementation of School Programmes against Fake News (O3) a 160 pages document research study designed to motivate policy makers in the production and continuous update of important regulations for favouring school programmes against fake news, demostrate the effectiveness of school programmes against fake news, motivate schools in the implementation of programmes against fake news, increase general awareness of professionals in the importance of preventing fake news and favouring fact checking among school students and the general population The project is based on the innovative methodology of gamification applied to the detection of fake news. The promotion of critical thinking, civic and social responsibility among school students is the final goal of the project, which are characteristics useful also in the future workplace and for their engagement in society. Primary target groups of this project are School Students (age: 14-18) and School Teachers which can directly exploit the intellectual output produced Secundary target groups are policy makers, psychologists, educators The partnership include a wide european partnership including 8 partners, which will offer project is focused on the contrast to fake news promoting Exchange of know-how and a Comprehensive approach to a phenomena should be faced internationally. The cooperation of institutions from different countries will give an additional contribution to the understanding of the phenomena and strategies to apply in order to reduce the negative effects produced. An Exchange of information and the study of policies and prevention practices from different countries will allow partners to understand their strenghts and weaknesses and promote innovative solution to prevent risks associated to fake news. The partners will both use existing internal databases (>75000 users) and external strategies for continuous involvement of external stakerholders, including: 16 dissemination events and 8 multiplier events (expected participation > 400), website, social media page, e-mail campaigns and autoresponder, press release, dissemination through the official website of the project.The impact expected is related to increased competences of Teachers and capacity of schools to implement programmes of prevention about fake news. The school students which will benefit directly from the exploitation of a MOOC for stimulating fake news detection and critical thining, and indirectly from the dedicated lectures of school Teachers, inspired by O1. Participating organisations, will benefit from the project increasing their competences, capacities, internationalisation and reputation. The plan of dissemination and valorization of the intellectual outputs will reach a broad audience including: school students, school Teachers, School directors, psychologists, decision and policy makers.
Our primary objective was to empower individuals, especially the teanagers (14-18) and educators and school teachers (who can use, rethink and multiply the intellectual output produced), with the ability to discern facts from falsehoods in the digital information they encounter in order to have large impact on our secondary beneficiaries comprising with independent researchers and educators, NGO specialists, concerned parents, infosec professionals. By enhancing media literacy and critical analysis skills, the project sought to foster civic responsibility and responsible behavior. We aimed to create a multi-lingual educational framework to counteract fake news, thereby expecting to bolster democratic engagement and mitigate the socio-economic impacts of disinformation.
The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic saw not only a viral outbreak but also a surge in misinformation spread through digital channels, significantly by social media. The project "Join us in the battle against disinformation" was conceived in response to this alarming "infodemic" which endangers public health, fuels bias, and threatens democratic values. Recognizing the pervasive influence of such misinformation, particularly its potential to incite hate speech, racism, and health crises, we aimed to address the critical need for accurate information dissemination and enhance critical thinking among the public. The project aimed at bolstering digital education readiness was a significant step toward combating the spread of fake news through strategic educational measures. It involved the development of critical tools: an Online Manual for Teachers and a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) for Students, supplemented by a comprehensive Motivational Research Study. This endeavour brought together various European countries in a collaborative effort, promoting the exchange of knowledge and practices in the digital domain.