Toolkit for Fostering Adolescents’ Knowledge and Empowerment in Outsmarting Fake Facts

Aims of the tool

The toolkit aims at
- supporting the individual learning process of young people in the context of digital literacy
- increasing the participation of young people in the critical debate of news and internet content
- developing young people’s capacity to evaluate published information and act accordingly
- allowing a systematic approach to digital literacy for young people and professionals working with them

Description of the tool

“Fake news” and “fake facts” became not only fashionable keywords but actual threats to democratic values. Especially young people, who spend increasing amounts of time on the Internet and with social media, are targeted by fake news for propaganda and profit reasons. Therefore, they need empowerment and knowledge to outsmart the ever-present flow of intentional misinformation.

The developed toolkit aims at fostering young people's internet literacy, creating awareness of intentional misinformation and at enabling young people to identify “fake news” and to avoid them. Thus, a didactic concept and learning material for teachers, trainers and youth workers as well as an App for young people was developed and established. The didactic concept and the training material create a basis to foster media literacy in youth work, youth information centers and other educational settings. Moreover, the App provides a game-based approach to support young people in recognising and dealing with fake news. The app is a great tool to support the teaching of digital literacy.

The main learning outcomes of the toolkit are:
- more responsible use of (online) media by young people
- public discourse about the accuracy and quality of news
- a general democratization process through making young people less susceptible to intentional misinformation and propaganda
- empowerment of young people with the skills of critical thinking and media literacy
- better informed younger generation and stronger fundament for Democracy

The developed learning material is available in 5 different languages (EN, DE, POR, ESP, IT).
The App is available free of charge in the Google Play Store (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.fakeoff) and in the Apple App Store (https://apps.apple.com/pt/app/project-fake-off/id1496765847?l=en) free of charge.

More information about the project and the resources in different languages can be found here: https://www.fake-off.eu/.