Tackling Misinformation and media and information literacy (MIL) (Explorer level)

Welcome to the lesson on Tackling Misinformation and Media and Information Literacy! Take your knowledge and skills to the next level in this explorer-level lesson. This module focuses on learning the basic concepts behind media and information literacy, as well as applying simple strategies to combat misinformation applied to environmental facts. By the end of this module, you will have basic media and information literacy skills to combat misinformation.

Learning Objectives

In this module, you will assess your ability to identify, challenge, and combat misinformation related to climate change and environmental issues, while also evaluating your media and information literacy skills. The learning objectives are the following:

Increase your own awareness of the complex nature of environmental issues and understand the importance of accessing accurate information to make informed decisions.
Develop your essential skills for navigating diverse media platforms to effectively find reliable and credible environmental information.
Equip yourself with strategies to identify and counter misinformation and biased narratives surrounding environmental topics.

The entire lesson takes approximately 2 hours. It is possible to complete the lesson in one sitting or on several occasions.

Vocabulary list – let´s go through the main definitions together!

Mastering Web Search: How to find finding and filtering information

This first activity of the module aims to empower you with the necessary knowledge and skills needed to conduct efficient web searches and navigate online content safely. Understanding climate change and other environmental challenges is essential, as these issues significantly impact societies and economies worldwide. Media plays a crucial role in shaping public perception and influencing attitudes toward environmental topics.

By developing these skills, you can foster informed discussions and empower others to navigate media responsibly in the context of environmental issues.

Go through this presentation and get familiarized with the basic topics on web search and how to filter online information:

Let’s take a moment to reflect on how you engage with environmental information in the media. Consider your experiences and reflect on the following questions:

Reflection questions:

Can you recall a news article, social media post, or video related to environmental issues that caught your attention? What made it stand out?
How do you determine if the environmental information you come across is reliable and trustworthy?
Have you ever encountered misinformation or misleading information about environmental issues? How did you identify it?
Reflect on your media consumption habits regarding environmental news and information. Do you actively seek out environmental content, or does it come across your feed passively?
In your opinion, how can media and information literacy help raise awareness and drive action on environmental issues?

OPTIONAL ACTIVITY/EXERCISE:

Keep a media literacy journal for a week. Each day, write down an environmental article, video, or post they encounter.

Then, try to assess the material´s credibility using the strategies discussed in this lesson.

At the end of the week, you should summarize key takeaways and reflections in order to evaluate your own journal entries.

Now that you have learnt about how to find and filter information online, you will move on to the next activity.

This activity aims to equip you with smart and effective strategies for finding and filtering information on social media, focusing on environmental topics, and provides practical techniques for identifying reliable sources, using hashtags and keywords, evaluating content credibility, and cross-referencing information. Additionally, you will explore the role of fact-checking websites and learn how to critically review and respond to misinformation on social media.

You have learned strategies for navigating social media and filtering misinformation, identify reliable sources, fact-check claims, and critically analyse online content. Now, let’s put these skills into practice. In the next activity, Navigating the Web Safely in Real-World Scenarios, you’ll apply your critical thinking to real-world situations, learning how to recognize potential online threats and stay safe while browsing the web. Get ready to sharpen your digital literacy even further!

Activity – Navigating the Web Safely in Real-World Scenarios

Let’s put knowledge into practice! You will have to practice searching for reliable information on climate change or finding educational resources on environmental conservation.

The goal of this activity is that you practice yourself about safe web navigation while researching environmental topics and identifying reliable sources.

Instructions:

Scenario: Imagine that you are researching “ways to reduce plastic pollution” for an environmental awareness workshop. While searching, you encounter conflicting information, misleading articles, and websites with excessive ads.

Your Task:

Enable SafeSearch on a search engine of your choice and perform a search on “ways to reduce plastic pollution.”

Identify three unreliable sources based on signs like sensationalist headlines, lack of credible authors, or excessive ads.

Refine your search using advanced filters (e.g., sorting by recent publications or using domain filters like site:.gov or site:.edu for authoritative sources).

Results:

Now that you are done with your task, reflect on the following questions:

What strategies helped you find more reliable environmental information?
How can you teach others to distinguish credible environmental sources from misleading ones?

Through this activity, you have practiced essential skills for safe web navigation and identifying reliable environmental information. By enabling SafeSearch, recognizing unreliable sources, and refining your search using advanced filters, you have strengthened your ability to critically assess online content.

You learned the importance of verifying sources, cross-referencing information, and using authoritative domains like .gov or .edu for credible research. Moving forward, you can apply these strategies on distinguishing trustworthy sources from misleading ones, promoting informed decision-making in environmental awareness and beyond.

Final quiz

In this activity, you will demonstrate your understanding of effective online search strategies, safe browsing practices, and your essential skills for finding, filtering, and evaluating information responsibly on social media platforms.

What You’ve Learned in This Lesson:

In this lesson, you’ve gained valuable skills in navigating and evaluating information on social media. Here’s a summary of the key points:

Evaluating Credibility: You learned how to assess the credibility of authors and sources, focusing on qualifications and objectivity rather than popularity or engagement metrics.

Using Advanced Search Tools: You discovered how advanced search options on social media can help you find targeted, accurate information, making your searches more efficient and reliable.

Critical and Skeptical Mindset: You now understand the importance of approaching social media information with a critical and skeptical mindset to avoid misinformation and make informed decisions.

You learned how to spot and avoid sensationalized content designed to mislead or generate traffic, focusing instead on credible and substantiated information.

Next Level: Practitioner

Now that you’ve mastered the basics of evaluating and filtering information, it’s time to take your skills to the next level in critically evaluating information sources in the digital age.

In the next module you will learn the importance of staying informed and critically assessing information sources in the digital age. It is designed to equip you with the knowledge, skills, and tools necessary to navigate the complex and constantly evolving digital landscape, empowering you to become informed, engaged, and responsible digital citizen especially on environmental issues.