Founded in 2008, the News Literacy Project (NLP) helps students and teachers discern fact from fiction in the digital age. In May 2016, the project launched Checkology, an online interactive course that helps students understand and appreciate the role of the press, introduces them to different types of news—from entertainment to opinion to branded content—and teaches them the critical thinking skills they’ll need to spot misinformation.
Described and Captioned Media Program’s (DCMP) Read Captions Across America (RCAA) is the first national reading event to put emphasis on the importance of captioned media as a reading tool for all children, not just those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Thousands of students have participated in this event since its inauguration in 2006. Teachers can order a freeRCAA kit, learn more about how captioning improves literacy, and find great ideas from teachers and parents on the RCAA website.
Educators can also use these captioned media resources from DCMP to celebrate Black History Month (February) and Presidents Day (February 18)—and throughout the year.
First Draft—a project of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy based at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government—uses research-based methods to fight misinformation and disinformation online.
NewsFeed Defenders,by iCivics and FactCheck.org, is a freemedia literacy game that engages students with the standards of journalism, showing them how to spot a variety of methods behind the viral deceptions they face today. To play the game, students join a fictional social media site focused on news and information, where they meet challenges to level up from guest user to site administrator.
Crash Course is an educational YouTube channel started by the Green brothers, Hank Green and John Green, who are notable for their VlogBrothers channel. Crash Course has been working with MediaWise, a project from the nonprofit PoynterInstitute for Media Studies, to help students evaluate the accuracy of digital information.