Misinformation

Fake-Believe: An Introduction to Misinformation

This 4-part non-credit online course was designed with the input of NorQuest faculty to introduce students to concepts of misinformation and help them practice valuable critical thinking skills. The content is accessible, interactive and engaging. The following topics are addressed:

• Misinformation and its various forms including fake news and disinformation
• Evaluating information using techniques such as lateral reading
• News literacy, science literacy and conspiracy theories
• The role of bias in spreading misinformation

Additional features of this course: Open Educational Resource (OER) published under CC 4.0 license (please share and adapt!); accessible and flexible; Moodle compatible; suitable for Academic Upgrading students, upper-level English language learners, and post-secondary students. The course can be assigned as a whole, or specific lessons and/or segments can be incorporated into a course syllabus. It takes approximately 2 hours to complete all 4 lessons.

Complete the Introduction to Misinformation and Receive a Digital Badge

Preview the Course

Click on the boxes below to view the course online.  Please note that completion is not tracked and badges are not granted in this web version. 

Instructors please see Integrating this Course for information on embedding and tracking completion of the course in Moodle.  Students please see the information above on enrolling in the course and receiving a participation badge.

Introduction to Misinformation	SIFTing Through the News	Making Good Choices	Bias

Integrating this Course

This short course was designed for instructors in all programs to use in their courses to introduce students to the basic concepts of misinformation and help them build essential information literacy skills. The course is flexible and suitable to many disciplinary contexts. It can be assigned to students to complete as a whole (takes approximately 2 hours), or you may choose to assign specific lessons or modules you find most relevant to your course needs.

We recommend:

1. Incorporating the course as low-stakes, formative assessment for students to complete in a self-directed manner. The course can be assigned and graded based on completion (pass/fail). Additionally, lessons can be used for self-assessment, and as the basis for short reflection exercises or class discussions with peers.
2. Integrating questions, reflections, and other activities into your course that connect to, and enrich, the content contained in the lessons. See below for lesson plan ideas.
3. Inviting a librarian to lead a classroom session tied to the topics in the course and your learning objectives (i.e. fact-checking using the SIFT method, science and media literacy, conspiracy theories, recognizing bias, etc.

Lesson Plans