Image credit: NewsFeed Defenders – iCivics New Serious Game
iCivics yesterday announced the launch
of NewsFeed Defenders, an online news literacy game
created in partnership with Annenberg Public Policy Center, the folks
who bring us FactCheck.org.
The Serious Game was developed by Filament Games, who
has a longstanding partnership with iCivics and
their mission to make civics education accessible for all.
The flood of fake news, propaganda, rumors, and advertising that often
masquerade as news has made it harder than ever to separate fact from fiction. News
Literacy can help students of all ages recognize the differences between fact
and rumor, news and advertising, news and opinion, and bias and fairness. This 21st-century problem requires
an innovative solution that challenges people to learn news literacy skills
while understanding their place as agents of factual information (Source: Center for
News Literacy).
NewsFeed Defenders invites players to tackle this
21st-century problem head-on.
Created for secondary
school students through adults, the game puts players in charge of the news
aggregation site Newsably. Their mission: to protect the integrity of the site
while also attracting new readers, and meet the challenge to level up from
guest user to site curator.
The game gives
players a look behind the headlines by teaching them how to spot so-called fake
news, or viral deception; how to know when advertising is posing as news; how
to identify bias in stories based on word choices and how the story is framed;
how to apply journalistic standards, verifying information and images; and how
to become a more astute reader of online news.
Image credit: NewsFeed Defenders – iCivics New Serious Game
High school and adult players
navigate online content by moderating a social news platform – Newsably
Read more about the NewsFeed
Defenders game and the partnership between iCivics and Annenberg Public
Policy Center in the full press release below!
New Media Literacy Online Game Teaches Students and Adults
How to Spot ‘Fake’ News and Misinformation
NewsFeed Defenders from iCivics and the Annenberg Public Policy Center teaches students and
adults to differentiate between what’s real and what’s not by challenging them
to moderate an online community news site while resisting clickbait, viral
rumors, and biased sources.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., and PHILADELPHIA -- iCivics, the education
nonprofit founded by Sandra Day O’Connor, and the Annenberg Public Policy
Center, home of FactCheck.org and Annenberg Classroom, have released a new
video game designed to teach media literacy and help both students and adults
better understand what news is, and how they can avoid being deceived by
misinformation.
Designed to help make
sense of today’s chaotic media environment, NewsFeed Defenders is an
online simulation that teaches players to detect and disregard disinformation
and misinformation on the web.
Created for secondary
school students through adults, the game puts players in charge of the news
aggregation site Newsably. Their mission: to protect the integrity of the site
while also attracting new readers.
The game gives
players a look behind the headlines by teaching them how to spot so-called fake
news, or viral deception; how to know when advertising is posing as news; how
to identify bias in stories based on word choices and how the story is framed;
how to apply journalistic standards, verifying information and images; and how
to become a more astute reader of online news.
Players choose the
focus of their Newsably feed: Student Life, Health & Wellness, or Sports
& Entertainment. They rise through the ranks at Newsably from guest member
to full community curator. Each day brings a new challenge: Should players
report as a violation that fishy post about free tuition for all? Post an
article about Bat Boy at Burning Man even if their newsfeed is supposed to be
about Student Life? Place a trending post on the latest pop album release in
Newsably’s feature spot? Or should players investigate the viral post about
arrests at polling places to make sure it’s accurate?
In addition to
juggling member traffic and maintaining community focus, players must ensure
that the content they post is, in fact, news. That means learning to tell when
posts are actually ads disguised as feature stories or viral rumors presented
as news. So, even though that headline about the President adopting an alien
child might catch eyes, players don’t want to post that story -- if they want
to maintain a credible news site.
Players can
investigate each story for reliable content, check the veracity of facts, and
determine the trustworthiness of the originating source, earning points for
judging accuracy, transparency, trustworthiness, and impartiality. Correctly
flagging problematic posts removes the content that does not belong and allows
the players to explain why.
“One of the most
important things we can do to reduce the spread of misinformation is to teach
media literacy to the next generation,” said Eugene Kiely, director of
FactCheck.org, which won the 2018 Webby Award for best news and politics
website. “This game is a fun way to do exactly that.”
“When our citizens
are no longer able to discern the truth in media, we undermine one of the
cornerstone institutions of our democracy,” iCivics Executive Director Louise
Dubé said. “NewsFeed Defenders is unlike any other classroom tool or
game because it helps students question and investigate potentially manipulated
content themselves. The game replicates real-life situations in which students
must decide what is credible in their own social media feeds. They must find
evidence and support their editorial decisions.”
The game, which is
being released as midterm election season heats up, leverages the strengths of
the Annenberg Public Policy Center and iCivics, nonpartisan organizations that
worked together previously to develop four games.
iCivics is the
country’s largest provider of civic educational material and has created 20
games and hundreds of lesson plans to teach K-12 students the fundamentals of
American democracy by using simulations to give students a first-person point
of view on crucial topics such as elections, the roles of the executive branch,
and the courts. Its games, which are completely nonpartisan, are available for
free at iCivics.org. The Annenberg Public Policy
Center’s project FactCheck.org has spent 15 years fact-checking
politicians’ claims and viral misinformation. Another of its projects, Annenberg Classroom, provides teachers and classes
with a free, comprehensive multimedia curriculum for teaching the Constitution.
NewsFeed Defenders also includes the following
classroom supports to make it a powerful teaching tool:
● Game Guide that
includes instructions, tricks and tips, discussion prompts, and activity ideas
for the classroom
● An Extension Pack
with a step-by-step slide deck that sandwiches the game between learning
activities
● Three
lessons/mini-lessons that cover the real world issues of algorithms, privacy
policies, and opinion/analysis in the news
NewsFeed Defenders is available free on the web and
as an app for tablets through iTunes and Google Play.
About iCivics
Founded in 2009, iCivics is a nonprofit
organization committed to transforming civic learning through effective and
inventive resources. iCivics was founded by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor to
develop free educational video games and lessons that teach young Americans to
be knowledgeable, curious, and engaged in civic life. iCivics’
game-centered curriculum provides students in grades 4-12 with the tools they
need for active participation and democratic action.Today iCivics’ innovative resources are used by nearly 180,000 educators and more than 5 million students nationwide, making iCivics the largest classroom-based digital civics educational resource in the country. For more information, visit www.icivics.org.
About the Annenberg Public Policy Center
Founded in 1993, the Annenberg Public Policy
Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania is the home of FactCheck.org
and Annenberg Classroom, which are dedicated to enhancing media literacy and
civic knowledge. FactCheck.org is a nonpartisan, nonprofit consumer advocate
for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S.
politics. It has published a video and article showing voters how to spot bogus
claims in the news and on social media and has partnered with Facebook to identify
and label false viral posts. Annenberg Classroom, a project of the Leonore
Annenberg Institute for Civics, provides teachers with a free multimedia
curriculum to teach the Constitution to middle and high school students. Its
resources include games, timelines, lesson plans and videos, including a dozen
award-winning films produced by the Sunnylands-APPC Constitution Project, whose
advisors have included Justices Sandra Day O’Connor, Stephen Breyer, and
Anthony Kennedy.
