FAKESPOTTING

Short Info: Fakespotting will be implementing brand new tools for the innovation of the higher education and adult education field, allowing the deployment of original digital and information literacy contents, assessments and toolkits tackling skills mismatches to prepare students and low-skilled adults for jobs where shortages exist or are emerging. Digital Information literacy is directly related to the individual’s employability, to get employed and to stay in employment or to move on in the workplace. PIAAC indicates that 20 to 25 % of European adults aged 16 to 65 with low levels of proficiency in digital information literacy face higher risk of unemployment and social exclusion. A cross-cutting need in the digital labour market is to close the digital gender gap. In the EU fewer than one in five ICT professionals are female. The criticalities heavily affect also the democratic participation of European citizens as digital literacy is totally related to the capacity to spot disinformation.

Start: 04.10.2020

End: 03.08.2023

Project Reference: 2020-1-IT02-KA203-079902

EU Grant: 421 303 EUR

Programme: Erasmus+

Key Action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Action Type: Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Coordinator: University of Bologna

Partners: Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna [Italy] (Coordinator), Universidad Loyola Andalucía [Spain], GLOBSEC [Slovakia], INCOMA – International Consulting and Mobility Agency [Spain], Novosadska Novinarska Skola [Serbia], South East European University Tetovo [North Macedonia], Pagella Politica [Italy], Univerzita Mateja Bela v Banskej Bystrici [Slovakia], Universiteti i Tiranës [Albania]

SEEU contact person: Albulena Halili

Other staff engaged: Demush Bajrami, Edlira Palloshi Disha, Shemsedin Ibrahimi, Bujar Sinani

Project webpage: https://site.unibo.it/fakespotting-project/en

Project outputs

1. Web-based Learning on Information, Media Literacy and Fact-Checking

The web based learning is an OER for higher education institutions in order to deploy and delivery innovative and updated digital information and media literacy resources. The OER ensures two innovative features: delivery methods and contents. The tool can be both implemented live with the assistance of a teacher/educator and offline as a free resource available for teachers, students, educators and adults. Contents are designed to impact both on learners and educators in line with the DigComp 2.1, in particular: 1.1 Browsing, searching and filtering data, information and digital content 1.2 Evaluating data, information and digital content

2. Toolkit on Fact-Checking Methodologies Related to Labour Market Needs and Methods to Include Digital Skills in Academic Programmes and Recognition Tools

The Toolkit will embrace a competency framework listing core competences necessary for successfully delivering Digital Information, Media Literacy and Fact-Checking competences to low-skilled adults. The key element of innovation is to link HEIs and labour market digital skills demands. All the methodologies, pedagogies and assessment criteria will be root out from real labour environments that requires digital competences (journalism, fact-checking organisations, social NGOs), and transferred into the HE educational environment through the involvement of e-portfolio, in order to let HE teachers in early stage career and the students ensure the fostering and acquisition of 21st Century skills.

3. Guideline on Media and Information Literacy and National Online Disinformation Case-Studies

The Guideline on Media and Information Literacy is an Open Educational Resource made to ensure the transferability of digital methodologies and non-formal activities within HEIs’ and adults’ education. It also provides real case studies and national meaningful examples in order to get citizens aware of online disinformation dangerous consequences. The Output will provide - A brand new methodology tackling an actual and concurrent issue as the spread of online fake news extremely urgent for young people and teachers they are teaching to. - The efforts and measures of EU offices to tackle the issue - The transferability of the tools developed and the adaptability of the activities in HE and adult context.

4. Digital Assessment Tool Fostering Tracking Methodologies of Students’ Skills Improvements in HEIs

The digital assessment tool is an OER tailor-made to evaluate HE students and young adults on their capacity to spot fake news, to trace back to the source of information, to understand the info spread processes and the eventual reasons for misleading the reader. The output is going to be digital as it is going to be based on real fake news and research simulations. The tool is going to be designed in a step-by-step path from the most common interactions between e-users and browsers/social networks to sophisticated challenges in web-researching. Moreover the tool will foresees questions, interactive simulations, examples and case studies. The use of these tools, along with a practical understanding of phenomena like confirmation bias, cognitive dissonance, backfire effect, and echo chambers, which play a pivotal role in the dissemination of fake news, will be very innovative and effective for teachers and students.