Digital Bees (LeNius)

Last month the association and the blog, LeNius, came to our school and explained to classes of the third year, what they do about fake news, activity part of the project “Digital bees” built with funds from the Otto per Mille of the Waldensian Church.

. We decided to ask them some questions about what is fake news and how we can recognize it. Let’s see what they told us:

What’s the name of this association?

The name of the Association is Le Nius.

Why did you choose this title for the project?

The title of the project “digital bees” was chosen for the role of bees in nature, which are very important for the continuation of natural species. In the same way we hope that the girls and boys we meet during the project will pass on what they have learned to others to improve the quality of life on social networks and on the web.

Lavoro di Anna e Zoia di 3 F sul percorso fatto a scuola

Why did you start this project?

We started this project to fight the spreading of disinformation on social networks and fight fake news.

Do you work only on this project or are there other projects?

We have different projects of digital skills education and communication in other schools of Italy and also with adults.

Lavoro di Giulia di 3 F

What is fake news and how can we recognize it?

Fake news is stories that appear to be true or real but actually isn’t. Fake news is designed to spread confusion on events and stories.
Fake news is usually created to influence political views or for commercial purpose.
First and most important: always keep your eyes open and think critically.
Two: Go always beyond the headlines. Sometimes the headline is made to catch your attention, but the content of the article can be different and clarify which the real news is.
Three: always double check the source of information!

Can you suggest any reliable websites where we can find material about this topic?

You could check what’s on the BBC website and what’s on The Guardian here
http://www.theguardian.com on the topic of fake news. You could also read what on UNESCO website, UNESCO has recently published some material here https://en.unesco.org/fightfakenews

(Valeria and Abigail)