The term “fake news” has become a big deal over the last few years; the Internet has made it easy to blur the line between what’s real and what’s not. For people who haven’t had a lot of experience as news consumers, knowing the difference can be tricky. OLS News and Daily Living students have been learning how to spot the fakes, and having fun doing it, with an online game called “Factitious”.
Developed at American University in Washington, D.C., the game presents a series of news articles taken from all over the Web…and the player has to decide whether each one is real or fake. Rather than relying on intuition, the game offers specific methods for being a news detective; below each story, for example, you can click a button to see where the article came from. Sites with names like “RealNewsRightNow.com” are often just the opposite – and after you’ve clicked “Real” or “Fake”, the game provides helpful clues such as: The website has no information about the publisher or writers or There are no named sources. And when a story proves to be genuine, it may be because The facts in the story can be easily checked and compared with other news sites.
“Get your news from reliable sources,” says student Seth Topper. “Don’t believe everything you read!”
News & Daily Living is one of the many courses OLS Students take to obtain their associates degree from OLS. More
information about our curriculum is available on our website. To learn more about our program register for an upcoming Information Session.
Last Updated March 7, 2018