MediaWise Education Resources
Curriculum and Online Courses:
How to Spot Misinformation Online (April 2021)
MediaWise Fact-Checking for AARP Members (April 2021)
MVP Prep for the Polls
MediaWise Fact-Checking 101 (Winter 2020/21)
MediaWise for Seniors: Self-Directed Fact-Checking Course
MediaWise for Seniors: Live Fact-Checking Seminar
MediaWise Fact-Checking Certificate (Winter 2020/21)
The Stanford History Education Group created the free high school and middle school Civic Online Reasoning Curriculum as part of the MediaWise project.
Educational Videos:
Navigating Digital Information series on YouTube teaches the audience fact-checking skills that journalists use to do their jobs — anyone can learn how to fact-check misinformation on the internet. Hosted by best-selling author and MediaWise Ambassador, John Green, this series was produced in partnership with Complexly, Green’s production company and published on the @CrashCourse channel on YouTube.
The MediaWise Voter Project partnered with Complexly, best-selling author John Green’s production company on a 2020 election guide for first-time voters called the MediaWise Voter Guide. It’s an 8-part YouTube video series hosted by influencer Evelyn from the Internets. By watching this series, first-time voters learn how to navigate the confusing online information ecosystem of political news so they can feel confident they are informed with the facts when voting for the first time in November.
This is a 54-part, short-format video series on YouTube which teaches first-time voters (and really anyone!) how to register to vote and how to actually cast their ballot in their state. If you live in Texas, you watch the Texas video. If you live in Missouri, you watch the Missouri video, etc. This series was created in partnership with Complexly as well. It was recently updated to include more up-to-date information about the impact of coronavirus and voting as well.
Campus Correspondents TikTok Videos
The MediaWise Voter Project Campus Correspondents have produced 50 short-form (about 1:00 minute) fact-checking and media literacy videos teaching first-time voters how to find reliable information about the election to help combat voter suppression misinformation that is running rampant across platforms. Here is an example of a fact-checking video. Here is an example of a general media literacy tip video. You can find additional samples on our TikTok account here.
You’ll also find their fact-checking videos from our friends at PolitiFact that are part of their ‘Truth-o-Meter Minute’ fact-checking series which are also super cool and performing well.
Animated Video Series:
MediaWise is producing a 4-part, 1-minute animated (cartoon-style) video series teaching digital media literacy tips to first-time voters. Through this popular social media video format, first-time voters will learn fact-checking skills including lateral reading, 3 key questions you can ask yourself to fact-check info on your feeds, and other helpful quick hit tips. There will be vertical and horizontal formats posted and promoted across platforms. This series launches the week of September 8. This series is supported by Becker Trust.
Campaign 1
Campaign 2
Campaign 3
Campaign 4
MediaWise PSA featuring many of our ambassadors: Stop the Spread of Coronavirus Misinformation
MediaWise for Seniors social media campaign links
Virtual Events:
Face the Facts: #Election2020 Youth Town Hall
The PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs (SRL), in partnership with MediaWise, hosted a one-hour, virtual youth town hall on October 6 to engage students and first-time voters on how to be prepared and better informed ahead of the November elections. The event featured conversations with young people about how to spot election misinformation and engage in the democratic process as they’re making decisions about how to cast their vote.
Full recording of event.
Press release.
Media Partnerships & Collaborations:
@KaleSalad Instagram (4M followers) partnered with the MediaWise Voter Project to co-create digital media literacy Instagram content related to the election, made to appeal to first-time voters in a format native to the platform. This partnership includes 8 partnered Instagram feedposts that will begin rolling out the first week of September tackling trending election misinformation as well as teaching media literacy skills with each post.
Partnered post 1
Partnered post 2
Partnered post 3
Partnered post 4
Partnered post 5
Partnered post 6
Partnered post 7
Partnered post 8
Facebook teamed up with the MediaWise Voter Project and ATTN for a 2020 digital literacy video series on Facebook and Instagram for Millennial and GenZ audiences. The 3-video series shows audiences how to recognize misinformation on social media, particularly around current events and trending topics. In May, audiences learned how to sort fact from fiction about coronavirus. In August, presenter Aliya Jasmine showcased three typical formats of misinformation: images, statistics, timeliness in the context of recent racial justice protests and other current events. In October, the final video of the series highlighted common ways we’ve seen election misinformation in the past and what to keep an eye out for during this unprecedented election season.
The MediaWise Voter Project partnered with award-winning comic book artist Liz Prince and Harvard’s Technology and Social Change Research Project (Joan Donovan) to create “Democracy & Dragons,” a choose your own adventure comic strip centered around the 2020 election.
Given how overwhelming it can feel to get correct information, the comic’s “choose your own destiny” style aims to bring awareness to voting obstacles. In the comic, a grandmother is sucked into a Dungeons and Dragons-like game after admitting she wasn’t going to vote, she then has to battle literal internet trolls and misinformed witches on the way to the polls. The interactive website also allows users to choose between voting in person or by mail. You can find the comic here.
MediaWise Ambassador Videos:
Three Questions to Ask Yourself Before Sharing Something Online With Destin Sandlin
Following the Money in Politics with Jessica Yellin
What’s the difference between News and Opinion? With Dave Jorgenson
Joan Lunden on the Dangers of Misinformation
Sorting News from Opinion with Joan Lunden
How to Fact-Check before Sharing with Joan Lunden
Christiane Amanpour on Pink-Slime Journalism
Misinformation on Social Media with Christiane Amanpour
Amna Nawaz on Fact-Checking Claims Before Sharing Them Online
How To Do A Reverse-Image Search with Hari Sreenivasan
Hari Sreenivasan on How to Use Lateral Reading for Fact-Checking
Mark Watson on Talking to People You Disagree With Online
Engaging with People You Disagree With Online With Savannah Sellers
Lester Holt on Algorithms and Internet Echo Chambers
In-Person Training:
Recording of our in-person training at the University of Iowa in January to kick off the MediaWise Voter Project teaching 200+ college students media literacy skills, with an appearance by MediaWise Ambassador and influencer Tyler Oakley.