Real or Fake

I admit it: I am horrible at determining if photos online are real or fake. I rely heavily on sites like snopes.com to determine authenticity. However, Snopes doesn't cover everything.

For example, I was recently given an assignment where I had to determine the authenticity of  few things- photos, quotes, reviews. I did not do so hot. Check THESE out. Which are real and which are fake?

I don't want to reveal the answers, but you can go HERE to find out if you were right or wrong. My correctness rate- not so great, but not horrible either. I got the photo wrong, the reviews correct, and I had two quotes correct, one wrong. So 50/50. 

I found it interesting that I fared better with the quotes and reviews than the photos. Interesting, but not surprising. Because I am an avid reader, and I have trained as a historian, I am already a little more critical of what I read. So, I need to work a little more on my critical skills with photos!

How can I improve my rate of accuracy? Well, for one thing, I need to be more critical of what I am seeing. I'm an optimist by nature, and I tend to think the best of people and posts. I do not like to think of things be fake or untrue. But in today's world, that kind of naivete is harmful. I'm never going to be Sherlock Holmes, rooting out the truth no matter what. But, I can be more vigilant. 

It is important to share information like this with students. Our world is becoming increasingly more connected. Students must be vigilant and on guard against the false information that runs rampant on the internet. It is an uphill battle, but we can teach our students to be on guard against false news, photos, and information.

I will certainly be sharing this activity with students. I work with adults who are working to finish their high school education. In many ways, this group is more susceptible to duplicity. Particularly, older students who grew up before the techno-internet-globalized age. I will use this activity in a group and add a few other images, quotes, reviews, and other media to determine real versus fake. I think I will share satire media like The Onion as well, as these are quite abundant too.  

Determining real versus fake can be difficult in today's globalized world, but if we are diligent, and just a little critical, we can ascertain the fact from fiction.

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