Welcome to the Disinformation, Misinformation, and Fake News Teach-Out

Welcome, we’re excited you’re here!

At a time when information can be instantly and globally communicated, the threat of consuming misleading or false information looms large. Unverified digital information can sway public beliefs about politics, health, science, and current events, and can influence how people perceive differing opinions, experiences, and cultures. Global citizens have to navigate an increasing reliance on social media for critical facts, huge amounts of “fake news” online, and the consequences of disinformation and misinformation in daily life. In this Teach-Out, you will learn how to navigate this digital information landscape, identify fake news, and gain critical skills in media and information literacy.

In this Teach-Out, you will:

• Understand the history of terms and concepts like “disinformation,” “misinformation” and “fake news.”
• Identify different types of disinformation and how it’s transmitted and received.
• Evaluate your own habits of media consumption and reactions when presented with novel information.
• Develop strategies to combat disinformation in your own life.

Your mentor for this Teach-Out is Julia Maxwell. Julia holds a graduate degree from the School of Information at the University of Michigan and is a current graduate student in the School of Information. She will help to guide discussions and provide additional information to help make your learning experience the best that it can be. We’re excited to hear about your own thoughts and experiences related to this important topic.

Teach-Outs are distinct among online learning experiences because they emphasize co-created knowledge. Throughout this Teach-Out you will have the opportunity to share your reflections, insights, and experiences with the experts and with fellow learners. As a learner, you have the unique opportunity to build on the expert perspectives and to create and drive the conversation through the discussion forums.

Later this month, we will be recording several updated segments we call “Connecting Conversations,” which are designed to more explicitly draw connections between the different experts in this Teach-Out. As you will see later on in this Teach-Out, we invite you to help us shape these “Connecting Conversations” by responding to a series of discussion prompts.

Thank you for joining this important conversation!