Pimmer, Christoph
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Fake News Resilience through Online Games? Tentative Findings from a Randomized Controlled Trial in Higher Education
Learners’ cognitive abilities to assess the credibility of information in digital spaces are a relevant part of 21st century skills. Emerging evidence suggests that gamification could be a suitable approach for learners to develop these skills independently of their educational level. This study examined two popular online fake news games in a higher education setting using a randomized controlled trial. 72 students were randomly assigned to one of two games. Their ability to classify news, i.e. to distinguish fake news from correct news, was tested before and after playing the game. The results from multiple regression analysis suggest that there was only a very modest increase in participants’ news classification abilities in one game and no improvement in the other game. Contrary to some prior literature, these preliminary findings provide no evidence for the use of gamification in developing students’ fake news resilience in higher education contexts and they call for more nuanced education and gamification approaches.
Educational Approaches to Adress Fake News
Fake and false news, an unfortunate hallmark of today's information society, have serious political and societal consequences. Little systematic knowledge is available about effective learning, teaching and awareness-raising strategies that help users in addressing fake news. This study reports preliminary results from a systematic literature review aimed at systematising different approaches and determining their effectiveness. Three main approaches emerged in the analysis: Firstly, the findings suggest that strategies to correct existing misconceptions caused by fake news have limited effectiveness and can be even counterproductive, particularly for polarising topics. Secondly, the evidence on the effectiveness of training on fake news detection methods is encouraging but inconclusive. Thirdly, despite the common perception that fake news detection needs to be linked to an understanding of the economic, ideological and cultural dimensions of media systems, the few empirical studies found in this area did little to support this claim. A tentative conclusion from these findings is the need to integrate education on false news and training on fake news detection strategies in educational programmes as early as children's media consumption starts.