Kerala has started teaching children how to spot fake news before the UK. The General Education Department of Kerala added lessons in the Information and Communication Technology textbooks for students in classes 5 and 7. This helps children to know what fake news is and how to check facts online. A senior official reported this on Monday.

In 2022, the Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education gave training to many students from grades 5 to 10. This training was part of the Digital Media Literacy program. K Anvar Sadath, the CEO of KITE, said they trained 19.72 lakh students. They wanted students to understand the internet, social media and fake news.

Spot Fake News
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Sadath mentioned that this training was new to India. They trained 9.48 lakh upper primary students and 10.24 lakh high school students. There were 5,920 trainers to help with this. The training was called 'Satyameva Jayathe' and lasted for 2.5 hours. It had four parts: using the internet every day knowing what is right and wrong on social media and stopping the spread of fake news.

Students learned about fake information shared online and how it can hurt society. They also learned to check if the information is true. Case studies helped make the lessons clear. They learned the meanings of 'misinformation' and 'disinformation'. They found out how false facts spread on social media and the effect of presenting facts emotionally.

How New ICT Textbooks Equip Students to Spot Fake News

The new ICT textbooks teach students to spot fake news and bad content. This is in the spirit of 'Satyameva Jayate', which means 'Truth Alone Triumphs'. Next year, new information will be added to the ICT textbooks for classes 6, 8, 9, and 10.

The Class 5 ICT textbook has a chapter called 'Let's Search the Internet'. It teaches students to identify fake news and manage screen time well. The Class 7 ICT textbook has a chapter called 'Let's Search and Find'. It explains why sharing false information is wrong and how to check if information is true.

Spot Fake News
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For the first time in India, four lakh students in Class 7 will also learn about Artificial Intelligence in their ICT textbook. Sadath added that this is a big step in educating students about the digital world and its challenges. Kerala is ahead of the UK in teaching students about fake news. The state’s new ICT textbooks and training programs aim to help children understand the internet better and use it safely. By teaching them to spot and stop fake news Kerala is making sure that students are well-prepared for the digital age.

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