Kerala implemented ‘fake news detection’ in ICT textbooks before UK, says Education Department
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He Kerala The General Education Department has taken a pioneering step by incorporating modules in ICT textbooks for grades 5 and 7 to train school children to identify fake news on online platforms and conduct fact-checks, according to a senior official here on Monday. This was done in Kerala even before United Kingdom launched its program, he said.
In 2022, Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE), the technology arm of the department headed by CEO K Anvar Sadath, has imparted training on prevention of fake news and awareness creation for 19.72 lakh students from grades five to ten, as part of the digital media literacy programme, it said.
Following reports that the UK is planning to review its primary education curriculum to include this issue as well, Sadath on Monday spoke about the details of the Kerala curriculum.
It was the first time in India that such massive training was provided to 9.48 lakh upper primary students and 10.24 lakh secondary school students with the help of 5,920 trainers, it said in a statement.
The 2.5-hour training, titled ‘Satyameva Jayathe’, focused on four sections, including the use of the Internet in daily life, the pros and cons of social media and how to prevent the spread of fake news.
The professor explained that the training focused on raising awareness about false information shared through digital media, the negative impact it creates on society, and verifying the authenticity of information, and that several case studies were used. Students were also taught the meaning and definition of “misinformation” and “disinformation,” how untruthful information and misinterpretation of facts are spread on social media, and what social impact facts presented in emotional language and the authenticity of information have, he said.
“The new ICT textbook includes chapters that train students to identify fake news and malicious content, embodying the spirit of Satyameva Jayate,” the official said. Next year, when the ICT textbooks for classes 6, 8, 9 and 10 are revised, the latest developments in the field will be incorporated, he added.
Not only does it teach students how to identify fake news and verify its authenticity, but the chapter titled “Let’s Search the Internet” in the Grade 5 ICT textbook also covers how to effectively manage screen time.
Similarly, in the 7th grade ICT textbook, the chapter titled “Let’s search and find” delves into the importance of verifying the authenticity of information and explains why spreading or sharing false information is a crime.
In the ICT textbook for seventh grade, for the first time in the country, four hundred thousand students were given the opportunity to learn about Artificial Intelligence (AI), Sadath added.
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