The four lessons were initially developed in the European collaboration project SMILES, funded by the Erasmus+ Programme. The lessons developed in that project have been expanded with an introductory lesson on journalism, and the lessons have been updated, enriched, and translated by BENEDMO.

The lessons are intended for upper secondary school. Teacher guides with instructions per slide can be found in the walkthrough. The lessons are designed to help students acquire essential skills and knowledge that make them more resilient to mis- and disinformation.

• Lesson 1 serves as an introduction to journalism and features an interactive format.
• Lesson 2 follows a similar approach, focusing on the topic of disinformation.
• Lessons 3 and 4 delve deeper into disinformation, providing detailed explanations and practical assignments where students create (fake!) disinformation campaigns. This assignment helps students understand how manipulation techniques work by creating various types of content. The goal is to make it easier for them to identify disinformation in everyday life, enhancing their resilience.

While we recommend following all modules chronologically, each lesson can be taught individually. Teacher guides with instructions for each slide are available on this page.

Lesson 1: ‘What is journalism?’
In the first lesson, students will learn about what news is, why journalism is important, how journalism operates, and factors that can negatively influence a journalist’s work. Lesson 1 includes the following components:
Presentation
Walkthrough

Lesson 2: ‘What is disinformation?’
The second lesson explains what disinformation is, why it is spread, the impact of disinformation, and the manipulation techniques used to spread disinformation. Lesson 2 includes the following components:
Presentation
Walkthrough

Lesson 3: ‘What are the forms of disinformation?’
The third lesson explains in what forms it appears on our screens. Lesson 3 includes the following components:
Presentation
Walkthrough
Images Worksheets
Meme Worksheet 
News Worksheet 
Social Media Post Worksheet 
Introduction Assignment

Lesson 4: ‘How is disinformation spread?’
The fourth lesson explains the strategies used to spread disinformation as well as how to recognise them. Lesson 4 includes the following components:
Presentation
Walkthrough
Profile Picture Worksheets
Introduction Assignment 
Extras Worksheet
Fake Profile Worksheet
Timeline Campaign Worksheet