How To Guides: Digital Literacy: Evaluating Electronic Sources and Safely Engaging Online: Test Your Knowledge

Testing Your Knowledge

Have students test their digital literacy skills by using one of the resources listed below in class. Students can also be given real websites that look fake to show students that the way a website is designed and appears is not always an indication that the information or product is unreliable. You can also use social media posts to showcase a similar lesson of critically analyzing the information they consume.

For more information on how students can learn how to fact check and analyze websites, visit the Fact Checking page on this guide.

Upper Elementary School Level:

Save the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus
One of the best fake websites out there, this site is designed to be tricky for students to figure out if the information is real or not. It includes FAQs, handouts, and videos that all create a very convincing website for students to explore.
All About Explorers
All About Explorers was developed by a group of teachers as a means of teaching students about the Internet. Although the Internet can be a tremendous resource for gathering information about a topic, we found that students often did not have the skills to discern useful information from worthless data. All explorers information on the website is fictional. To learn how to develop lessons from the website, visit the "For Teachers" page. Lessons or treasure hunts can be found in three different difficulty levels.

Middle & High School Level:

Snopes True or False Challenge
When misinformation obscures the truth and readers don’t know what to trust, Snopes’ fact-checking and original investigative reporting lights the way to evidence-based and contextualized analysis. We always link to and document our sources so readers are empowered to do independent research and make up their own minds.
Dihydrogen Monoxide
A great website to show older students. The website provides scientific data on how dihydrogen monoxide is extremely dangerous (it's actually just water!). This website includes links to what appears to be real sources, but it links to its own website. It also provides some information to the EPA in an effort to appear real.
Petrol Direct
A fake business website that is selling a way to get petrol (or gas) shipped to you directly.
The Onion
A satire news website.