17.05.2022: "Fake News? Let's face it! Lecture and workshop on the development of critical media and information literacy in English classes" with Prof. Dr. Bärbel Diehr (ret.) as part of GENiUS2

Another GENiUS2 event – organized by Prof. Dr. Carola Surkamp, Wiebke Ruf, and Fabian Krengel – took place in the teachers' room at the Waldweg facilities of the University of Göttingen on May 17, 2022. The network seeks to promote the exchange between student teachers, trainee teachers, and English teachers from Göttingen schools in order to facilitate networking processes between the individual phases of teacher training.
Bärbel Diehr, guest lecturer from the University of Wuppertal, introduced the topic of Fake News in a one-hour online lecture by first illuminating the phenomenon on a scientific-theoretical level and then showing how Fake News can be recognized and how it can be practiced with learners in English classes. Based on empirical studies, it was shown that there are major deficits in the area of critical media and information literacy among adolescents and young adults, which need to be addressed.
In a practical workshop, the participants then worked in groups to examine various texts – ranging from didactic material on fake news to a tweet by Elon Musk – for their potential use in the classroom. The groups were composed in such a way that students, trainee teachers, employees of the Teaching English as a Foreign Language section of the university, and teachers from schools worked together. The results were then presented in a plenary session, and Bärbel Diehr was impressed by the level of reflection and wealth of ideas on display.
The exchange with the students was described as refreshing by a trainee teacher in the subsequent feedback discussion; the students emphasized the trainee teachers' perspective on the actual feasibility of the joint ideas in the classroom as particularly helpful. Overall, the event can therefore be considered a complete success for all sides. The event was conducted in a hybrid manner, with participants on site in the Waldweg and the lecturer participating online, which worked excellently.

GENiUS2 Fake News Fotos