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Description
Modern technologies and the information revolution have not only made access to knowledge more effective, but have also encouraged the spread of disinformation. The World Economic Forum has identified misinformation as one of the most pressing issues in the world. In Slovakia, surveys have repeatedly shown that young people tend to choose extremist parties that base their rhetoric on misinformation. In the 2018 Youth Report, the Ministry of Education ranks citizenship education and critical thinking among the main challenges. Several studies show that it is false information that is reaching more and more people and is affecting election results. At the same time, a well-functioning democracy requires voters to be properly informed. Overall, there is an increasing demand for factual check of content, which in reality is reflected in a significant increase in fact-checker initiatives focused on statements in political debates. Demagog.sk is the first and still the only platform for verifying facts with a reliable methodology in the Slovak Republic, which permanently publishes the outputs - more than 15,000 verified statements of more than 300 politicians in 10 years. The aim of the project is to work with youth – 1) strengthening civic engagement through a 12-week internship in Demagóg.sk with professional leadership, during which they would verify the statements of politicians and 2) completing a series of workshops (basics of political system; critical thinking; searching and verifying information writing professional texts with the right source). Based on the experience, observations of trainees and PISA requirements, there will be created a model of a lesson focused on critical thinking for the State Pedagogical Institute. The project will be beneficial for the whole society in Slovakia, but especially for young people who will also be directly involved in the activities.
Summary of project results
Modern technologies and the information revolution have not only made access to knowledge more efficient, but have also encouraged the spread of misinformation. The World Economic Forum has identified disinformation as one of the world''s most pressing problems. Among the most vulnerable groups are the youth.
Demagog.SK, as the first and only fact-checking platform with a reliable methodology in the Slovak Republic, has therefore decided to intensify its work with youth in 2 ways:
1) by strengthening the civic engagement of students through a 12-week internship at Demagóg.SK with professional guidance, during which up to 23 young people (13 extended their internship) verified more than 420 statements of politicians
2) conducting a series of 12 workshops (fundamentals of the political system; critical thinking; searching and verifying information; writing professional texts with proper sourcing) for interns and youth organizations, attended by 151 participants.
Based on the experiences and observations of 20 interns and 3 teachers, as well as PISA requirements, the project implementers created a methodical sheet for a lesson focused on critical thinking, which they presented to the director of the State Pedagogical Institute, while also agreeing on further cooperation. In addition, the project implementers carried out a communication campaign on facts and myths about VACCINATION, CORONA and CORONA & ECONOMY. Also, they made a campaign on social networks with the aim of promoting the internship at Demagóg.SK. As part of the verification of facts, the project implementers also focused on the use of the Information Act in practice, namely by mapping the workload of ministries, analyzing the speed of response and evaluating the use of information requests when verifying the statements of politicians within Demagóg.sk - the output was published on the website of Denník N.
The good performance of the internship is confirmed by the fact that dozens of students wanted to extend it. The workshops received a large amount of positive feedback. Thanks to the project, teachers as well as members of youth organizations call the project implementers to hold other events. The implementers of the project established cooperation with the State Pedagogical Institute on the creation of additional methodological sheets and workshops for teachers as well. Two interns proved themselves so well that they were offered a paid position.