Peer Review

Media Literacy in the Age of Deepfakes

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Reviewed:: May 2, 2022 by ICT Literacy

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:

Media Literacy in the Age of Deepfakes aims to equip students with the critical skills to better understand the past and contemporary threat of misinformation. Students will learn about different ways to analyze emerging forms of misinformation such as "deepfake" videos as well as how new technologies can be used to create a more just and equitable society. This module consists of three interconnected sections. We begin by defining and contextualizing some key terms related to misinformation. We then focus on the proliferation of deepfakes within our media environment. Lastly, we explore synthetic media for the civic good, including AI-enabled projects geared towards satire, investigative documentary, and public history. In Event of Moon Disaster, an award-winning deepfake art installation about the "failed" Apollo 11 moon landing, serves as a central case study.This learning module also includes a suite of educator resources that consists of a syllabus, bibliography, and design prompts. We encourage teachers to draw on and adapt these resources for the purposes of their own classes.Visit Media Literacy in the Age of Deepfakes to access the learning module and educator resources. A sample of some of these materials can be found on OCW.This course was produced by the MIT Center for Advanced Virtuality, with support from the J-WEL: Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab.

Type of Material:

Online Course

Recommended Uses:

May be used as an independent self-paced course, integrated into an existing course by drawing upon the resources as background reading or as discussion examples

Technical Requirements:

Works on Windows browsers

Identify Major Learning Goals:

Define key concepts such as “misinformation,” “deepfake,” and “civic media.”
Understand different forms of misinformation, the disruptive role they play within our information ecology, and the threat they pose to societies around the world.
Employ interdisciplinary methods to critically analyze misinformation and emerging media. In addition to learning techniques of close analysis, students will become familiar with how digital forensics, verification, and policy are all crucial to combatting misinformation.
Locate, research and properly cite primary and secondary sources from a variety of institutions and online archives.
Recognize the ways that synthetic media can be used for the civic good.

Target Student Population:

College Upper Division, College General Education

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

basic ICT skills

Content Quality

Rating:

Strengths:

This short online course provides basic information about misinformation, focusing on deep fakes. The resource is well organized and consists of three learning units that are descriptive and succinct. Subject matter is clearly presented and makes use of an open resource platform to disseminate information.It provides several examples, including videos, to illustrate how and why deep fakes are produced. The website may be used as a stand-alone learning experience, and can be incorporated into existing courses. The website was created by MIT and is well researched and approprriately labelled and linked.

Concerns:

One link is broken.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:

Strengths:

The learning objecctives are central to ICT literacy standards. Presentation of material is liner in nature and provides a logical and coherent instructional flow. The three parts of the course build progressively: from basic informationn about misinformation to explaining deep fakes, to applying knowledge to a illustrative example. There are also online checks for understanding and follow-up activities, which make for efficient learning. The concepts are lifelong skills.

Concerns:

No concerns

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:

Strengths:

The online course is professional looking and very engaging. Explanations are clear, and the material is interactive. The website is easy to read and resources are categorized. The website can be navigated independently, but may need extensive bandwidth.

Concerns:

There is lots of scrolling, and the background can be distracting. There are a couple of ways to navigate the site, which can be confusing. No help button is seen. It doesn't look entirely ADA-compliant.

Other Issues and Comments:: Overall, the Media Literacy in the Age of Deepfakes resource is a helpful site that contains relevant and engaging information pertaining to media literacy that will promote higher-level thinking on the topic
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