Workshop aims to help pre-teens investigate health misinformation online
A group of health researchers are developing a workshop to help kids become health detectives who can navigate misinformation online.
The workshop, created by a team at the University of British Columbia Okanagan’s Southern Medical Program, comes as kids wade through the tricky waters of COVID-19 conspiracies and falsehoods on social media.
“Misinformation is so endemic these days,” said Rowan Laird, in a news release.
Laird, a student of the medical program, is creating the workshop for students aged 10 to 12 as part of his UBCO course requirements.
“Our goal is to teach students how to navigate health information online, spot misinformation and think critically about health claims," Laird said.
Dr. Evelyn Cornelissen, a clinical associate professor with the program says that as the global pandemic emerged last spring she became increasingly concerned with how health misinformation was impacting children.
“Internet connectivity and social media have fuelled the spread of health misinformation, while rotating lockdowns have increased uncertainty and reluctance to follow public health guidelines,” she said.
Laird partnered with Jimmy Lopez, a graduate research assistant with BC Children's Hospital’s Vaccine Evaluation Center, to create a virtual workshop to help kids evaluate and identify reputable sources of health information.
The workshop, titled "So You Want to be a Health Detective," was first presented to Grade 5 and 6 class in Kelowna. The session presented tips about evaluating information sources and encouraged students to think critically about the “5 Ws” – who, what, when, where, and why – as a method of spotting websites that lack current scientific data or might have ulterior motives.
Students were asked to compare web pages from the BC Centre for Disease Control and a prominent anti-vaccination organization.
“Within five minutes of studying each webpage, they were able to quickly identify the trustworthy source,” Laird said.
“I was really impressed how quickly they applied their critical thinking skills to assess the credibility of the information.”
Students were also given a pop quiz before and after the seminar so the team could get a sense of their attitudes towards misinformation, trustworthy sources and their confidence in assessing online information.
Feedback from the students showed they often turn to Google to get answers to questions they are initially embarrassed to ask a parent or a teacher.
“The internet is seen as a trial run before discussing with someone they trust,” reads the news statement.
The team is now planning on presenting the workshop to other classes in the fall.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Western University researchers unlock potential 'cure' for ALS
New research out of London, Ont.'s Western University is shedding light on a potential cure for ALS, in which the targeting of the interaction between two proteins can halt or fully reverse the disease's progression.
What Michael Cohen said on the stand in Trump hush money case
The star prosecution witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial took the stand Monday with testimony that could help shape the outcome of the first criminal case against an American president.
Collapsed Baltimore bridge span comes down with a boom after crews set off chain of explosives
Crews conducted a controlled demolition Monday to break down the largest remaining span of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
Police release 3D images of young child found in an Ontario river two years ago
Police have released a three-dimensional image of a young child whose remains were discovered in the Grand River in Dunnville, Ont. almost two years ago.
Kamala Harris drops F-bomb during White House live-stream
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris used a profanity on Monday while offering advice to young Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders about how to break through barriers.
Behind the barricades: How protesters spend their first days in a new encampment
Students in Montreal describe life in a newly erected encampment in Montreal as a whirlwind of preparations, from facing rain and a potential police crackdown to setting up a space for the exchange of ideas.
Security video caught admitted serial killer disposing of bodies in Winnipeg garbage bins
Security video caught admitted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki on multiple late-night outings, disposing of body parts in nearby garbage bins and dumpsters in the middle of the night.
Next 48 hours will be 'extremely challenging' for B.C. wildfire crews near Fort Nelson: officials
A wildfire burning dangerously close to Fort Nelson, B.C., has grown to more than 50 square kilometres, and officials are warning that the blaze's behaviour is expected to become more volatile over the next 48 hours.
Southern Ont. man charged with attempted murder in Timmins shooting
One of two men wanted for attempted murder in Timmins has been arrested, while a warrant has been issued for a second suspect, who fled police on foot.