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Lesson Notes — Evaluating Online Sources: Misinformation, Disinformation, & Source Credibility

Course 1: Computer Literacy / Unit 5: TLDs, Search & Information Literacy / Lesson 3: Evaluating Online Sources: Misinformation, Disinformation, & Source Credibility

Lesson overview

Anyone can publish anything online, so you have to be the editor. This lesson gives you a toolkit for deciding whether a source deserves your trust.

Two kinds of false information

  • Misinformation is false or misleading information that is shared without meaning to deceive. Someone believes it and passes it on.
  • Disinformation is false information that is spread on purpose to mislead people.

Either one can spread quickly, because shocking claims get shared more than careful ones.

The CRAAP test

The CRAAP test is a checklist for judging source credibility.

  • Currency: When was it published or updated? Is that recent enough for your topic?
  • Relevance: Does it answer your question and fit your audience?
  • Authority: Who is the author or publisher? What qualifies them?
  • Accuracy: Is the information supported by evidence? Can you confirm it somewhere else?
  • Purpose: Why does this exist: to inform, teach, sell, persuade, or entertain? Is there bias?

Lateral reading

Fact-checkers do not stay on a page to decide if it is trustworthy. They open new tabs and look up what other sources say about the author or site. This is called lateral reading, and it is often faster and more reliable than judging a site by how it looks.

Fact-checking tools

  • Search the claim and see whether trusted news outlets report the same thing.
  • Use fact-checking sites such as Snopes, PolitiFact, or FactCheck.org.
  • Do a reverse image search to see where a picture first appeared.

Check your understanding

  1. Explain the difference between misinformation and disinformation with an example of each.
  2. Apply the CRAAP test to one website you use for school. What score would you give it?
  3. You see a shocking post. What are two things you do before sharing?

Use this lesson’s Key Terms page to build your glossary.

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KDE student outcomes

Unit-level context for this lesson · Course 110110

View aligned outcomes (3)
  • #3 Utilize computer technology as a tool to access, manage, prepare, and present information.
  • #4 Identify trends in information processing and new emerging technologies.
  • #11 Identify and use basic e-mail and Internet functions and understand their capabilities.

Alignment from Master Lesson Plans v3.5. These are instructional targets; completing a resource does not by itself establish mastery.