way2go! 7. Practice Pack, Arbeitsheft

52 UNIT 09 | Someone’s watching Unit 09 Someone’s watching The following text is not divided into paragraphs. Read it and decide which two of the sentences marked A–E should start a new paragraph. READING 1 a Fake news is being cited 1 by pupils as fact in their studies, warn teachers Frustration has been expressed at pupils refusing to accept that some stories found on social networks are false. Teachers are worried and experts have called for better education on online dangers. “Spoof 2 news sites are often mistaken for real news by pupils, or they presume anything certain political leaders say must be fact,” one teacher said. A Pupils are quoting fake news as fact in lessons and written work, teachers have warned. In fact, according to a study in the UK, more than a third of teachers have students who have cited false information found online. One official, Christine Keates, acknowledged the finding was “worrying” and shows the power that internet firms have in shaping public opinion, especially among young people. There has been growing concern from international education experts, who say children should be taught in schools how to recognise fake news. B In one case, a teacher explained that “some students did not attend school, and there was chaos because it was reported there were killer clowns roaming the streets with weapons.” Others expressed frustration over students refusing to believe news they had seen on Facebook and other social sites was not true, even when the problem was explained to them. C In Europe, Germany announced that fines of up to 50 million euros would be handed to social networks for not taking down illegal fake news posts. Social networks would be given 24 hours to delete or block the content. Commenting on the survey findings, Ms Keates said, “It is worrying that over a third of teachers had experienced pupils citing fake news or inaccurate information they had found online as fact in their work or during classroom discussions. This shows the great power that companies such as Facebook and Google now have in shaping public opinion. This is especially important among young people who have never known a world without the internet and who are not always able to realise the information they see presented to them online may not be genuine. It is vital that lessons are taught in schools on how to be aware that not everything young people see and read online is real.” D She said that teachers are trying to help educate pupils when they cite false information, but added that, as with other forms of technology misuse, it is important that responsibility is taken by online providers for the material on their platforms. E Steps must be taken to deal with those who misuse these sites. Last month, Andreas Schleicher, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Director of Education and Skills, said that in the modern digital age, schools should teach pupils how to think critic- ally and analyse what they read on social media and news sites. “In the past, information you needed was found in an encyclopaedia. You looked it up, and you could trust that informa- tion to be true. Distinguishing what is true from what is not true is a critical skill today.” 1 to cite sth.: etw. zitieren/anführen 2 spoof: Parodie, komisch-satirische Nachahmung Nur zu Prüfzweck n – Eigentum des Verlags öbv