The News Literacy Project (NLP), announced this week that it will produce a public service ad (PSA) campaign to provide Facebook users with the tools to become informed consumers of news and information and to know which sources to trust.

Back in 2015, NLP turned to Actual Size to help design and develop its checkology™ virtual learning classroom.  Bob Kiernan, Chief Creative Officer of Actual Size says, “We really did not know how far checkology™ would go.  Our goal has been to design and evolve the platform to accommodate teachers and engage students with interactive features. It is clear that the issue of identifying trustworthy news is extremely relevant and problematic today.”

In fact, according to a recent Stanford University study, 80% of those students tested were not able to identify the difference between fact or fiction.

“Exploiting the blurred line between information, opinion and paid media has added fuel to this already daunting challenge,” added Kiernan.

Since May, more than 2,000 educators who teach more than 220,000 students in all 50 states and the District of Columbia have registered for the new checkology™ virtual classroom.  The platform seeks to give students the ability to determine what news and information to trust, share and act on.  In addition, it accommodates new content to achieve true scalability and efficiency.  “Teaching this type of information is difficult and often has to be done with experiences rather than more standard, passive teaching followed up by questions,” said Kiernan.

“Actual Size has been a terrific partner in building and launching our virtual classroom,” NLP President Alan Miller said. “We look forward to continuing to work with the company as NLP’s reach extends beyond the classroom to the general population worldwide.”

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