Year 7 · RSHE (PSHE) · beta

Media influence: How can I evaluate the truth online?

This unit develops critical evaluation skills for assessing online content. Pupils learn to identify misinformation, understand how fake news spreads, explore influencer culture and motivations, and recognise the real-world consequences of believing and sharing false information.

This is an attributed Oak National Academy lesson sequence, not a completed or academically approved DASKEREL course. Supporting transcripts may depend on video, images, practical equipment or teacher explanation. Follow each lesson’s supervision guidance. For religious education and RSHE, follow the school’s syllabus, policy and safeguarding procedures.

Prior knowledge

  • Pupils should understand from Key Stage 2 that not everything online is true and that they should ask a trusted adult if they're unsure about online content or information.
  • Pupils should be familiar with using the internet for research and communication, and understand that people share information and opinions online through social media and websites.
  • Pupils should recognise from previous units that people can present themselves differently online than in person, and that online interactions follow the same expectations as offline.

Source curriculum references

  • The characteristics of social media, including that some social media accounts are fake, and / or may post things which aren’t real / have been created with AI.
  • That social media users may say things in more extreme ways than they might in face-to-face situations, and that some users present highly exaggerated or idealised profiles of themselves online.
  • Pupils should understand that online content can present a distorted picture of the world and normalise or glamorise behaviours which are unhealthy and wrong.
  • It is important to be able to critically think about new types of technology as they appear online and how they might pose a risk.
  • How to counter misinformation, including signposting towards medically accurate information and further advice, and where to access confidential sexual and reproductive health advice and treatment.
  • The similarities and differences between the online world and the physical world.
  • How people may curate a specific image of their life online.
  • How advertising and information is targeted at them.
  • How to be a discerning consumer of information online, understanding the prevalence of misinformation and disinformation online, including conspiracy theories.

Oak source metadata. DASKEREL has not independently verified school-level coverage.

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