NRW and US schools launch “Everything Fake?” Competition to combat fake news

To raise awareness of fake news in schools, Dorothee Feller (North Rhine-Westphalia’s Minister of Education), Nathanael Liminski (North Rhine-Westphalia’s Media Minister) and U.S. Consul General Pauline Kao (Düsseldorf) launched a competition for schools entitled “Everything fake?” at the Ministry of Education on Tuesday, April 9, 2024.

Over the coming months, schools in North Rhine-Westphalia and their U.S. partner schools are invited to launch projects that address digital disinformation. The projects can, for example, provide guidelines for the judicious use of AI in the classroom or instructions on how to recognize fake news. In other words, entries should help participating schools use media wisely. Partner schools can digitally organize their projects and showcase them on the website.

“Social media and artificial intelligence promote innovation, but they also contribute to the spread of hate speech and the defamation of minorities,” explained Education Minister Feller. “It is therefore vital that we empower children and young people to use digital media in a reflective way. Students are already helping to shape the democracy of tomorrow.”

Media Minister Nathanael Liminski: “We are all inundated with information online. It is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between reliable facts and false information. Emotions are often more important than arguments. That makes it all the more important to develop good online communication skills as early as possible.”

“When AI and other technologies were first invented, there was great hope that they would make the world more open and free. But it depends on how these tools are used. They can help us a lot, but they also pose a risk. AI systems must be examined carefully so they’re notused for the wrong purposes,” said U.S. Consul General Kao.

The school competition is part of the NRW-USA Year 2023/2024, which the North Rhine-Westphalian state government has established to honor the special friendship that has existed between the state and the United States for several centuries. Media Minister Nathanael Liminski: “It makes sense to promote media literacy as part of this partnership. When students from North Rhine-Westphalia and the U.S. work together on very real-life projects, it goes beyond success in the classroom. It can also lead to new personal contacts and friendships.”

This year, numerous events will take place focusing on the transatlantic partnership. North Rhine-Westphalian and American schools can also take part by reporting on their school partnerships and personal exchange experiences on the project website. Currently, more than 100 schools from Aachen to Bielefeld maintain partnerships with schools in the United States.

Last year, Education Minister Feller visited the Heinrich-Heine-Gymnasium in Oberhausen together with U.S. Consul General Kao. In addition, the Ministry of Education, together with the Amerika-Haus NRW in Cologne, organized the visit of two former American Congressmen to the Marie-Kahle-Gesamtschule in Bonn. “We are very proud of this friendship, which is not only evident in education, but also in many other areas of society,” said Minister Feller.

Background

The “Everything fake?” competition, which is part of the NRW-USA Year 2023/2024, is organized by the Ministry of Education, the State Chancellery, the U.S. Consulate General, the Amerika-Haus NRW, the Department of Mathematics Didactics at the University of Siegen, the Vodafone Foundation and “Coding for Tomorrow”, a non-profit company that promotes educational equality and diversity in the tech industry. A jury formed by the organizers will evaluate the projects. The top scoring students will receive an invitation to the U.S. Embassy in Berlin.

In order to deal critically with content on the Internet and in social media, the Ministry of Education has also launched the North Rhine-Westphalia Media Scout Program together with the State Media Authority. The program consists of students who, supported by teachers, advise their classmates on how to use digital media responsibly. It is the largest peer-to-peer program of its kind in Germany and ensures a direct exchange on all issues relating to media literacy at the participating schools. To date, around 7,300 media scouts and around 3,100 counselors have now been trained in more than 1,000 schools in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The state government and the U.S. Consulate General are also planning an exchange program for socially disadvantaged students and their teachers. To this end, Media Minister Liminski and U.S. Consul General Kao signed a “Letter of Intent” last year in the U.S. with “Launch Philly”, a charitable nonprofit organization that cares for socially disadvantaged children, teenagers and young adults in the Philadelphia area. “Launch Philly offers various programs in more than 35 U.S schools and supports up to 7,000 students per year.