The materials for the session can be found on the Powerpoint (“Fake Photos”). The PowerPoint has notes which outline the content and other information which might be useful. This session should take around 60 minutes to complete, but please feel free to be flexible on timings depending on student interest. You will need a projector to show the slides and to be able to play the videos. Videos are embedded, but the links to the original YouTube videos can also be found in the notes section in case of any issues.

In the session students will be asked to create a poster to help others recognise fake photos and outline the impact fake photos can have. You can decide if you want them to:

  • Hand draw a poster. In which case they would need paper/coloured pens/items for collages e.g., scissors/glue. If you choose to make collages, you may want to invite students to bring in magazines so they can cut out images to use to show photoshopping.
  • Design an online poster/PowerPoint/Canva/Publisher. In which case they would need access to computers with the software you want them to use.

NB: In the session we focus on positives and negatives around photoshopping images. While we do not directly focus on this, it is possible that young people may discuss issues around body image which can be a sensitive topic. If you believe this may be an issue for your students, you could remove the slides featuring Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Lawrence, remind them to be respectful in their discussions or direct them to sources of support.

The aims of this session are to teach students:

  • Why people might edit photos
  • How to spot fake photos
  • The impact of fake photos

Resources

Outline

  • The session starts with the SHARE guidelines. Please remind students of these from the last session. There is then a short video (3 minutes from Katie who is a disability activist). She discusses issues around fake photos, pros and cons and how to recognise fake photos.
  • The starter activity is a pair or small group discussion where students spot the difference between photos before and after they were photoshopped and discuss why the influencer might have photoshopped the images in this way. (5-10 minutes). Our suggestions are in the notes section of the slides.
  • Bushra then discusses some issues with editing photos. She shows some pictures and asks the audience to think about how they may have been edited. There is a short pause in the video, but you may want to pause it for longer to give students time to discuss (6 minutes).
  • The main activity involves asking students to create a poster (online or by hand) to showcase their learning to others. Please encourage students to use the SHARE guidelines (Source, Heading, Accuracy, Retouched and Errors) and to answer the questions on the slide (30 minutes).
    • What are Fake Photos?
    • How to detect Fake Photos?
    • Why do people edit their photos?
    • How might seeing edited photos impact people?
  • You might want to ask them to showcase their poster to others in the class or to use them for a display. If you choose to do this, you may not have time for the closing activity.
  • The final activity is a short quiz. Please ask students to work in pairs or small groups to answer the questions and then swap papers to mark each other’s work (10 minutes). The questions are shown the first time through and then repeated with the answers. The answers will pop up or flash on a mouse click. We have given some example answers, but students may come up with their own.
  • There is a final slide on how they can use the information they have learned in their other lessons.

The next session will focus on Fake People on social media