Webliography Entry 2:  Factitious

• Reviewer: Crystal Donlan
• Game Title: Factitious
• Developer: JoLT and American University Game Lab
• Release Date: July 3, 2017
• Genre: Educational
• Audience: Tween/Teen/Adult
• URL: 2017 edition – http://factitious2017.augamestudio.com/#/

2018 edition – http://factitious.augamestudio.com/#/

2020/Pandemic edition – http://factitious-pandemic.augamestudio.com/#/

• Overview: Factitious is a free web-based educational game that offers its participants the opportunity to engage in authentic news literacy¹ By providing its users hands-on experience in differentiating between genuine and bogus news articles, the fact-checking game reinforces critical thinking and research analysis techniques required of 21^st century media consumers². Created through a partnership between American University’s Game Lab and its School of Communication, Factitious was conceptualized as an application of theoretical framework³ that engagement through gaming⁴ can increase meaningful learning in the journalistic and communications arts.

With Tinder⁵-like mechanics⁶, the actual gameplay⁷ of Factitious consists of a simple swipe-left (indicating refusal) or swipe-right (indicating approval) after assessing each news story; alternatively, players may click a red “x” to indicate a fake news story or click a green checkmark to indicate a real news article. The game has three progressive levels of difficulty – easy (middle school), medium (high school), and hard (college); it also boasts several editions, including its most recent pandemic version where participants analyze news articles pertaining to the current covid-19⁸ global health crisis. Scoring focuses not only on selection accuracy but also on the user’s information-seeking choices; thoroughly reading the article and examining the news source will yield additional points for players.

Due to its applicability⁹ in lesson plans¹⁰ across the curriculum, Factitious: Classroom Edition¹¹ was the subject of a community funding initiative that could potentially develop a broader iteration of the game to include expansion of its existing content and specialization by grade level. With its level of usability and universally relevant focus on literacy, Factitious lends itself to a broad scope of instructional integration¹².

JoLT’s Innovation in Journalism Through Engagement Design toolkit¹³ is a 14-page PDF outlining design principles for the incorporation of games in communications instruction.

• Applied Review: In unison with the American Library Association (ALA), the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) has identified best practices¹⁴ in literacy pedagogy to include learner-centered instruction that “[e]mploys diverse approaches to teaching and learning in order to improve student engagement” and “[u]ses relevant and appropriate information technology and other media resources to support pedagogy and learning” (ACRL, 2019). Further, the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) cites “active inquiry and critical thinking about the messages we receive and create” as the first of its six of its core principles¹⁵ (NAMLE, 2019). Factitious scaffolds media literacy learning through game-based interaction designed to promote and enhance student engagement and ongoing inquiry.

Within my practice as an English and communications instructor at a community college, I have incorporated reflective activities based on gameplay of Factitious as one part of a three-module unit through which satisfactory completion yields achievement of a media literacy digital badge. This badge is awarded within the course LMS, and is fully transferable as a digital micro-credential. Students report their use of Factitious has both increased their self-awareness of news literacy practices and reinforced their media analysis training.

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¹ Powers, E. (2010). Teaching news literacy in the age of new media: Why secondary school students should be taught to judge the credibility of the news they consume. All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs), 455. https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/etd/455/ Retrieved October 20, 2020.

² Boren, J. (2019). Here’s how you can be a smart news consumer, and not get trapped by those trying to deceive you with ‘fake news.’ Fresno State Institute for Media and Public Trust. https://mediaandpublictrust.com/2019/04/25/heres-how-you-can-be-a-smart-news-consumer-and-not-get-trapped-by-those-trying-to-deceive-you-with-fake-news/ Retrieved October 20, 2020.

³ American University School of Communication (2017). JoLT talk: What journalists can learn from game design thinking. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmFY6CaQhcU Retrieved October 20, 2020.

⁴ American University School of Communication (2017). School of Communication JoLT project: Innovation in journalism through engagement design executive summary.  https://www.american.edu/soc/news/upload/jolt-exec-summary.pdf Retrieved on October 20, 2020.

⁵ Preston, D. (2020). How to use Tinder. Tech Advisor IDG. https://www.techadvisor.co.uk/how-to/software/tinder-3515013/ Retrieved on October 20, 2020.

⁶ Davies, J. (2015). Why tinder charmers and movie heroes move the same way. Nautilus. http://nautil.us/blog/why-tinder-charmers-and-movie-heroes-move-the-same-way Retrieved on October 20, 2020.

⁷ Hone, B. (2018). How to play the Factitious 2018 news game. Medium. https://medium.com/@bobhone.designer/how-to-play-the-factitious-2018-news-game-9969aaa8f2a7 Retrieved on October 20, 2020.

⁸ Koeze. E., & Popper, N. (2020). The virus changed the way we internet. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/07/technology/coronavirus-internet-use.html Retrieved on October 20, 2020.

⁹ American University (2018). Teachers find fake news fighting game useful in the classroom:‘Factitious 2018’ gives teachers new tool to help students spot fake news. NewsWise. https://www.newswise.com/politics/teachers-find-fake-news-fighting-game-useful-in-the-classroom/?article_id=701832 Retrieved on October 20, 2020.

¹⁰ Maria L. (2020). Lesson plan: Don’t get tricked by fake news! Common Sense Education. https://www.commonsense.org/education/lesson-plans/dont-get-tricked-by-fake-news Retrieved on October 20, 2020.

¹¹ Community Funded (2018). Factitious news game: Classroom edition. https://campaigns.communityfunded.com/projects/honeamerican-edu/factitious-news-game-classroom-edition/ Retrieved on October 20, 2020.

¹² TechFifteen (2017). Factitious: Fake news in a game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73H7e0KNY5w Retrieved on October 20, 2020.

¹³ American University Game Lab & JoLT (2017). Innovation in journalism through engagement design: A toolkit. https://www.american.edu/soc/news/upload/jolt-toolkit.pdf Retrieved on October 20, 2020.

¹⁴ Association of College and Research Libraries (2019). Characteristics of programs of information literacy that illustrate best practices: A guideline. American Library Association. http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/characteristics Retrieved on October 20, 2020.

¹⁵ National Association for Media Literacy Education (2019). Media literacy: The basic definition. NAMLE.  https://medialiteracyweek.us/resources/media-literacy-basics/ Retrieved on October 20, 2020.

Webliography Entry 1:  Bad News

• Reviewer: Crystal Donlan
• Game Title: Bad News
• Developer: DROG and University of Cambridge
• Release Date: February 19, 2018
• Genre: Educational
• Audience: Teen/Adult
• URL: https://www.getbadnews.com/#intro

• Overview: Bad News is a free web-based educational game designed to increase the participant’s awareness of the viral nature of disinformation¹ (i.e., “fake news”). During gameplay, the user takes on the role of a propaganda tycoon by making consciously negative choices with the intention of disseminating false news, proliferating conflict, and avoiding logic. By choosing emotionally-charged and politically-polarizing stories to post in a fictitious social media feed and subsequently developing a legion of followers, players learn how simple and pervasive the process of broadcasting bogus news can actually be.

Touted by its creators as an “inoculation”² to fake news, Bad News situates participants from a villain’s perspective in an attempt to build resistance to the (figuratively) growing social contagion³. Gameplay focuses on six specific techniques of propaganda – polarization, impersonation, emotion, trolling, discrediting, and conspiracy – and players earn badges upon mastery of each concept. Equipped with two additional progress measures – a followers tally and a credibility meter, both of which rise and fall depending on the user’s choices – the game’s object is to deceive readers effectively enough to be considered an authentic news source.

In a BBC interview with Jon Roozenbeek⁴, the co-creator of the Bad News game, the designer explained the concept of Bad News as “a fake news game where you drop all pretense of ethics and choose the path that builds your persona as an unscrupulous media magnate. All in order to make yourself immune to disinformation” (DROG getbadnews, 2018). While the mechanics of the serious game⁵ are confined to individual decision-making via a range of preferences within a culminating scenario, certain risk accompanies each choice. In some cases, a player’s choice of content may boost ratings and accumulate more followers; in other cases, a single decision could reduce ratings and eliminate followers. This cycle mimics modern social media phenomena in that the gambles a participant makes with content selection directly – and instantaneously – affect public perception.

The Bad News information sheet⁶, a 12-page PDF designed to help educators utilize the game as a learning tool, provides guidance for incorporating the game into the curriculum.

• Applied Review: Critically appraising information⁷ for reliability and credibility is an important 21^st century skill⁸. Digital, information, and media literacies enable students to develop fluencies that promote deeper analysis⁹ of published content. Incorporating literacy education in the college curriculum aligns with the knowledge practices and dispositions outlined in the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL)’s Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education¹⁰. Bad News specifically scaffolds learning objectives associated with Frame 1: Authority is constructed and contextual¹¹.

Within my practice as an English and communications instructor at a community college, I have incorporated reflective activities based on gameplay of Bad News as one part of a three-module unit through which satisfactory completion yields achievement of a media literacy digital badge. This badge is awarded within the course LMS, and is fully transferable as a digital micro-credential. While my students’ feedback on the Bad News game experience is primarily positive, results vary among users. All learners who submitted reflective commentary on their experience reported a deeper level of understanding of fake news practices as well as a (perceived) wider breadth of cautionary analysis when approaching new broadcast information. This result is consistent with recent research citing experience with the Bad News game as a positive contributor to the development of psychological resistance¹² to disinformation.

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¹ DROG (2018). Information on disinformation. https://aboutbadnews.com/#approach Retrieved October 13, 2020.

² Perkins, K. (2019). Bad News: The game that could “vaccinate” against online misinformation. https://globalshakers.com/bad-news-the-game-that-could-vaccinate-against-online-misinformation/ Retrieved October 13, 2020.

³ BBC News (2018). Game helps players spot ‘fake news.’ https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-43154667 Retrieved October 13, 2020.

⁴ DROG getbadnews (2018). CNN interview with Jon Roozenbeek on GetBadNews. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfGwHyxlZCY&t=187s Retrieved on October 13, 2020.

⁵ Growth Engineering (2019). What are serious games? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmG3fdptY_k&feature=youtu.be Retrieved on October 13, 2020.

⁶ DROG (2018). Bad News information sheet.  https://www.getbadnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Bad-News-Game-info-sheet-for-educators-English.pdf  Retrieved on October 13, 2020.

⁷ MindTools (2020). How to spot real and fake news: Critically appraising information. https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/fake-news.htm Retrieved on October 13, 2020.

⁸ Alismail, H.A., & McGuire, P. (2015). 21st century standards and curriculum: Current research and practice. Journal of Education and Practice, 6(6). https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1083656.pdf Retrieved on October 13, 2020.

⁹ John Spencer (2016). Helping students identify fake news with the five c’s of critical consuming. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf8mjbVRqao&feature=youtu.be Retrieved on October 13, 2020.

¹⁰ Association of College and Research Libraries (2015). Framework for information literacy for higher education.  http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework Retrieved on October 13, 2020.

¹¹ Benedictine University Library (2020). Information literacy: Teaching and learning: Frame 1: Authority is constructed and contextual. https://researchguides.ben.edu/c.php?g=378156&p=2559697 Retrieved on October 13, 2020.

¹² Roozenbeek, J., & van der Linden, S. (2019). Fake news game confers psychological resistance against online misinformation. Palgrave Communications, 5(65). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-019-0279-9 Retrieved on October 13, 2020.