You can use any or all of the 8 TED-Ed videos below to launch discussions with your students.
Note: The Think link will take you to a quiz and Dig Deeper has additional resources for study. Discuss leads to online discussions already started, and if you join the TED-Ed community, you and your students can add your own discussion.
1. "How to choose your news"
Damon Brown
(4:49)
YouTube description: "With the advent of the Internet and social media, news is distributed at an incredible rate by an unprecedented number of different media outlets. How do we choose which news to consume? Damon Brown gives the inside scoop on how the opinions and facts (and sometimes non-facts) make their way into the news and how the smart reader can tell them apart."
YouTube description: "In previous decades, most news with global reach came from several major newspapers and networks with the resources to gather information directly. The speed with which information spreads now, however, has created the ideal conditions for something called circular reporting. Noah Tavlin sheds light on this phenomenon."
YouTube description: "http://www.ted.com As web companies strive to tailor their services (including news and search results) to our personal tastes, there's a dangerous unintended consequence: We get trapped in a "filter bubble" and don't get exposed to information that could challenge or broaden our worldview. Eli Pariser argues powerfully that this will ultimately prove to be bad for us and bad for democracy. Read our community Q&A with Eli (featuring 10 ways to turn off the filter bubble)"
4. "Not all scientific studies are created equal" David H. Schwartz (4:26) YouTube description: "Every day, we are bombarded by attention grabbing headlines that promise miracle cures to all of our ailments -- often backed up by a "scientific study." But what are these studies, and how do we know if they are reliable? David H. Schwartz dissects two types of studies that scientists use, illuminating why you should always approach the claims with a critical eye."
YouTube description: "Journalism can be much more than reporting. An authentic, human narrative touches audiences and keeps them reading. Learn how to shape a human-centered news story, and the importance of facts, context and heart."
6. "The key to media's hidden codes" Ben Beaton (6:00) YouTube description: "Colors, camera angles and logos in the media can all prompt immediate associations with emotions, activities and memories. Learn to decode the intricate system of symbols that are a part of everyday life -- from media messages to traffic signs."
YouTube description: "Kevin Slavin argues that we're living in a world designed for -- and increasingly controlled by -- algorithms. In this riveting talk from TEDGlobal, he shows how these complex computer programs determine espionage tactics, stock prices, movie scripts, and architecture. Slavin also warns that we are writing code we can't understand with implications we can't control."
YouTube description: "Statistics are persuasive. So much so that people, organizations, and whole countries base some of their most important decisions on organized data. But any set of statistics might have something lurking inside it that can turn the results completely upside down. Mark Liddell investigates Simpson’s paradox."
Conclusion: "All we can do is carefully study the actual situations the statistics describe and consider whether lurking variables may be present."
I added this TED talk as a bonus. Perhaps you can create a lesson for it? It is most definitely worth your students' time and consideration.
TED talk: "Battling bad science" Ben Goldacre (14:19) YouTube description: "Every day there are news reports of new health advice, but how can you know if they're right? Doctor and epidemiologist Ben Goldacre shows us, at high speed, the ways evidence can be distorted, from the blindingly obvious nutrition claims to the very subtle tricks of the pharmaceutical industry."