DIS-PLAY

Social media of today are flourishing with fake news, political propaganda, fabricated / manipulated / sponsored content, deep fakes and other types of disinformation that are still emerging following technological progress. The youth of today live in the world of diverse social media, densely saturated with disinformation. Particularly when consuming information on social media, they require Media Literacy skills to be able to tell what they can trust.

Combating Social Media Disinformation among Youth through Live Action Role Play (“DIS-PLAY”) (2021-2-SE02-KA220-YOU-000051481 ) is a 2 year (2022-2024) Erasmus+ project, run by European partner educational institutions from Germany, Romania, Spain, and Sweden.

The project aims at pedagogically equipping youth educators with methods and tools for increasing Media Literacy skills of youth to ultimately reduce disinformation on social media.

Provided youth educators with a live action role play with scenarios that develop youth’s Media Literacy.

Supplied youth educators with a guide on how to educate youth on disinformation.

Developed a mobile game for young people 15-25, where a player faces simulating reality social media disinformation cases and needs to make choices to enhance their Media Literacy.

Objectives

Project Results

The DIS-PLAY project successfully achieved its objectives, delivering the results that enhance media literacy among youth and equip youth workers and educators with innovative pedagogical tools and training materials.

Toolkit with LARP Scenarios on Disinformation (PR1):

A comprehensive toolkit containing live-action role-play (LARP) with topic scenarios, designed to increase capacity of youth educators in fostering media literacy among youth to ultimately address social media disinformation.
Download Toolkit Guide

Material to run the LARP

LARP topic scenarios

Discrimination
- Presentation Part 1 Troll for us Discrimination
- Presentation Part 2 Magic Forest inc - Discrimination
History Denial
- Presentation Part 1 Troll for us History denial
- Presentation Part 2 Magic Forest Inc - History Denial
Presentations Templates
- Presentation Part 1 Troll for us Empty template insert topic
- Presentation Part 2 Magic forest Inc - presentation template
Self-Image
- Presentation Act 1 Troll for us Self-Image
- Presentation Part 2 Magic forest Inc - Self-image

Guide on Organizing Disinformation LARPs (PR2):

A guide to assist educators and youth workers in implementing disinformation-focused courses or study circles. This guide provides pedagogical recommendations on teaching GenZ youth along with the instructions on using the LARP method effectively.

Disinformation Role-Play Mobile Game (PR3):

A mobile game that allows young people to apply media literacy skills in simulated scenarios about social media disinformation, available both for iPhone and Android.

Other results of the project

Qualitative results:

Enhanced Skills and Competences: training of educators and youth workers within partner organizations improved their pedagogical expertise. Meanwhile the youth that participated in the project activities increased their media literacy skills.
Stakeholder Engagement: Active involvement of youth workers, GenZ youth and education stakeholders in the design and validation of project outputs enriched their quality and facilitated future application possibilities.
Promotion and Outreach: Project outcomes have been promoted for potential use by other organizations and regions, enhancing sustainability and broader impact.

Quantitative results:

Direct Engagement: 100 young people participated in the pilot implementation of the project results and the Learning, Teaching, Training Activities (LTTA) in Germany, enhancing their media literacy skills.
Educator Development: 35 youth educators increased their media literacy competencies through participation in project pilots and LTTA in Frankfurt.
Wide Dissemination: Over 20,000 individuals from more than 1,500 organizations, including education providers and stakeholders, were informed about the project through various dissemination activities. At least 120 participants attended the project’s multiplier events, further disseminating project outcomes and fostering community engagement.

Get all the material in your language

1. The DIS-PLAY Toolkit

2. The DIS-PLAY Guide

1. The DIS-PLAY Toolkit

2. The DIS-PLAY Guide

1. DIS-PLAY verktygslådan

2. The DIS-PLAY Guide

1. The DIS-PLAY Toolkit

LARP Material
How to use the DIS-PLAY Materials
LARP Guide - TROLLS FOR US
Lista de temas recomendados
LARP presentation Troll for us - Discrimination
LARP presentation Magic forest - Discrimination
History Denial Presentation - Trolls For Us
History Denial PowerPoint - Magic Forest Inc
Magic forest Inc - Self-image
Troll for us - Self-image

2. The DIS-PLAY Guide

Activities

Throughout the project, the following activities were implemented to achieve the objectives set:

Development of a Toolkit for Disinformation LARPs:

Drafting the Toolkit: initial creation of the larp and topic scenarios tailored to teach ML
Focus Groups to gather feedback from educators and youth workers
Pilot Testing the toolkit scenarios with young people in the partner countries
Finalization of the toolkit based on pilot feedback to enhance its effectiveness and quality
Translations of the toolkit to partner languages.

Creation of a Guide for Organising Disinformation LARPs:

Guide Drafting : developing a structured guide for educators on using LARPs to combat disinformation among youth
Focus Groups and Pilot Testing : similar to the toolkit, these activities involved feedback collection and practical testing with target users to ensure the guide's practicality.
Finalization and Translations : Final adjustments to the guide and translating it for broader use.

Development of a Disinformation Role-Play Mobile Game:

App Structure and Functionality : Laying out the foundational design and functionality of the mobile game.
Game Content Creation : Developing engaging content (3 topic scenarios) that simulates real-life situations with social media disinformation.
App Design : Creating an interactive and user-friendly interface, development of the app (back-end and front-end)
Pilot Testing and Finalization : Testing the app with youth and finalizing based on feedback to ensure an immersive and educational experience, releasing the app on Apple Store and Google Play

Learning Activity in Frankfurt:

Conducting training sessions for youth workers on how to implement and use the developed DIS-PLAY tools effectively.
Preparing youth workers for further piloting and collecting initial feedback to further refine project results.

Multiplier Events in the partner countries: