In line with SchoolFaN’s objectives, our mission was to engage students from four countries (France, Greece, Portugal and Spain) in a citizen science project. The students were tasked with identifying fake news about climate change on social media (TikTok, YouTube and Instagram) and sharing this information with fact-checkers. Based on the results of the curriculum analysis (Action 2), which provided us with useful information on school subjects and topics related to climate change in each country, as well as on teachers’ needs, as described during the focus group research (Action 3), we developed educational material on climate change, the recognition and debunking of fake news, and citizen science, which was reviewed by all partners. This educational material was designed in PPT format for teacher training and for teachers to use in their classrooms. The material was suitable for training and includes notes for the trainer or teacher, as well as links to other projects where teachers and students can find further information if they wish.
To help teachers familiarise themselves with the project and its educational materials, we organised a training session for teachers. Following a call for applications aimed at teachers interested in participating in the project, teachers from each country voluntarily took part in a short training session, the duration of which varied depending on local restrictions or teachers’ availability, and which was conducted in person or via WebEx, Zoom, etc. The effectiveness of the teacher training was assessed through pre- and post-tests for the teachers.