Think of the last time you saw a headline that made you stop scrolling. Maybe it was shocking, funny, or frightening. You wanted to share it. Then a small voice asked: is this true? That moment of hesitation is exactly where digital literacy begins. For teachers, it is also where the real work starts. On 12 May 2026, from 10:00 to 11:00 CET, the Knowledge Building Channel of the Hub will host a webinar that speaks directly to this challenge. The co-authors of the updated Guidelines for teachers to tackle disinformation and foster digital literacy will be there to share practical tips and ideas for the classroom. They will not be talking in abstract policy language. They will be talking about lessons, activities, and conversations that can happen in real schools, with real students, on real schedules. The Guidelines themselves are part of the European Commission’s four sets of guidelines to support teachers and educators in key areas of digital education. But this webinar is not just about documents and frameworks. It is about helping teachers feel more confident in a world where information is everywhere and truth is sometimes hard to find. It is about giving educators the tools to help students navigate a digital landscape full of distractions, manipulations, and falsehoods. And it is about reminding all of us that teaching is not just about transmitting knowledge; it is about building the skills and habits that allow people to think for themselves. If you have ever wondered how to talk to students about fake news, deepfakes, or viral misinformation, this is the place to start. It is also an invitation to rediscover why you became an educator in the first place: to make sense of the world with others, to ask hard questions, and to help young people grow into adults who can tell the difference between evidence and noise.
Disinformation has been around as long as people have tried to persuade, manipulate, or control one another. But the digital age has changed its scale, speed, and sophistication. A false story can be generated, amplified, and believed by millions before anyone has a chance to correct it. Students today are not just passive consumers of information; they are active participants in an online ecosystem that rewards engagement, not accuracy. The most outrageous content often spreads the fastest, because it triggers strong emotions: anger, fear, excitement, or moral outrage. Young people, whose brains are still developing the ability to regulate those emotions, are especially vulnerable. This is not a failure of intelligence. It is a design feature of the platforms they use. Algorithms learn what keeps them online, and they feed them more of the same. The result is a generation that is simultaneously more connected and more confused than any before it. Teachers cannot change the algorithms, and they cannot police every screen. But they can do something more powerful. They can teach students how to slow down, ask questions, and think critically. They can help them understand that not everything that looks like news is news, that not every expert is credible, and that not every share is a statement of fact. This is the heart of the updated Guidelines. They are designed to help educators build these skills in ways that are age-appropriate, subject-specific, and culturally sensitive. They acknowledge that a teacher in one country may face different challenges than a teacher in another, but they also offer common principles that work everywhere. The webinar will bring those principles to life, showing how they can be applied in everyday teaching without adding hours of extra preparation. The Guidelines are not a cure-all, but they are a compass, and that is exactly what many educators need right now.
Let’s look at the webinar itself. It takes place on 12 May 2026, from 10:00 to 11:00 CET, on the Knowledge Building Channel of the Hub. Registration is free, and the session is open to anyone who works in education: classroom teachers, teaching assistants, school librarians, teacher trainers, curriculum developers, school leaders, and student teachers. Parents and guardians are welcome too, because digital literacy is not only a school subject; it is a family challenge. The co-authors of the updated Guidelines will lead the session. They know that teachers are busy. They know that a one-hour webinar has to earn its place in a crowded calendar. So they have designed the session to be as practical as possible. There will be no long theoretical introductions. Instead, participants will see examples of classroom activities, hear about real experiences from schools, and receive ready-to-use ideas. The focus will be on the kinds of situations teachers face every day: a student shares a misleading video in a group chat; a class discussion turns into a heated argument about a controversial topic; a pupil asks whether a news story is real. The presenters will show how the Guidelines can help teachers respond in ways that are calm, constructive, and educational. They will also explain how the Guidelines fit into the broader European Commission strategy for digital education. This is one of four sets of guidelines, each addressing a key area of support for teachers and educators. Together, they form a coherent vision of what digital education can be. By attending the webinar, participants will not only gain practical skills; they will also become part of a wider community of educators working toward the same goals. The Hub’s Knowledge Building Channel is known for bringing people together in a spirit of collaboration, and this session promises to be no different. It is a chance to learn from experts, but also to learn from one another.
What makes the updated Guidelines so useful? First, they are grounded in the realities of today’s digital environment. They recognise that artificial intelligence has changed everything. Students can now generate realistic images, videos, and texts with a few clicks. They can also encounter AI-generated content that is designed to deceive them. Deepfakes are no longer a futuristic threat; they are a current one. The Guidelines help teachers address these challenges directly, without panic and without pretending that technology is the enemy. They encourage a balanced approach: digital tools are powerful, and so is the need to use them responsibly. Second, the Guidelines are practical. They offer concrete strategies for helping students evaluate sources, verify information, and understand the difference between fact, opinion, and interpretation. They also address the emotional side of digital life. Disinformation often works by making people feel something before they think something. Students need to recognise when their emotions are being manipulated. They need to learn how to pause, reflect, and choose their response rather than reacting impulsively. Third, the Guidelines are positive. They do not treat young people as helpless victims or as potential troublemakers. They treat them as capable learners who can develop sophisticated skills if given the right support. The aim is not to make students suspicious of everything they see online. The aim is to make them curious, confident, and discerning. The co-authors will explain how this positive approach can be embedded in everyday teaching. They will show how digital literacy can be integrated into subjects as different as literature, biology, history, and physical education. They will also discuss how to involve students in creating content, not just consuming it. When students produce their own videos, blogs, or podcasts, they learn firsthand how information is constructed and how easy it is to shape a narrative. That experience is worth a thousand lectures. The Guidelines also encourage collaboration with parents, because learning does not stop at the school gate. By sharing strategies with families, teachers can extend the impact far beyond the classroom.
Imagine what this looks like in a classroom. A teacher brings in two articles about the same event. One is carefully reported, with named sources and clear evidence. The other is sensational, anonymous, and full of emotional language. Students work in pairs to compare them. They ask simple questions: Who wrote this? Why did they write it? Who benefits if I believe it? What evidence is here? These questions become habits. In another classroom, students learn how to reverse-image-search a photograph to find out where it originally appeared. In a science lesson, they examine a viral health claim and try to trace it back to a reliable study. In a history class, they compare propaganda posters from the past with modern memes, looking for the same techniques: fear, scapegoating, repetition, and appeals to identity. In a media class, they create their own news article and then another one that is deliberately misleading, to feel the difference from the inside. These are not complicated projects. They are simple, powerful activities that build critical muscles. The webinar will offer many such examples, and it will also address the practical constraints that teachers face. What do you do when you do not have reliable internet access? How do you handle a student who repeats a conspiracy theory in class? How do you teach digital literacy to very young children? The co-authors will share advice and resources for these situations. They will also remind teachers that they do not need to be experts in technology. They need to be experts in asking good questions, facilitating respectful discussions, and modelling curiosity. Those are skills that teachers already have. The Guidelines simply show how to apply them to the digital world. This is what makes the webinar so valuable: it connects the familiar strengths of teaching to the unfamiliar challenges of the online world. It also helps teachers see that they are not alone. Across Europe, thousands of educators are wrestling with the same questions, and this webinar is a chance to share solutions.
At the end of the day, the fight against disinformation is not a technical problem. It is a human one. It is about trust, empathy, and the courage to say “I don’t know, let’s find out.” Teachers are uniquely placed to model that courage. When a teacher admits that they are unsure about a piece of information and then shows students how to investigate it, they teach a lesson that no textbook can capture. They teach intellectual humility. They teach persistence. They teach respect for evidence. These are not just digital skills; they are life skills. The webinar on 12 May 2026 is an opportunity to strengthen those skills and to connect with others who share the same mission. From 10:00 to 11:00 CET, on the Knowledge Building Channel of the Hub, educators will come together to learn from the co-authors of the updated Guidelines. They will hear practical ideas, ask questions, and leave with resources that can be used the very next day. The Guidelines are part of the European Commission’s four sets of guidelines to support teachers and educators in key areas of digital education, but they are ultimately about something simpler: helping young people become thoughtful, informed, and responsible citizens. That is a goal every teacher can support. So mark your calendar. Register for the webinar. Bring your questions, your doubts, and your ideas. No one expects you to have all the answers. But by showing up, you are already helping to build a culture of critical thinking. And that culture is the strongest defence against disinformation we have. The webinar is free, but the value is not measured in euros. It is measured in the confidence you gain, the strategies you take back to your students, and the ripple effects that spread through your school and community. See you on 12 May 2026, on the Knowledge Building Channel of the Hub, where knowledge becomes action and action becomes change.