Preparation

The exercise does not require much preparation. However, it is a good idea for the learner to pick out some concrete examples in advance and then discuss them in class. 

Method / Process description

First, learners are shown different examples of image manipulation. 

(The learner should choose the appropriate examples according to the learning group and the time available).

• Real or Photoshop?
  • Browser-based game from Adobe. Ideal as an introduction to the topic. 
  • Images are shown and the player has to decide whether the image has been manipulated with Photoshop. 
  • https://landing.adobe.com/en/na/products/creative-cloud/69308-real-or-photoshop/index.html 
• Picture quiz 
  • Online quiz. Ideal as an introduction to the subject.
  • Advantage: Players can register with a nickname via smartphone or PC. The entire game takes place online. The pictures and results are displayed on the teacher's main computer. However, the learners choose "real or fake" on their own terminal.
  • https://play.kahoot.it/v2/?quizId=57d82849-07ad-430b-8b5f-d5057dabda74 
• List of different image manipulations
  • Web page with a collection of different image manipulations. 
  • It is a good idea to pick out a few examples and discuss them in the group.
  • http://www.rhetorik.ch/Bildmanipulation/Bildmanipulation.html 
• More examples to research and discuss: 
  • https://correctiv.org/faktencheck/migration/2019/12/18/fake-berichterstattung-ueber-gefluechtete-die-behauptungen-zu-diesen-bildern-sind-unbelegt-oder-falsch/ 
  • learners should look for pictures of the pyramids in Giza and compare them with satellite images (e.g. Google Maps). How are the pyramids deliberately staged? 
• Manipulation of video material: The double fake
  • The German satirist Jan Böhmermann attracted attention in 2015 with the so-called "Varoufake".  
  • Background: In 2015, a video was presented in which the then Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis gives the middle finger. Jan Böhmermann admitted in his programme that he had manipulated the video and worked the middle finger into it. In his programme, he showed the story of how the forgery came about. The media picked up on this information. Later it turned out that the original video was genuine. Böhmermann was awarded the Grimme Prize for this contribution in 2016.
  • The ambiguity of the fake can be used well as an introduction to the discussion about media reporting. 
  • The video of the Varoufake: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx-1LQu6mAE 
  • A collection of the media echo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biJybYlylDw 
• Looking to the future: Deepfake
  • The learners are shown one or more deepfake videos. Afterwards, a discussion is initiated on what this technology means for our society in the future. 
  • Example Obama Deepfake: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ54GDm1eL0  (1:12) 
  • Example Tom Cruise Deepfake: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyiOVUbsPcM  (1:37)
  • Short documentation about Deepfake https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5wLaJYBAm4  (3:13)

Further extensive exercises are available at didactmedia.eu:
https://www.didactmedia.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/55500114_loesungsvorschlaege.pdf  (German)

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