«One is not born, but rather becomes an internet user!» A media education activity for the Italian junior secondary school

After analyzing the concept of credibility and the challenges posed by the Internet and digital media as regards the assessment of online information credibility, an education experience for a critical understanding of digital information, carried out in an Italian junior secondary school, is presented. Though limited in time and number of participants, the activity is still indicative of the great work that still has to be done. In line with other research studies of a broader reach, students showed they have a lot of naïve beliefs on the way the Internet works and on the source credibility problem. The school activity carried out in class called into question such naïve beliefs and focused on the development of critical thinking and information assessment skills, accomplishing some initial positive results.