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Czech teachers in the world of media

September 2021

Publisher: Palacký University in Olomouc

Authors:

Kamil Kopecký

Palacký University Olomouc

Dominik Voráč

Palacký University Olomouc

Szotkowski René

Palacký University Olomouc

Krejčí Veronika

Palacký University Olomouc

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Today, media literacy is a very important skill, allowing us to move around safely in the vast world of media, and to actively participate in creating it. The Covid19 has proved how important it is to be able to deal with information in the virtual space, and how virtual space can significantly affect the non-virtual space. In our new research called Czech teachers in the world of media, we focus on media literacy and media education, a cross-subject topic within the Curriculum framework for primary (and higher) education which is, in various forms, taught in primary/lower secondary schools in the Czech Republic. We focus on several key aspects: Which media the Czech teachers perceive as trusted and non-trusted and which media they follow in a regular basis, where they get information for lessons from, and whether and how they use YouTube. We also wanted to know whether they are able to identify publicly funded media in the Czech Republic. Another part focuses on disinformation – we explored whether Czech teachers are able to identify disinformation content which is commonly present in the on-line space. For our analysis, we picked 34 widely known statements from 3 topics and we asked teachers to choose which of those they perceive as true or false, and teachers were also given the option to say that based on information available, they cannot make an informed decision. A separate part of the research is focused on media education in schools – we wanted to know whether teachers perceive media education as important, what form, topics and number of lessons they prefer, whether they have completed any professional training in media education, and whether they keep learning today in this area.

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Czech teachers in the world of media

Czech teachers in the world of media (Research report)

O2 Czech Republic & Palacký University in Olomouc

(v 1.0)

 
   

 
Czech teachers in the world of media 
Content 
Introduction ...................................................................................................................4 
About the research ........................................................................................................5 
Methods ........................................................................................................................5 
1. Procedure ..............................................................................................................5 
2. Participants ............................................................................................................5 
Results ..........................................................................................................................6 
1. Czech teachers in the world of technologies ..........................................................6 
1.1. Printed media ..................................................................................................6 
1.2. Electronic media .............................................................................................6 
1.3. Radio and TV ..................................................................................................7 
1.4. Media used by teachers in lessons .................................................................7 
1.5. Teachers and YouTube...................................................................................9 
2. Czech teachers in the world of information ...........................................................10 
2.1. Teachers and the European Union ...............................................................10 
2.2. Teachers and the coronavirus pandemics .....................................................13 
2.3. Teachers and information from the world around us .....................................16 
3. Czech teachers and the media content ................................................................20 
3.1. Czech teachers and publicly funded media ...................................................20 
3.2. Can teachers distinguish a satirical profile from a real one in social networks?

3.3. Teachers and e-mail forwarding ....................................................................22 
4. Czech teachers and media education ..................................................................22 
4.1. Professional qualification of teachers for media education ............................22 
4.2. What is taught in media education and what should be taught ......................22 
4.3. Teachers and the importance of media education .........................................24 
4.4. Subjects (not) involving media education ......................................................24 
4.5. How many teachers teach media education and in what form? .....................25 
5. Conclusion ...........................................................................................................25 
Quotes ........................................................................................................................28 
About the Centre for the Prevention of Risky Virtual Communication .................................31 
About O2 Chytrá škola .......................................................................................................31 
Contacts .............................................................................................................................32 
 

Czech teachers in the world of media

1. Introduction

Today, media literacy is a very important skill, allowing us to move around safely in the vast

world of media, and to actively participate in creating it. The Covid19 has proved how

important it is to be able to deal with information in the virtual space, and how virtual space

can significantly affect the non-virtual space.

In our new research called Czech teachers in the world of media, we focus on media

literacy and media education, a cross-subject topic within the Curriculum framework for

primary (and higher) education which is, in various forms, taught in primary/lower secondary

schools in the Czech Republic. We focus on several key aspects: Which media the Czech

teachers perceive as trusted and non-trusted and which media they follow in

a regular basis, where they get information for lessons from, and whether and how they use

YouTube. We also wanted to know whether they are able to identify publicly funded media in

the Czech Republic.

Another part focuses on disinformation – we explored whether Czech teachers are able to

identify disinformation content which is commonly present in the on-line space. For our

analysis, we picked 34 widely known statements from 3 topics and we asked teachers to

choose which of those they perceive as true or false, and teachers were also given the option

to say that based on information available, they cannot make an informed decision.

A separate part of the research is focused on media education in schools – we wanted to

know whether teachers perceive media education as important, what form, topics and

number of lessons they prefer, whether they have completed any professional training in

media education, and whether they keep learning today in this area.

The authors

Czech teachers in the world of media

2. About the research

The Czech teachers in the world of media research has been conducted by the Centre for

the Prevention of Risky Virtual Communication at the Faculty of Education of Palacký

University in Olomouc, in cooperation with O2 Czech Republic.

The research was funded by O2 Czech Republic under contractual research and by internal

funds of the Faculty of Education of Palacký University in Olomouc. No state funding or EU

funding has been drawn.

3. Methods

3.1. Procedure

We chose anonymous on-line questionnaire as the primary research tool. It was distributed

to all regions within the Czech Republic,

Data collection was conducted from 1st February 2021 to 15th June 2021. Evaluation and

interpretation of partial outputs were completed in the following weeks. We used the Statistica

software for a detailed evaluation.

3.2. Participants

The total of 2155 Czech teachers aged 21-82 participated in the research. Average age is

47,21 (median 47, modus 56). The sample consists of 77.82 % female and 22.18 % male

respondents.

A vast majority of teachers participating in the research have a degree in teaching (78.10 %)

while 8.72 % respondents confirm another degree with an additional teaching course.

64.17 % respondents teach at primary/lower secondary schools (22.69 % primary and 41.48

% lower secondary), and 24.73 % are upper secondary teachers.

Most respondents come from the Moravskoslezský region (13.64 %), the Olomoucký region

(10.72 %), Prague (9.33 %) and the Jihomoravský region (8.68 %).

Czech teachers in the world of media

4. Results

We have divided the research into several chapters.

4.1. Czech teachers in the world of technologies

The first part is focused on teachers as consumers of media. We mapped what media

teachers read/watch, how they use them in teaching and what media they would (not)

recommend to students. We work with two types of frequency in the results. For a media title

regularly followed by a teacher, we indicate the total frequency, taking into account the total

number of questionnaires completed. With other questions, we use relative frequency where

the percentage of teachers is calculated from questionnaires with the given question

answered. Such calculation method was chosen because it is not possible for a teacher to

be familiar with all available media and information sources. If teachers were not familiar with

a certain media title, they left the question without answer.

4.1.1. Printed media

Printed media were represented by daily or weekly papers focused on news or commentaries

on current affairs. We left out several magazines focused on a specific topic. The most

frequented printed media among teachers is Mladá fronta DNES daily, where 14.01 %

respondents confirmed that they read it on a regular basis. The following are Respekt weekly

(11.46 %) and Deník daily with all its regional versions (9.23 %). Interestingly, the least

followed daily papers are Aha! (0.60 %) and Blesk (1.07 %) although Blesk is generally the

most popular newspaper in the Czech Republic.

Most teachers trust Hospodářské noviny – perceived as a trusted title by 75 % respondents,

while the lowest number of teachers (6.80 %) perceive Hospodářské noviny as non-trusted.

This newspaper is also the most recommended (49.51 % teachers would recommend it to

students). Aha! and Blesk are at the opposite end. Aha! daily is not trusted by 36.57 %

respondents and Blesk daily by 38.61 %.

4.1.2. Electronic media

Most teachers (40.14 %) follow, on a regular basis, the iDNES.cz news portal (an electronic

version of Mladá fronta DNES), followed by Aktuálně.cz (33.46 %) and Novinky.cz

(30.44 %). The most trusted are internet portals of publicly funded media – where

respondents provided a rating, they perceived as trusted the Czech Press Agency

website (ctk.cz), (75.82 %), followed by iRozhlas (75.58 %) and ČT24 (71.90 %).

Teachers would also recommend these three portals to students as a source of

information. On the other hand, the least trusted news portals are Aeronet (89.87 %),

Sputniknews (89.73 %) or Nová republika (87.32 %).

Only 2 respondents from the entire sample group listed Parlamentní listy as a relevant

information source for students.

https://www.ceskenoviny.cz/zpravy/nejctenejsi-byl-v-1-ctvrtleti-blesk-s-rustem-na-703-000-

ctenaru/2036457

Czech teachers in the world of media

4.1.3. Radio and TV

The most frequently watched are the channels of Czech television (75.03 %), also perceived

as the most trusted by teachers. Where teachers rated trustfulness, 67.71 % stated that the

Czech Television is trusted. TV Barrandov (79.84 %) is perceived as the least trusted by

Czech teachers. TV channels most recommended to students as a source of information

include CS History (67.46 %), Animal Planet (62.71 %) and the Czech Television channels

(61.42 %).

When asked about TV channels for entertainment purposes, the most recommended one

was Óčko, a music channel (77.90 %)

Radio channels are dominated by the Czech Radio channels. Most respondents (41.44 %),

listen to these and perceive them as the most trusted (79.65 % perceive them as trusted and

only 2.18 %as on-trusted). Other broadcasts most listened to by teachers, include Impuls

(16.06 %) and Evropa 2 (14.85 %) while the second most trusted is Radio Proglas,

a Christian broadcast (52.44 %). However, this broadcast also has a relatively large number

of respondents who perceive it as non-trusted (20.33 %).

4.1.4. Media used by teachers in lessons

Printed textbooks are the most popular resource, preferred by 87.66 % of all teachers.

However, digital technologies are a becoming new competitor to printed media – for instance,

85.66 % respondents use Youtube as a source of information for teaching. The others include

Wikipedia (71 %), electronic versions of textbooks (63.20 %) and digital learning resources

from the Curriculum framework (58.38 %). Printed textbooks still represent a guarantee of

trusted information, recommended by 86.22 % teachers, not recommended by 1.39 %.

Czech teachers in the world of media

Table 1. Media used by teachers in lessons

Media title

Used in lessons

Printed textbooks for a particular subject

87.66 %

YouTube

85.66 %

Wikipedia

71.00 %

Electronic textbooks for a particular subject

63.20 %

DUMy

58.38 %

Online dictionaries

53.13 %

Printed encyclopaedias

46.03 %

Documentaries (DVD, Netflix etc.)

43.02 %

Whatever comes out from Google search (i.e. random websites)

42.41 %

38.28 %

Online news

38.10 %

Printed dictionaries

34.20 %

Khan academy

16.10 %

Printed news

14.01 %

Facebook

13.41 %

Educational portals (Coursera, FutureLearn, Udemy)

10.72 %

(n=2155)

Czech teachers in the world of media

4.1.5. Teachers and YouTube

YouTube is used by over 2 billion users and, as our research shows, it becomes a part of

most teachers’ lessons. The research results prove that YouTube channels most followed by

teachers for lesson purposes are those of university groups or scientific institutions. 45.67 %

stated that they use the Otevřená věda channel for teaching, followed by various university

projects (such as Mluvící hlavy, videos by E-bezpečí etc.) (38.95 %), as well as the Petr

Čurko’s channel (38,07 %) and Na potítku (29,61 %). For entertainment purposes, teachers

recommend the channel of youtuber Kovy (51.68 % of those who commented on this

question), Honest Guide (41.85 %) and the channels of youtuber Martin Rota

(38.35 %).

Table 2. Which youtubers would you recommend?

YouTube

channel/influencer

Used in

lessons

Would recommend as

a source of

information

Would recommend as a

source of entertainment

Otevřená věda

45.67 %

61.26 %

21.21 %

Various university

channels

38.95 %

63,04 %

13.77 %

Petr Čurko

38.07 %

43.12 %

19.72 %

Na potítku

29.61 %

47.49 %

19.55 %

Tedx - Talks

28.71 %

46.13 %

28.71 %

TED-Ed

25.71 %

45.71 %

24.29 %

Broňa Sobotka

25.29 %

68.68 %

29.93 %

Martin Rota

23.68 %

42.11 %

38.35 %

Kovy

23.29 %

43.03 %

51.48 %

Marek Valášek

22.97 %

67.14 %

10.95 %

(n=2155)

Conclusion

The research results have revealed teachers as being specific consumers of media. The

most significant characteristics can be seen with printed media: while Blesk (a tabloid daily)

Czech teachers in the world of media

is the most popular newspaper in the Czech Republic, only 0.60 % teachers read it on

a regular basis.

Teachers have strong trust in publicly funded media – whether television, radio or online.

The dominance of trusted media is most strongly presented in online space. The top three

electronic media, in terms of trustworthiness, are the Czech Press Agency, the Czech Radio

and the Czech Television.

Statistics on teaching resources show that paper textbooks are still dominant, although

having a strong competition in digital media, particularly YouTube and Wikipedia. Most

teachers recommend textbooks as a source of information. This suggests that for textbooks,

trustworthiness is an advantage over internet resources. When exploring YouTube in detail,

we can see the important role of universities and educational institutions, providing teachers

with information and inspiration for lessons.

4.2. Czech teachers in the world of information

An important part of our research is focused on information and disinformation, encountered

by a large part of population, including teachers.

We offered our respondent teachers the option to assess the trueness of selected statements

while none of these was presented as false, disinformation, hoax or fake news.

Teachers could decide whether a statement is true or false, or state that they are not

completely certain or they are not they able to critically assess the information (because they

don’t have enough details available or are not familiar with the topic).

We selected the following topics for our research:

A. Information and disinformation related to the European Union

B. Information and disinformation related to the Covid19 pandemics

C. Other information and disinformation from the world.

4.2.1. Teachers and the European Union

The first topic included 9 EU-related statements that circulate the global information space:

A. EU wants to ban “Ř”.

This satiric story was correctly recognised and marked as false by 80.79 % teachers. 9.33 %

stated that they don’t know and cannot assess the trueness of the statement. 2 % teachers

marked the story as true.

B. The EU has prohibited us from producing rum.

This story is a typical hoax and disinformation, appearing in the Czech media in connection

with EU regulations. Of course, the EU regulates only the product name – it can only be used

for a drink made from distilled sugar cane (Czech rum was made from white spirit and rum

flavouring). After becoming an EU member state, the product was re-labelled to Tuzemský

or Tuzemák. This myth also concerns a problem of flavourings used to make rum as they

include carcinogen substances. The EU highlighted it and the Czech Republic was granted

an exception. Therefore, Czech Tuzemák has not disappeared from the market.

Czech teachers in the world of media

The claim about prohibiting rum was correctly assessed by 64.5 % teachers while 10.86 %

marked this statement as true. 10.02 % teachers stated that they cannot assess the

statement as they don’t have sufficient information available.

C. EU ordered that curved bananas must not be sold.

Indeed, the EU does not regulate the shape of bananas. It only specifies the required

parameters of goods in a particular quality class.

This statement was correctly assessed by 76.47 % teachers while 11 % were not able to

judge. Only 2.88 % teachers assessed the statement incorrectly.

D. Based on EU regulations, products labelled as “spreadable butter” had to be

renamed.

This is a true statement, related to EU product labelling regulations - the EU has never

banned spreadable butter, but required product names to be unified - on the common

European market, “butter” can only be used for products containing at least 80 % dairy fat,

which was not met in spreadable butter.

56.29 % teachers correctly detected it as a true statement. 21.67 % assessed the statement

as false (the high error rate could be down to the fact that respondents confused a labelling

regulation with banning the product itself), while 8 % stated that they are not able to assess

the statement.

E. Based on an EU regulation, it was decided that donuts must be wrapped in

plastic bags in order to “rule out the risk of contamination and to maintain food

safety and quality when on sale.”

This is one of the EU related myths – known as “the Donut Decree”. It appeared in 2002 at

the Czech Health ministry and it was not based on any European regulations. It was

terminated a few years later. However, the myth still lives.

The statement was correctly assessed by 54.29 % teachers as false. 10.95 % teachers

marked this myth as true. 12.85 % could not decide and 16.75 % stated that they are not

qualified to judge. A higher number of respondents feeling not qualified to judge suggests

that they are not familiar with the statement.

F. As a result of the Czech Republic accessing the EU, a new legislation practically

prohibits traditional pig slaughter feasts.

Again, this is a false statement. Organising home pig slaughter feasts is regulated directly by

Czech law and the EU accession and membership did not result in any legislation changes

in terms of home slaughtering.

The statement was correctly marked by 51.04 % respondents as false and by 13,09 % as

true (i.e. incorrectly). 18.61 % stated that they are not qualified to judge (perhaps this is also

one of the less popular myths).

Czech teachers in the world of media

G. The EU ordered classic filament light bulbs to be gradually phased out.

Yes, the EU ordered classic filament light bulbs to be gradually phased out. This was agreed

by representatives of member countries and members of the European parliament (including

those from the Czech Republic).

The statement was correctly marked as true by 53.13 % teachers. 14.76 %incorrectly marked

it as false and 14 % stated that they are not qualified to judge.

H. Refugee quotas introduced by the EU oblige us to accept a certain number of

refugees from war countries (Syria, Eritrea, Iraq).

This is a more complex statement: Refugee quotas oblige us to accept a certain number of

refugees into the country, however the Czech Republic refused and did not abide by the

Regulation. The statement can be viewed from several perspectives – an obligation from the

EU perspective, and refusal by the Czech government. This resulted in various approaches

to assessing the statement.

36.06 % teachers assessed the statement as true and 33.78 % as false, 14.66 % couldn’t

decide and 11.09 % stated that they don’t feel qualified to judge. We don’t include this

statement and its assessment into the overall score.

I. The Czech Republic pays more into the EU than it receives back.

The Czech Republic is so called “net recipient” – one of the countries that receive significantly

more from the EU budget than they contribute. This myth is often linked to another issue such

as channelling money from the country (e.g. corporation profits) or EU funding frauds – this,

however, is not down to the EU, but rather to our national legislation and our own funding

recipients (and their potential frauds).

59.58 % teachers correctly marked the statement as false and only 8.26 % agreed with the

statement. 11.09 % stated that they are not qualified to judge.

Total results (assessing trueness by teachers)

Based on analysing the above EU related statements, it can be concluded that 62 %

respondent teachers can correctly assess trueness (average values based on

8 statements). 10.57 % participant teachers assessed the statements incorrectly (average

values based on 8 statements).

As 3.02 % teachers stated that they are currently not qualified assess, it is possible that the

resulting score could be better, but also worse. Media literacy skills involve the ability to admit

that I don’t have sufficient relevant information available to assess a certain statement.

Czech teachers in the world of media

Chart 1 Teachers and EU related information (assessing trueness by teachers)

(n=2155)

4.2.2. Teachers and the coronavirus pandemics

The Covid19 pandemics has resonated in the global media space and generated a huge

amount of information and also disinformation related to the origin of the disease, treatment,

testing, preventive measures, vaccination, etc. Therefore, we dedicated the second section

to this topic and asked teachers to assess 19 statements.

For the analysis, we selected a diverse range of statements related to the virus characteristics

(Covid19 is simply a flu), its origin (Covid19 was developed and disseminated by Bill Gates’

team), its spread (Covid19 is disseminated by suspicious air planes or by Aliexpress parcels),

its goals (Covid19 is designed to reduce population, it is a biological weapon, Covid19 is

spread by 5G networks), etc. With most questions, teachers correctly identified disinformation

or conspiracy related to Covid19 and they were able to distinguish between false statements

and unfounded conspiracies and speculations.

0 % 10 % 20 % 30 % 40 % 50 % 60 % 70 % 80 % 90 % 100 %

EU wants to ban “Ř”.

The EU has prohibited us from producing rum.

EU ordered that curved bananas must not be sold.

EU ruled spreadable butter to be renamed

Based on an EU regulation, donuts must be wrapped in…

EU banned traditional slaughter feasts

The EU ordered classic filament light bulbs to be…

Refugee quotas introduced by the EU oblige us to accept…

The Czech Republic pays more into the EU than it…

strongly agree agree neither agree or disagree disagree

strongly disagree Don`t know, cannot judge Not stated

Czech teachers in the world of media

Chart 2 Teachers and Covid19 (correctly assessed statements)

(n=2155)

We also included statements that are difficult to verify so we did not include those in the final

evaluation of this part. Namely:

The Covid19 death rate doesn’t correspond with reality presented in the media.

28.12 % teachers assessed this statement as true, 27.70 %, as false, 16.29 % couldn't decide

and further 23.94 % didn’t feel qualified to judge.

The ambivalence among respondents is logical because many people died while being

Covid19 positive, however the disease must not have necessarily been the primary cause of

death. Data presented at www.mzcr.cz can be defined as deaths with Covid19. See more

details here. However, it can be speculated whether media lie to us and twist information

deliberately.

Government measures to reduce the spread of coronavirus restrict freedom and

democracy.

This statement was marked true by 29.88 % teachers, while 41.76 % marked it as false and

21.81 % couldn't decide.

Many institutions are trying to find out whether government measures to reduce the spread

of coronavirus restrict freedom and democracy. This issue has also been flagged out by the

European parliament. It is obvious that the Covid19 pandemics affect human lives and that it

was necessary to restrict certain human rights and freedoms. It has to be said that even the

Charter of fundamental rights and freedoms allows restrictions if these are necessary in

Czech teachers in the world of media

a democratic society to protect the rights and freedoms of others, the public order, health,

morals, property or national security. The question is whether rights were restricted

adequately to circumstances.

Even those who have not been tested, received a text message with a positive result.

The story that those who have not been tested, received a text message with a positive result,

has taken an interesting turn. This story was originally a hoax and false alarm, however

online fraudsters imitated it and used it for phishing. The original false alarm was therefore

exploited for committing crime.

This story was assessed by 19.16 % respondents as true, 30.90 %as false. However, the

conclusion is ambivalent due to hyped cases of phishing so we rate both responses as

acceptable and exclude this question from the resulting score.

Conclusion

Based on analysing the above Covid19 related statements, it can be concluded that 67.91 %

respondent teachers can correctly assess the trueness (average values based on 17

statements). 4.56 % participant teachers assessed the statements incorrectly (average

values based on 17 statements).

As 15.09 % teachers stated that they are currently not qualified to assess, it is possible that

the resulting score could be better, but also worse. Media literacy skills involve the ability to

admit that I don’t have sufficient relevant information available to assess a certain statement.

However, it is important to find a relevant source when verifying information.

Chart 3 Total results (assessing trueness by teachers)

(n=2155)

0 % 10 % 20 % 30 % 40 % 50 % 60 % 70 %80 % 90 %100 %

COVID19 is just a common flu.

The COVID-19 death rate doesn’t correspond with …

Government measures to reduce the spread of…

COVID19 is spread over Europe by suspicious…

COVID19 is designed to chip people

COVID19 is killed by drinking alcohol

Even those who have not been tested, received a…

Possible side effects of anti-COVID19 vaccine include…

Some country leaders received a fake vaccine

5G networks spread coronavirus.

strongly agree agree neither agree or disagree

disagree strongly disagree Don`t know, cannot judge

Not stated

Czech teachers in the world of media

4.2.3. Teachers and information from the world around us

In this part, we presented teachers with a set of 17 statements that include several types of

information. First, teachers were asked to assess statements that can be categorised as

conspiracies (chemtrails, NWO, etc.), then statements in the category of hoax

a disinformation, as well as some historical myths that still live today and that we still believe

(such as Napoleon's height, the Viking helmets, etc). We complemented the statements by a

few true historic events that require some knowledge of history to be assessed (such as

photos of death people, tea in the British army tanks, dictators as nominees of the Nobel

peace Prize, etc.).

Now let’s focus on assessing some of the statements:

A. Conspiracy statements

U.S. astronauts didn’t land on the Moon in 1969, it is a huge deception.

74.8 % teachers determined correctly that this is a false statement. U.S. astronauts really did

land on the Moon. Only 1.67 % marked the statement as true.

Air planes deliberately spread chemicals designed to reduce population.

So called chemtrails theories are popular and widespread, however 80.7 % correctly

determined that this is a false statement. Only 1.16 % marked the statement as true.

The attack on U.S. World Trade Centre on 11th December 2001 was planned and

carried out by U.S. secret services.

This statement was marked as false by 64.13 %. This doesn’t mean, however, that the rest

of all teachers believe in the WTC conspiracy – this is believed by mere 4.59 %responded

teachers. 17.26 % stated that they are not qualified to assess the statement (for instance,

due to a lack of information).

The World is ruled by elites who want to establish a New World Order.

Conspiracies involving a group of powerful people trying to establish a New World Order are

common in chain e-mails and various websites. 57.12 % teachers assessed this statement

as false, and NWO conspiracies are believed by 7.01 % respondent teachers. 18.75 % stated

that they are not qualified to assess the statement.

U.S. elections in 2020 were purposely rigged in favour of J. Biden.

We included this statement in reaction to a massive wave of disinformation and conspiracies

disseminated by ex-president Trump and others in connection with U.S. elections. We wanted

to find out how Czech teachers react to this statement.

64.87 % marked the statement as false as they don’t believe in conspiracies about rigged

U.S. elections. Only 4.92 % teachers supported this conspiracy. 17.68 % teaches remained

cautious and stated that they don’t feel qualified to assess the statement.

Czech teachers in the world of media

B. Hoaxes and other disinformation (hoax classics)

We complemented the statement set by a few well-known hoaxes:

If you put and egg between two cell phones calling each other, the egg will boil in an

hour.

This is a classic hoax, over 20 years old. 58.79 % marked the statement as false. Only 1.62

% believe this hoax. Over a quarter of teachers (28.26 %) stated, however, that they are not

able to assess the statement and that they are not sure whether an egg can really be boiled

this way.

If I have to withdraw money from ATM in an emergency (someone blackmails me),

I can call in the Police by entering my PIN backwards.

Again, this is a known hoax, detected correctly by 59.49 %. Only 2.8 % respondent teachers

got fooled by this statement. A large part of teachers (26.50 %) stated that they are not able

to assess the statement as they don’t have sufficient information available.

C. Historic myths still living today

Here, we included statements based on historic misinterpretation or period propaganda, yet

still living today. Teachers were often wrong in this part.

Napoleon suffered from inferiority complex due to his height, below average for his

times. This has given rise to “Napoleon complex,” a term used in psychology.

It is one of the most known and widespread myths. In fact, Napoleon was unusually tall and

the myth that he was short originates in a wrong conversion of English and French units

(different size of an inch) as well as in period propaganda.

65.94 % teachers assessed the statement as true and they believe that Napoleon was really

short. Only 13.32 % marked the statement as false.

Vikings wore helmets with horns.

Another myth says that the Vikings wore horn-fitted helmets (often seen in cartoons, movies,

adverts, etc.) In fact, Vikings didn’t wear horns on their helmets (that would be hampering in

a battle, the helmet could be easy torn down. etc). Such myth originates in The Ring of the

Nibelung, an opera by Richard Wagner from the 19th century.

52.95 % teachers agree that Vikings really wore horn-fitted helmet so they assessed the

statement incorrectly. 21.21 % were right when they marked the statement as false.

12.58 % stated that they are not able to assess the statement.

D. Historic facts

We also included a few historic facts that, however, require some knowledge of history to be

assessed. Therefore, we don’t include these in the final evaluation of success in detecting

false statements.

In the 19th century in England, it was common to take photographs of deceased

family members in a position as if they were alive (seating, for example).

Czech teachers in the world of media

This is a fact, correctly assessed by 21.25 % teachers. 10.90 % assessed the statement as

false and 50.39 % stated that they are not qualified to judge. This proves our assumption that

with this type of statement, knowledge of the topic and historical context is necessary.

During the II. World war, tea making accessory was installed in all British tanks.

Again, this is a fact, correctly identified by mere 4.92 % teachers while 17.45 % marked the

statement as false. Importantly - 58,93 % teachers stated that they are not qualified to judge.

Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin were candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Again, this is a historical fact. The dictators named above were really candidates for the Nobel

Peace Prize. This statement was correctly assessed by 5.52 % teachers, 72,16 % marked it

as false and 12,85 % respondents didn’t feel qualified to judge.

Chart 4 Teachers and information from the world around (correctly assessed

statements)

(n=2155)

Conclusion

Based on analysing the above statements, it can be concluded that 53.53 % respondent

teachers can correctly assess the trueness (average values based on 14 statements).

16.79 % participant teachers assessed the statements incorrectly (average values

based on 14 statements). We excluded 4 statements that require specific knowledge in

history and where the number of teachers who didn’t feel qualified to judge exceeded 45 %.

As 18.67 % teachers stated that they are currently not qualified to assess, it is possible that

the resulting score could be better, but also worse. Media literacy skills involve the ability to

admit that I don’t have sufficient relevant information available to assess a certain statement.

However, it is important to find a relevant source when verifying information.

Czech teachers in the world of media

Chart 5 Total results (assessing trueness by teachers)

(n=2155)

0 % 10 % 20 % 30 % 40 % 50 % 60 % 70 % 80 % 90 % 100 %

President Zeman got his leg amputated (as a result of…

The effect of 5G networks on humans can be shielded…

Air planes deliberately spread chemicals designed to…

The World is ruled by elites who want to establish a…

The MMR vaccine causes autism.

If I have to withdraw money from ATM in an emergency…

Napoleon suffered from inferiority complex due to his …

In the 19th century in England, it was common to take…

Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin were candidates for the…

strongly agree agree neither agree or disagree disagree

strongly disagree Don`t know, cannot judge Not stated

Final conclusion

Based on verifying the trueness of 38 statements containing false information (hoaxes,

conspiracies, disinformation, but also facts, divided into 3 topics and excluding statements

where more than 45 % teachers were not able to assess the statements for various

reasons), it can be concluded than in average:

61.14 % Czech teachers are able to correctly assess the trueness of a statement

( 66.78 % teachers in EU related disinformation).

15,59 % Czech teachers admit that they are not able to assess the statement (not

having the facts available or being unfamiliar with the topic). This is a relatively positive

finding – teachers are aware of their limits and lack of knowledge and they are able to

work on it.

10,41 % Czech teachers assess the trueness of the statements incorrectly, they

believe in false content, disinformation, conspiracies, hoaxes and myths.

Czech teachers in the world of media

4.3. Czech teachers and the media content

In this part, we focused on whether teachers can identify publicly funded media, whether they

can distinguish a satiric profile from a real one on social networks and whether they engage

in forwarding e-mails with c various content.

4.3.1. Czech teachers and publicly funded media

Publicly funded media include the Czech Television, the Czech Radio and the Czech Press

Agency. A vast majority of teachers correctly identified the Czech Television (99.01 %)

a and the Czech Radio (95.94 %) as publicly funded. A lower number of teachers (62,92 %)

correctly identified the Czech Press Agency as publicly funded. These results can be seen

as very positive as almost all teachers can identify at least some publicly funded media. The

difference from private media is the fact that they must follow the Czech Television Codex,

meet requirements in terms of impartiality, balance, political neutrality and independence and

their main purpose is public service, not financial gain.

Chart 6 Czech teachers identifying publicly funded media

(n=2155)

4.3.2. Can teachers distinguish a satirical profile from a real one in

social networks?

We wanted to find out whether teachers are able, from a samples of actual twitter profiles,

distinguish an official (real) profile from a satirical one. An official profile shows so called

verified button (a blue dot with check mark inside) beside the profile name. This was

0,94 %

1,13 %

1,32 %

2,36 %

4,95 %

5,85 %

6,60 %

7,26 %

8,73 %

62,92 %

95,94 %

99,01 %

0,00 % 20,00 % 40,00 % 60,00 % 80,00 % 100,00 % 120,00 %

Hlídací pes

Česká pozice

TV Barrandov

Radio Proglas

Parlamentní listy

Právo

Regionální deníky

Lidové noviny

Hospodářské noviny

Čská tisková kancelář

Český rozhlas

Česká televize

Czech teachers in the world of media

recognised by a relatively small percentage (19.44 %) of teachers. 72.02 % teachers

perceive a satirical profile as a real one. We believe that the reason behind a high number of

incorrect answers could be the fact that teachers don’t realise that profiles of publicly known

persons contain a “verified” symbol.

Czech teachers in the world of media

4.3.3. Teachers and e-mail forwarding

Over a half of teachers (58.88 %) never forward e-mails with various content. If teachers

decide to forward a certain e-mail, it usually contains jokes (31.09 %), advice, tips and smart

recommendations (22.59 %) or photos/videos (21.78 %). Almost no teachers

(0.14 %) send e-mails containing pornography or offering opportunities to get rich.

Chart 7 What e-mails teachers forward

(n=2094)

4.4. Czech teachers and media education

The next part of our research focuses on delivering media education in schools. We wanted

to know, in particular, whether teachers are equipped for media education, what media

education topics they teach, how they perceive the importance of media literacy and how is

media education taught in their school.

4.4.1. Professional qualification of teachers for media education

Almost 80 % (79.95 %) teachers stated that they did not complete any media literacy

related subjects during their teaching studies/courses. Only 18 % teachers stated that they

completed such subjects. Various courses or seminars present another option for teachers

to improve their qualification for media education. Again, the prevailing part of teachers have

never completed such a seminar or training (61.48 %). The completion of courses or

seminars outside university studies was confirmed by 36.89 % respondents.

4.4.2. What is taught in media education and what should be taught

Media education includes a range of topics teachers can explore with their students. Within

this research, we asked teachers whether such topics are taught in their school. The most

frequent answer was that working with the Internet, including search for information, is surely

taught at their school (59.26 %), followed by computer safety, such as how to set up

Czech teachers in the world of media

a password, how to protect personal details or how to avoid frauds (51.23 %). School also

teach how to use communication tools on the Internet (50.21 %).

As opposed to reality, we also explored what topics teachers wish to be taught in their school.

In this case, the most frequent answer was the issue of hoaxes and fake news (35.50 %),

recognising relevant sources of information (34.06 %) and finding the way in the media world,

such as distinguishing public funded media from a private ones (32.20 % respondents).

Table 3 Media education topics

(n=2155)

Topics

Taught in my

school

I wish it to be

taught

Using the Internet – search for information

59.26%

18.75%

Computer safety (passwords, personal details, frauds,

cyber-crime...)

51.23%

26.26%

Using the Internet – communication tools (chat, Skype,

e-mail…)

50.21%

12.99%

Activities focused on supporting media literacy in

schools (work sheets etc.)

37.91%

25.75%

Using the Internet – social networks

35.78%

13.83%

Creating media content in school (a school magazine,

web, blog...)

32.58%

28.40%

Disinformation, hoaxes and fake news (examples,

samples, detecting)

30.58%

35.50%

Recognising relevant sources of information

28.45%

34.06%

Finding the way through the world of media, public,

private, government media...

23.16%

32.20%

Working with media products (advertisement, reality

shows...)

22.23%

22.00%

Czech teachers in the world of media

4.4.3. Teachers and the importance of media education

We also focused on how teachers perceive the importance of media education. A vast

majority (91.6 %) teachers agree that media education is important (55.7 % completely agree,

36.6 % rather agree). Under 2 percent teachers don’t agree (1.1 % rather disagree and 0,5

completely disagree). On the other hand, teachers don’t feel that the number of media

education lessons should be increased. 21.1 % teachers agree that time spent with media

education should be increased to the detriment of other subjects, while only 6.4 % agree

completely. Most teachers rather disagreed (38.3 %), 9.7 % completely disagreed and 30,9

% didn’t know or didn’t answer.

4.4.4. Subjects (not) involving media education

As media education is a cross-subject discipline, it is delivered, apart from various talks or

a separate subject, also within other subjects. From this perspective, Informatics is the most

important subject - 59.95 % teachers stated that in their school, media education is taught

within this subject. Other important subjects involving media education include Civics

(54.11%) and Czech language (44.41 %). On the other hand, media education is rarely

delivered in Physical education (1.90 %), Technical education (4.04 %) and Chemistry

(4.32 %).

Chart 8 Subjects involving media education

(n=2155)

59,95%

54,11%

44,41%

19,86%

15,78%

11,28%

14,06%

19,58%

21,39%

20,46%

1,02%

1,39%

2,92%

5,66%

7,42%

0,00% 10,00% 20,00% 30,00% 40,00% 50,00% 60,00% 70,00% 80,00%

Informatics

Civics

Czech language

English language

Health education

taught at our school i don't know not taught at our school

Czech teachers in the world of media

4.4.5. How many teachers teach media education and in what form?

The results suggest that approximately half of teachers teach media education. 47.01 %

participant teachers answered that they teach media education across various

subjects. 3.02 % teachers teach media education as a separate subject – only 65 teachers

from the sample of 2155 respondents. 45.38 % teachers don’t teach media education either

across subjects or as a separate subject. The data gathered include several responses

(a few percent) by teachers who teach elements of media education in their subject randomly

within certain topics or when they come across a topic, however they don’t deliver media

education systematically.

4.5. Conclusion

A. Czech teachers and mass media

Czech teachers actively use mass media in both printed and electronic form. The most

frequented printed media among teachers is Mladá fronta DNES daily where 14.01 %

respondents confirmed that they read it on a regular basis. The following are Respekt weekly

(11.46 %) and Deník daily with all its regional versions (9.23 %). Teachers perceive

Hospodářské noviny (75 %) as the most trusted newspaper. The least trusted ones are Aha!

and Blesk.

As for the use of electronic media, the most frequented are iDNES.cz (40.14 %), Aktuálně.cz

(33.46 %) and Novinky.cz (30.44 %). As for trustworthiness – teachers perceive the websites

of the Czech Press Agency (75.82 %), iRozhlas.cz (75.58 %) and ČT24 (71.90 %) as the

most trusted. Teachers also recommend these three portals to students as a source of

information. On the other hand, the least trusted news portals are Aeronet (89.87 %),

Sputniknews (89.73 %) or Nová republika (87.32 %). Only 2 respondents recommend

Parlamentní listy to students as a source of information.

85.96 % teachers, on average, are able to identify publicly funded media – teachers

correctly identified the Czech Television (99.01 %) and the Czech Radio (95.94 %) while

struggling with the Czech Press Agency, identified as publicly funded by 62.92 %.

Teachers watch the Czech Television channels on a regular basis (75.03 %), while 67.71 %

respondents perceive them as trusted. The least trusted television channel for teachers is TV

Barrandov (perceived as not trusted by 79.84 % teachers). As for radio stations, channels of

the Czech Radio dominate among teachers (41.44 % respondents). The following are Impuls

and Evropa 2. Channels of the Czech Radio are the most trusted by teachers (79.65 %),

followed by Rádio Proglas (52.44 %).

For most teachers, the primary source for lessons are printed textbooks (87.66 %), however

many teachers also use YouTube (85.66 %), Wikipedia (71 %) or electronic textbooks (63.20

%) as a source of information.

As for YouTube channels, 45.67 % teachers use Otevřená věda, 38.95 % use university

channels (Mluvící hlavy, E-Bezpečí), teacher Petr Čurko’s channel (38.07 %) and Na potítku

(29.61 %). Other favourite youtuber channels are those of Kovy, Honest Guide and Martin

Rota.

Czech teachers in the world of media

B. Czech teachers and (dis)information

The next part of our research explored whether teachers are able to distinguish disinformation

content from true, factually correct and verified content. Based on verifying the trueness of

38 disinformation and conspiracy related statements (divided into 3 topics), it can be

concluded that on average:

61.14 % Czech teachers are able to distinguish true statements from false statements

( 66.78 % teachers in EU related disinformation).

15.59 % Czech teachers admit that they are not able to assess the statement (not having

the facts available or being unfamiliar with the topic). This is a relatively positive finding –

teachers are aware of their limits and lack of knowledge and they are able to work on it.

10.41 % Czech teachers assess the trueness of statements incorrectly, they believe in

false content, disinformation, conspiracies, hoaxes and myths.

We have also tested teachers’ ability to distinguish a real profile of a public person from

a false profile – through the “verified” symbol used in most social networks. Only 19.44 %

teachers were able to detect a real profile of a publicly known person.

C. Czech teachers and media education

Most respondents (80 %) from our sample have not completed subjects focused on

media education during their studies. Therefore, they are not (have not been) systematically

trained in this cross-subject topic. 36.89 % teacher respondents have completed additional

seminars focused on media education.