Modulo

Checkology.org

Recommended Ages

6th–12th grades

Checkology.org is an interactive media literacy platform that teaches students how to analyze news, identify bias, and verify sources. Through online lessons led by journalists and experts, learners practice spotting misinformation, evaluating evidence, and distinguishing news from opinion. Developed by the News Literacy Project, a nonprofit focused on strengthening democracy through informed citizenship, Checkology has been widely adopted in middle and high school classrooms. Parents and teachers like the real-world examples, built-in assessments, and teacher dashboards that make it easy to track progress. It’s especially useful for grades 6–12 in social studies, English, or advisory settings. The interface feels like a modern e-learning course rather than a game, which may be less flashy but helps keep focus on content. To maximize value, pair modules with current events discussions and have students apply Checkology tools to real headlines and social media posts they encounter.

Upper‑elementary to high‑school learners who are already encountering news and social media and who enjoy interactive lessons, simulations, and real‑world examples of misinformation.

Pros

Highly structured, free (or low‑cost) news‑literacy platform with interactive lessons on bias, fact‑checking, algorithms, and misinformation; widely recommended by educators for building concrete media‑literacy skills.

Cons

Best suited to older elementary through high school; lessons are screen‑ and reading‑heavy, U.S.‑centric, and designed for classrooms, so homeschool parents must adapt pacing and discussion prompts.

The core platform is free for many educators and families; school and district implementations may be supported by grants or district budgets, but there is no direct ESA billing path for individual homeschoolers.

$5 per month or $36 per year.

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Checkology.org
$5.00 USD

Skills

What kids will learn
View all collections
Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking
Social Studies
Social Studies
Civics
Civics
Social-Emotional Learning
Social-Emotional Learning
ELA
ELA

Checkology.org Mission

Checkology’s mission is to help students—and the adults who learn alongside them—tell fact from fiction in today’s information flood. Built by the News Literacy Project, the browser-based platform uses interactive, standards-aligned lessons hosted by real journalists and subject-matter experts to teach how to evaluate sources, recognize misinformation and bias, understand algorithms, and apply First Amendment principles so young people can become savvy, civically engaged news consumers. [oai_citation:1‡Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_Literacy_Project?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

Checkology.org Story

Checkology grew out of founder Alan C. Miller’s experience visiting his daughter’s sixth-grade classroom as a Los Angeles Times investigative reporter. After receiving 175 thank-you notes and realizing how little guidance students had for navigating news, Miller launched the News Literacy Project in 2008 to bring working journalists into schools. A few years later, NLP translated those in-person lessons into Checkology, a scalable virtual classroom that any teacher can use. Since its launch in 2016, Checkology has evolved based on educator feedback, winning national awards and reaching classrooms across the U.S. and beyond while remaining free for many schools and focused squarely on nonpartisan, skills-based news literacy education. [oai_citation:2‡newslit.org](https://newslit.org/our-story/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

About Modular Learning

FAQ: Additional Details about Checkology.org

A typical session starts with your tween logging in and choosing a unit on “InfoZones” or “Conspiratorial Thinking,” watching a short video from a journalist or expert, then dragging and dropping examples into categories, answering quick questions, and finishing with a short written reflection you discuss together.

Checkology is a browser‑based news‑ and media‑literacy platform from the News Literacy Project. Parents or teachers create a free or low‑cost educator account, set up a class, assign interactive lessons on topics like misinformation and bias, and track student progress through a dashboard.

Older students can complete lessons on their own, but parent involvement is very helpful for pausing to talk through tricky examples, connecting concepts to real‑world news, and enforcing healthy media habits.

Best for about grades 5–12 with comfortable reading, basic typing, and familiarity with navigating websites and social‑media‑style content.

Checkology teaches news literacy through interactive case studies and simulations, making it valuable for teens with ADHD, autism, or anxiety who need explicit practice spotting bias, misinformation, and emotional manipulation. The platform works best when adults co‑view, pause for discussion, and allow extra time for processing complex or emotionally charged content.

Because the main classroom version is free, there is no standard refund policy; for optional paid upgrades or donations, families work directly with the News Literacy Project if they have concerns.

Not ideal for very young children, families who want to keep kids largely away from news, or those avoiding screens; the “schooly” structure may frustrate eclectic or unschooling families.

Common Sense Media’s Digital Citizenship curriculum, News Literacy Project resources, iCivics media‑literacy games, and Google’s Be Internet Awesome provide alternative or complementary approaches.

New lessons and scenarios are added regularly to address emerging issues like AI‑generated content, deepfakes, and conspiracy theories, and the curriculum is refined through ongoing research and school partnerships.

Use Checkology in short weekly bursts and always debrief—have your child bring a real post, headline, or meme they’ve seen and run it through the same checks they practiced in the lesson.

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Meet Alan

Alan C. Miller is a Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative journalist and the founder of the News Literacy Project, where he served as CEO for 14 years before transitioning to a board role. Before starting NLP in 2008, he spent more than two decades at the Los Angeles Times, earning numerous national awards for deeply reported stories on government, the military, and public safety. His visit to his daughter’s middle school—and the students’ enthusiastic response—sparked his conviction that journalists could play a powerful role in education, ultimately leading to programs like Checkology that now help millions learn to separate fact from fiction. [oai_citation:3‡newslit.org](https://newslit.org/our-story/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)