Deepfake response game: pause, check, report (S1-S3)

Theme B · Responsible AI use · S1-S3 · Humanities · Original idea #16

A classroom game in which pupils receive a fictional 'school' message, sort the pause–check–report decision cards, and learn from the teacher's debrief why a fake can sound convincing.

Preparation

1 lesson (about 40 min)

Equipment

Projector (to play or show the scenario); one printed set of decision cards per group; whiteboard or interactive board

Version

0.1

Reviewer

Billy Kan

Fact-checked by

Billy Kan

What this solves

On social platforms and in group chats, teenagers can receive a voice note or short clip that claims to be from their school — the office chasing a payment, a form teacher asking for personal details. Deepfake technology makes this kind of message harder and harder to spot just by whether it sounds or looks right.

This resource turns the response into a screen-free sorting game: pupils first receive a fictional school message, then sort five decision cards into the correct order of response, and finally hear a step-by-step debrief from the teacher. No device is needed at any point. It suits junior-secondary (S1–S3) Citizenship, Economics and Society teachers, and also works in a form-teacher period or a parent session.

The scenario, and every person, school, phone and account number in it, is fictional.

Learning objectives

By the end, pupils can:

1. Say that the first thing to do with a suspicious message is to pause, not to act or forward it straight away.
2. Say that “check” means using a second source outside the message (such as the school’s official number you already have), not the link or number inside the message.
3. Put the steps into the correct order: pause → check → report.
4. Point out that “share it on” spreads the fake to more people and should not be done.
5. Say in a sentence or two why a fake voice note or clip can be convincing.

Teaching steps

1. Hook (5 min) — Ask: “Have you or your family ever received a suspicious message that claimed to be from your school?” Collect the experiences without judging them. Write “pause, check, report” on the board.
2. Play the scenario (5 min) — Project or read aloud the fictional message from the files (a roughly 20-second voice note or clip that claims to be from the school office). Give no hints yet; ask each pupil to note what they would do.
3. Group sorting (12 min) — Give each group a set of five decision cards (pause / check a second source / report / ignore / share it on). Task: put the things you should do in the correct order, set the things you should not do aside, and say why.
4. Whole-class checking (8 min) — Check against the answer key in the files. Focus the discussion on why “ignore” alone is not enough and why “share it on” is the most harmful.
5. Debrief (7 min) — Use the “why a fake can be convincing” section to explain briefly (without technical detail) why deepfake messages persuade.
6. Wrap-up (3 min) — Read the chant together: “Stop, ask, tell a grown-up.”

Answer key and marking notes

The correct order

What not to do

Open question: why can a fake be convincing? A good answer includes at least two of:

• A voice and a face can be imitated, so it sounds or looks like a real person.
• Urgency (“by today”, “your place will be cancelled”) rushes people so they have no time to think.
• It uses a familiar identity (the school, a form teacher, the office) to lower a person’s guard.

Files

The scenario text, five decision cards, the sorting sheet and the full answer key are in the download:

Deepfake response game (A4 printable)

Everything is fictional and involves no real school, platform or person, and does not describe how to make deepfake content.

How this relates to the EDB framework

This resource maps to E, p.14 (the AI Literacy Learning Framework for Primary and Secondary Schools (Examples of Application Scenarios)): the example covers deepfakes and verification, asking learners to recognise a convincing but false message and to verify information before acting on or sharing it.

Reference: https://www.edb.gov.hk/en/edu-system/primary-secondary/applicable-to-primary-secondary/it-in-edu/debp.html

This page is an independent teaching resource produced by Beets, and is not an official EDB document.

Feedback

Have you run this game? At which step do pupils most often jump straight to “share it on”? Tell us what needs changing, or suggest the next resource (for example a similar game on phishing or online bullying).