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NPR how-to article, "AI-generated images are everywhere. Here's how to spot them"

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NPR how-to article, "AI-generated images are everywhere. Here's how to spot them"

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This article provides four accessible tips for identifying AI-generated content, including the SIFT method: "Stop. Investigate the source. Find better coverage. Trace the original context." This would be an excellent toolkit to offer to teens in a conversation about AI literacy.

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Amid debates about how artificial intelligence will affect jobs, the economy, politics and our shared reality, one thing is clear: AI-generated content is here.

Chances are you've already encountered content created by generative AI software, which can produce realistic-seeming text, images, audio and video.

So what do you need to know about sorting fact from AI fiction? And how can we think about using AI responsibly?

How to spot AI manipulation

Thanks to image generators like OpenAI's DALL-E2, Midjourney and Stable Diffusion, AI-generated images are more realistic and more available than ever. And technology to create videos out of whole cloth is rapidly improving, too.

The current wave of fake images isn't perfect, however, especially when it comes to depicting people. Generators can struggle with creating realistic hands, teeth and accessories like glasses and jewelry. If an image includes multiple people, there may be even more irregularities.

Take the synthetic image of the Pope wearing a stylish puffy coat that recently went viral. If you look closer, his fingers don't seem to actually be grasping the coffee cup he appears to be holding. The rim of his eyeglasses is distorted.

Another set of viral fake photos purportedly showed former President Donald Trump getting arrested. In some images, hands were bizarre and faces in the background were strangely blurred.

Listen To Life Kit
Synthetic videos have their own oddities, like slight mismatches between sound and motion and distorted mouths. They often lack facial expressions or subtle body movements that real people make.

Some tools try to detect AI-generated content, but they are not always reliable.

Experts caution against relying too heavily on these kinds of tells. The newest version of Midjourney, for example, is much better at rendering hands. The absence of blinking used to be a signal a video might be computer-generated, but that is no longer the case.

"The problem is we've started to cultivate an idea that you can spot these AI-generated images by these little clues. And the clues don't last," says Sam Gregory of the nonprofit Witness, which helps people use video and technology to protect human rights.

Gregory says it can be counterproductive to spend too long trying to analyze an image unless you're trained in digital forensics. And too much skepticism can backfire - giving bad actors the opportunity to discredit real images and video as fake.

Use S-I-F-T to assess what you're looking at

Instead of going down a rabbit hole of trying to examine images pixel-by-pixel, experts recommend zooming out, using tried-and-true techniques of media literacy.

One model, created by research scientist Mike Caufield, is called SIFT. That stands for four steps: Stop. Investigate the source. Find better coverage. Trace the original context.

The overall idea is to slow down and consider what you're looking at - especially pictures, posts, or claims that trigger your emotions.

"Something seems too good to be true or too funny to believe or too confirming of your existing biases," says Gregory. "People want to lean into their belief that something is real, that their belief is confirmed about a particular piece of media."

A good first step is to look for other coverage of the same topic. If it's an image or video of an event - say a politician speaking - are there other photos from the same event?

Does the location look accurate? Fake photos of a non-existent explosion at the Pentagon went viral and sparked a brief dip in the stock market. But the building depicted didn't actually resemble the Pentagon.

Google recently announced it's making it easier to see when a photo first appeared online, which could help identify AI-generated pictures as well as photos that are shared with misleading or false context - like that viral image of a shark swimming on a flooded highway that often appears after hurricanes.

Pause and think in other situations, too. Scammers have begun using spoofed audio to scam people by impersonating family members in distress. The Federal Trade Commission has issued a consumer alert and urged vigilance. It suggests if you get a call from a friend or relative asking for money, call the person back at a known number to verify it's really them.

Check your sources

AI images aren't the only way you might be fooled by a computer. Chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT, Microsoft's Bing and Google's Bard are really good at producing text that sounds highly plausible. But that doesn't mean what they tell you is true or accurate.

That's because they're trained on massive amounts of text to find statistical relationships between words. They use that information to create everything from recipes to political speeches to computer code.

While the text chatbots spit out may sound convincingly human, they do not learn, think, or create in the ways we do, says Gary Marcus, a cognitive scientist and professor emeritus at New York University.

"They don't have models of the world. They don't reason. They don't know what facts are. They're not built for that," he says. "They're basically autocomplete on steroids. They predict what words would be plausible in some context, and plausible is not the same as true."

ChatGPT fabricated a damaging allegation of sexual harassment against a law professor. It's made up a story my colleague Geoff Brumfiel, an editor and correspondent on NPR's science desk, never wrote. Bing invented quotes from a Pentagon spokesman. Bard made a factual error during its high-profile launch that sent Google's parent company's shares plummeting.

That means you should double-check anything a chatbot tells you - even if it comes footnoted with sources, as Google's Bard and Microsoft's Bing do. Make sure the links they cite are real and actually support the information the chatbot provides.

Use generative AI tools responsibly

In its early phase, AI can be unreliable and even risky. But it's also fun and interesting to experiment with. And like it or not, generative AI tools are being integrated into all kinds of software, from email and search to Google Docs, Microsoft Office, Zoom, Expedia, and Snapchat.

Playing around with chatbots and image generators is a good way to learn more about how the technology works and what it can and can't do.

"My main piece of advice to everybody is, do use this stuff," says Ethan Mollick, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. "You absolutely should be making things. You should absolutely spend an hour on ChatGPT...You should try and automate your job."

Mollick requires his students to use AI. And while he's an enthusiastic user of chatbots and other forms of AI, he's also wary of the ways they can be misused.

"You've got to figure this thing out because we're in a world where there's nobody with great advice right now. There isn't like a manual out there that you can read," Mollick says.

If you are going to experiment with generative AI, here are a few things to keep in mind.

Privacy: Be smart about sharing personal information with AI software. Systems may use your input for training, and companies may have access to what you enter as inputs.

Ethics: What are you using the software to create? Are you asking an image generator to copy the style of a living artist, for example? Or using it in a class without your teacher's knowledge?

Consent: If you're creating an image, who are you depicting? Is it parody? Could they be harmed by the portrayal?

Disclosure: If you're sharing your AI creations on social media, have you made it clear they are computer-generated? What would happen if they were shared further without that disclosure?

Fact check: As explained above, chatbots get things wrong. So double-check any important information before you post or share it.

"You can think of it as like an infinitely helpful intern with access to all of human knowledge who makes stuff up every once in a while," Mollick says.
The audio portion of this episode was produced by Thomas Lu and edited by Brett Neely and Meghan Keane.

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AI-generated images are everywhere. Here's how to spot them : Life Kit

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It's easy to be fooled by AI-generated images and other content. We talk about how to identify them, how media literacy can help, plus how to use these tools responsibly.

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Common Sense Media article on deepfake videos

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Common Sense Media article on deepfake videos

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A possible refresher resource for facilitators, this article provides a succinct but informative overview of deepfake videos, from how to spot them to solutions for malinformation.

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By Paul Barnwell | August 28, 2019

Everyone loves those videos of stuff that's obviously fake: dogs talking like humans or Nick Offerman playing every role in Full House. But the same technology that enables these silly videos also has a dark side: deepfakes. Learn more about what deepfakes are, why people make them, and why they could pose a big threat to public trust.
What are "deepfakes?"
A "deepfake" is a video created using artificial intelligence (AI) showing real people doing and saying things they never did. The first iterations of deepfakes appeared in pornography when celebrities would be spliced into scenes, but now they are being used as entertainment, as satire, or as political and propaganda weapons.

Director and comedian Jordan Peele teamed up with Buzzfeed and Barack Obama to create this deepfake video to serve as a warning of what manipulated video could do.
How are deepfakes made?
While you and your kids can create edited videos using widely available apps like TikTok, Likee, and Funimate, you can't use them to make deepfakes. Two apps that can create deepfakes -- Fakeapp and DeepFaceLab -- are both available for free download, but fabricating a convincing deepfake takes a significant amount of effort and time, even for tech-savvy computer hobbyists. There's little doubt that as the technology improves, deepfake software will become more accessible. In the meanwhile, deepfake creators with technical expertise and malicious intent are committed to their craft -- and it could turn into a big problem.
Why do people make them?
Deepfakes are designed to intentionally mislead people and spread false information. Though fake footage can be used for entertainment and satire on TV and social media (where it's usually identified as such), deepfakes are created by folks with an ax to grind, an agenda to promote, or an urge to troll. They're slowly becoming more common -- and are maddeningly hard to spot -- posing problems for government, the tech industry, and families who are finding it tougher to trust what they see.
Do families need to worry about deepfakes?
Manipulating images to portray a point of view and persuade viewers is nothing new. But deepfakes aren't like airbrushed models in magazines or glow filters in Snapchat. When their targets are elected officials, actual events from history, or other public information, they have the potential to erode people's trust, an especially scary thought as the 2020 presidential election looms. For these reasons, deepfakes have caught the attention of politicians. In July 2019, U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff wrote letters to the CEOs of Facebook, Twitter, and Google asking about their companies' formal policies on deepfakes and development of technologies to detect them. But so far, companies either haven't responded or publicly stated how they will handle this emerging phenomenon.
What can you do about deepfakes?
Kids may actually be savvier about deepfakes than all of us. They know all about using editing tools like the ones in Snapchat, Instagram, and Facetune to create unique images -- and they know not to trust everything they see. These media-literacy skills will be essential as they continue to grow up in an online environment where anyone can create anything easily. Since the problem of deepfakes is only going to grow, it's time to talk to your kids about not only how to recognize signs that a video is manipulated, but also to discuss the why behind the producer's intent.
How can you spot a deepfake?
Since humans can be easily deceived, it may be up to tech companies to help us recognize deepfakes and flag potential ones. Many are developing sophisticated algorithms and AI for this purpose. For instance, the software company Adobe, the creator of Photoshop, partnered with University of California Berkeley researchers to train AI to recognize facial manipulation. This tool could eventually help consumers detect deepfakes. In the meantime, the following characteristics might help you and your kids recognize one:

face discolorations

lighting that isn't quite right

badly synced sound and video

blurriness where the face meets the neck and hair

Famous deepfakes What can we do about deepfakes?
Since doctored media is becoming more normalized -- or at least widespread -- help your kids think critically about the trend:

Get familiar. Spend 10 minutes together watching this explanation of deepfakes from Above the Noise or this rundown of some of the most popular deepfake videos to date.

Talk about them. Ask your kids whether or not they enjoy manipulated images and videos. What's the appeal? Why do they think they're popular and widely distributed? Do they think there are any problems associated with the trend?

Debate personal responsibility. Discuss whether it's OK to intentionally mislead people with deepfakes and what responsibility creators and consumers have. Does the tech industry have a role in limiting the spread of deepfakes?

Discuss specific deepfakes. Have they noticed any viral videos that are edited? Was the manipulation obvious or more subtle? What was the purpose of the video? Why would someone make a deepfake?

Verify them. Try using a reverse image search by uploading a video into the Google search bar (just copy and paste it).

Dig deeper. It's kind of impressive how much the First Amendment protects. Here's an explanation of what types of expression are protected and unprotected in the Bill of Rights.

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Common Sense Explains: What Are Deepfake Videos?

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By Paul Barnwell | August 28, 2019 Everyone loves those videos of stuff that's obviously fake: dogs talking like humans or Nick Offerman playing every role in Full House. But the same technology that enables these silly videos also has a dark side: deepfakes.

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The facilitator could use this reverse image search tool in an activity to demonstrate one method of verifying whether a given set of images are authentic or not.

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TinEye is an image search and recognition company. We are experts in computer vision, pattern recognition, neural networks, and machine learning.

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PBS lesson plan, "How to spot manipulated media, from 'cheap fakes' to misleading photos"

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PBS lesson plan, "How to spot manipulated media, from 'cheap fakes' to misleading photos"

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This lesson plan cleverly integrates Tiktok (which could be appealing to teens) and introduces a range of types of manipulated media with linked examples. Tools for spotting manipulated media are practiced with instances of campaign messaging from the Fetterman-Oz PA race.

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Materials

Activator (5 minutes)

Explain that readily available editing technology has made manipulated media easy to produce and has become a source of misinformation.

Play the MediaWise TikTok that fact-checks a post about a giant pet frog and ask students to list the process the fact-checker used to identify the video as manipulated on their student handout. (If TikTok is blocked at your school, you can watch the video here.)

The MediaWise fact-checker used the keyword search "USER NAME POST TOPIC" to track down an article linked to another article to identify it as a "cheap fake."

Seems harmless, right?
Ask students why this TikTok user would want you to share this as misinformation intentionally or unintentionally.

The TikTok user wants to get likes and potentially $$$.

You want to get likes.

Ask students to list the ways one could identify a manipulated video.

Acquisition (20 - 25 minutes)

Cheap fake - Media manipulated by cheap, easy-to-use software.

Manipulated media - Review the five types with this Reuters online learning module about "manipulated media" with students as they note the definitions and share the examples.

Lost context - The content itself is authentic, and it has not been edited or fabricated, so it is not truly "manipulated." However, it is presented with information that does not represent what is seen in the photograph or video.

Edited media - Video clips edited with no attempt to be a faithful representation of events, or that have important aspects changed in order to present an alternative reality.

Staged media - The situation depicted has been pre-planned or selectively filmed. This may not be for malicious reasons; however, the video may then be shared as though real.

Computer-generated media - Images generated by computer software that requires a high degree of skill in order to create realistic-looking results.

Synthetic media - Also known as "deep fake" media, synthetic media uses creative, realistic computer-generated imagery combined with the speed of computer algorithms (artificial intelligence).

Explain there are many fake videos posted on TikTok using the sounds of sirens, explosions, or gunfire to get donations. Show students this TikTok posted by misinformation fact-checker Abbie Richards demonstrating a cheap fake example from Feb. 25, 2022. See How misinformers exploit TikTok's audio features to spread fake war footage in Ukraine.

Discussion questions:

What type of manipulated media is this?

How did Richards identify this as a cheap fake?

See the user pausing the recorded video.

Check the comments.

How else it could be identified as a "cheap fake"?

What is the potential harm?

The user is using a tragic situation to steal donations.

You may share something like this thinking you are helping people.

Creates distrust and decreases aid to those who really need it.

Watch this explainer TikTok from Abbie Richardson from Feb. 25, 2022, that highlights the harm of sharing posts with misinformation even if they seem to be helpful. (If TikTok is blocked at your school, you can watch the video here.)

Ask students to note the harm even seemingly well-intentioned posts can cause on their handouts while watching the video.
People in Ukraine deserve an actual depiction of what's going on.

They need to know where there is actually danger.

Russians might post inaccurate information to cause surrender.

Grifters could be using it to get views and steal money.

Application (20 - 25 minutes)

Explain that altered media is also used during an election cycle to spread misinformation about political opponents.

Watch the MediaWise fact-check video about the Fetterman - Oz race in Pennsylvania and how both candidates were victims to cheap fakes.

Ask students to track what type of manipulated media each example shows and how it was identified as manipulated on their handouts

"NO" Photo of "OZ" sign - reverse image search

Fetterman struggling with speech - "fetterman women full speech pennsylvania" Google search or reverse image search of a screenshot of the speech.

Three ways to identify manipulated media

Does the voice sound whiny or more distorted than a normal human's?

Does the cadence and timing sound the way a person would normally speak?

Can you find a video from the same event from a reputable source so that you can compare the two?

Assessment (5 minutes)
Ticket Out The Door - List and Describe

List at least one new thing you learned today.

Describe how it will help you be more aware of misinformation on social media in a full sentence.

Extension and Refining Activity
Additional Resources
MediaWise is a digital media literacy initiative of the Poynter Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization. Now in over 170 middle and high schools, PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs (SRL) is a national youth journalism program that trains teenagers across the country to produce stories that highlight the achievements and challenges today's youth face.

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Lesson plan: How to spot manipulated media, from 'cheap fakes' to misleading photos - PBS NewsHour Classroom

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Discuss best ways to identify manipulated media such as image and video content altered for political ads

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"Picture Perfect" lesson plan for grades 3-5

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"Picture Perfect" lesson plan for grades 3-5

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This engaging lesson plan is an accessible introduction to digital photo altering that explores what it means to alter an image digitally as well as the implications for our self-esteem when we constantly see altered bodies online.

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PBS article, "Out-of-context photos are a powerful low-tech form of misinformation"

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PBS article, "Out-of-context photos are a powerful low-tech form of misinformation"

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An accessible overview of visual misinformation, including examples of different kinds and a discussion of solutions.

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Out-of-context photos are a powerful low-tech form of misinformation

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The majority of visual misinformation that people are exposed to involves simple forms of deception like recycling legitimate old photographs and videos and presenting them as evidence of recent events.

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"Spotting Fake News," lesson plan from The Guardian Foundation

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"Spotting Fake News," lesson plan from The Guardian Foundation

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This freely available lesson plan provides instructions for an engaging activity in which children are shown a series of headlines (provided in a pre-made slideshow), some real and some fake, and practice identifying which are which. Offers a strong example of a potential media literacy activity, as it swiftly introduces the conversation about a common kind of mis/disinformation one may encounter on social media.

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This lesson focuses on the NewsWise value: truthful To identify fake news and its consequences. Explain what fake news is and why it is created. Identify what questions to ask and what checks to make to decide whether a news report is fake or real.

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Crash Course is well-known for creating reliable and highly informative videos that break down complicated ideas and present them in engaging ways that children and teens can digest—and enjoy. Videos selected from this series could serve as both a refresher for facilitators and an introduction for youth participants.

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In 12 episodes, Jay Smooth teaches you Media Literacy! Based on an introductory college level curriculum, this series takes you through the history and psych…

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"Digital Image Manipulation" from CITE Journal

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"Digital Image Manipulation" from CITE Journal

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A higher-level discussion of digital image altering practices throughout history, intended for social studies teachers (examples included are largely instances of manipulation in historical propaganda). Offers nuanced pedagogy for tackling similar discussions.

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In her 1977 book, On Photography, essayist Susan Sontag wrote, "In America, the photographer is not simply the person who records the past, but the one who invents it."Indeed, photographs can alter and magnify historical events, as the author of the image can literally manipulate the lens with which viewers see the world. In fact, every choice a photographer makes in taking a picture involves subjectivity; from the camera angle (looking up, looking down, eye level), to the framing (what to include and what to leave out), to the moment of exposure (when to shoot and when to wait). With the availability and prevalence of software capable of sophisticated image alteration, the issue of photo manipulation provides a timely opportunity in the social studies classroom to assist students in "reading" the images that inundate them in their daily lives by dispelling an old cliché: "The camera never lies." This article attempts to provide an initial framework for discussing the current issues surrounding photo manipulation in the media with preservice teachers, as well as a historic look back at the ways in which images have been modified since the invention of the camera.

Photo Manipulation, Past and Present

Until recently, classroom teachers were limited to pictures included in textbooks and source books and those they could pull together on their own. The countless collections of images hosted online have opened up vast new opportunities to augment instruction in the social studies. Web sites including the National Archives, The Web Museum Paris, and the National Gallery of Art provide free access to thousands of high resolution images for use in the classroom. Concurrent with this increase in access to images on the Web comes an increase in photo manipulation. On the Web and in print, photographs are "retouched" in both subtle and substantial ways. This manipulation is not limited to graphic artists or artistic directors. In fact, millions of Web surfers flock to Fark ( http://www.fark.com) to either view or participate in the daily Photoshop image editing contest, in which participants download and edit the photo of the day, reposting the "retouched" image for others to enjoy. Unfortunately, less benign examples of photo manipulation abound. In political campaigns and even on the covers of widely circulated news magazines, images are routinely altered to advance a point of view.

In the last decades, use of image editing software such as AdobePhotoshop, has become what many consider the most egregious form of photographic manipulation by allowing editors to digitally enhance, change, or modify an image in a variety of ways for a variety of purposes (see Table 1).

Table 1.
Types and Purposes of Image Manipulation (Brugioni, 1999)

T

Removing details ("re-touching")

To improve appearance (remove wrinkles, slim down) or remove distracting or unwanted elements (Lenin & Trotsky example, see Figures 2 & 3)

Inserting details

Change facial features, add color to skin, add elements to a scene in order to change the tone of a photograph (Simpson and National Geographic examples)

Photomontage

To pair images to suggest a relationship or create an entirely new image with a composite meaning (Kerry and Fonda example, see Figure 1)

False captioning

Context of what a photograph purportedly portrays is falsified to distort the meaning (Kerry and Fonda example, see Figure 1)

Firestorms have erupted in the media over O.J. Simpson's darkened mug shot on the cover of Time (1994), the realignment of the Egyptian pyramids on the cover of National Geographic (1982) and the digital dental work done on the couple who had just given birth to septuplets appearing on the cover of Newsweek (1997). While the National Press Photographers Association (1995) denounces digital manipulation in its code of ethics (as do other national journalistic groups), the use of altered images in the media presses on amidst the heated debate.

During the 2004 U.S. Presidential campaign, an image surfaced, depicting U.S. Democratic Presidential nominee John Kerry sharing a speaking platform at a protest rally with Jane Fonda in 1971 (see http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/kerry2.asp). Although authentic photos place Kerry at the rally in question, it is quite a different matter to share the podium with such a controversial critic of the war, which the composite image illustrates. Originated by a conservative group and falsely attributed to the Associated Press, the image was circulated widely on the Internet and a number of media outlets for several days before it was revealed to be a fabrication. While the swift recognition of the image as a fake probably eliminated any impact on the election, this type of manipulation and its increasing level of precision can be a powerful tool of propaganda and misinformation.

Although it may be easy to draw ethical lines against photos like this one which are outright forgeries, there is growing debate within the media as to what level of image manipulation is acceptable. Magazine and newspaper cover images are routinely altered. These alterations run the gamut from cropping and color correction changes to improving the look of the image by extending backgrounds and taking out unwanted objects and blemishes. As in the case of the O.J. Simpson cover, Time magazine argued that the cover was not manipulated, but rather "illustrated" (see the cover on the Blogcritics Web site: http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/08/31/012306.php). It is in this grey area where the lines are becoming increasingly blurred.

Recent digital technologies make photo manipulation more efficient, less costly and more exact, but it is important to note that there is a long history of doctoring images. In 1920, during the Bolshevik Revolution, a photograph was taken of Vladimir Lenin atop a platform, speaking to a crowd in front of the Bolshoi Theater. In the original photo from 1920 (see Figure 1), Lenin's comrade Leon Trotsky can be seen standing beside the platform on Lenin's left side. When power struggles within the revolution forced Trotsky out of the party 7 years later he was "retouched" out of the picture (Figure 2). Using paint, razors, and airbrushes, Soviet photo artists altered the historical record by literally removing Trotsky from the picture (Curry, 2001).

Figure 1. Lenin with Trotsky at the Bolshoi Theater, 1920. (Click on the camera icon to display this photo linked from the U.S. News Web site: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/doubleissue/photography/hoax.htm)

Figure 2. Lenin without Trotsky at the Bolshoi Theater, 1920 (retouched 1927). (Click on the camera icon to display this photo linked from the U.S. News Web site: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/doubleissue/photography/hoax.htm

While this example of photo manipulation required skilled artists and a time-consuming process of physically altering the image, current digital image editing tools, often packaged free with the purchase of a digital camera or scanner, make the process relatively easy even for children to accomplish and to achieve similar results. As a result, amateurs often post doctored images on the Web to lampoon or advance a point of view (see images of President Bush at http://www.snopes.com/photos/bushbook.asp and South Dakota Senator Tom Daschle at http://www.snopes.com/photos/daschle.asp). While humorous and often used for comedic purposes, the potential for more damaging fabrications is clear and troubling.

The Use of Images in History and Social Studies Classrooms

The increased access to images and trends in photo manipulation provide a timely opportunity to revisit the issues of historical reliability in sourcing photographs. While current K-16 students are inundated with images in their daily lives, it is not clear how effective they are at "reading" images (Werner, 2002; Wineburg, 1991). How then can educators approach the daunting task of providing students with the cognitive tools to effectively make sense of images? Below three theoretical contexts are reviewed for image use in social studies and history.

Reading Images in Social Studies Classrooms

Werner (2002) provided a framework to develop pedagogical approaches to support image-related work with preservice teachers and students, stressing the importance of teaching students to "read" images. He argues that students must be provided the authority, capacity, and community in which they can "make meaning [of images] by understanding how the parts (e.g. symbols, conventions, context) are related to the whole (e.g. message)" (p. 403). Werner differentiates between "closed" and "open" texts - essentially defining the degree to which the reader is left to interpret the meaning of a message. In order for students to effectively make meaning from "open" texts, the teacher must provide them with the opportunity and capacity to do so, encouraging multiple readings and interpretations of images. He identifies seven types of strategies employed in reading visual texts:

1. Instrumental - viewing texts as a source of information

2. Narrative - focusing on the implied storyline of a text

3. Iconic - identifying the broader issues and values the text represents

4. Editorial - inferring the artist's judgment towards a topic

5. Indicative - inferring the implied social conditions demonstrated by the image

6. Oppositional - critiquing the implied storyline and position of the viewer

7. Reflexive - self-evaluating one's interpretation and response to an image

As one moves down through the framework, the viewer has increased agency in reading the visual text and requires increasingly complex heuristics to effectively read the image. Finally, Werner stressed the importance of fostering a safe, open community in which students feel comfortable to offer and critique multiple readings of images. These skills are not easy or natural; teachers must nurture students in this pursuit.

While Werner provided strategies for students to read images, Hobbs (1998) offered another approach by challenging students to produce media and engage in the editorial choices that professional producers and journalists make. In this process, students recognize that images and other media have a point of view. In the study of media literacy, Hobbs (1998) outlined five basic concepts about media messages that form the foundation for developing skills, applications, and understanding:

1. All messages are constructions.

2. Messages are not representations of social reality.

3. Individuals negotiate meaning by interacting with messages.

4. Messages have economic, political, social and aesthetic purposes.

5. Each form of communication has unique characteristics.

In producing media, students not only learn these basic concepts, but apply them in creative and deliberate ways.

Use Images for Historical Inquiry

In history education, Wineburg (1991) elucidated the difficulty that even high achieving students face when confronted with "doing history" (Levstik & Barton, 2001). By comparing the analytical processes used to work with primary source historical documents employed by high school students and trained historians, Wineburg identified three heuristics in which students lagged far behind the professional historians: corroboration, sourcing, and contextualization. These three skills are fundamental in the reading of visual as well as expository texts. Perhaps most interesting, the students were far less deliberate and facile in employing these skills with the three pictorial documents in the study than with the eight written documents. He noted that, contrary to problem solving in other disciplines, there are not universal strategic schemas that can be applied to historical problems. Rather, the "expertise [of the historians] seemed to rest less on bringing the right problem schema to the task and more on constructing a context-specific schema to this specific event" (p. 83).

Wineburg's findings suggest that analyzing images requires more than just applying a set of general questions. Instead, many analytical techniques must be utilized, all while keeping the historical context in clear view. Because of the challenging nature of this kind of work, scholars in communication theory increasingly assert the importance of the explicit teaching of visual literacy in understanding the language of images (Messaris, 1994). Just as the reader must consider context, point of view, audience, and other keys to understanding textual historical documents, one must view images in much the same way. Burke (2001) emphasized the importance of identifying and understanding the significance of the contextual clues and details evident in a painting in light of the historical context in which it is created, similar to the conclusions reached by Wineburg (1991). Like analyzing textual documents, the strategies for reading historical and contemporary images do not necessarily develop naturally and must be explicitly taught.

Images and Visual Literacy

Wineburg's conclusions are echoed in the visual literacy movement, which stresses that nonverbal communication, particularly imagery, should receive increased emphasis in the classroom. By providing students with opportunities to work with images, they may be better prepared to be critical consumers of the media messages surrounding them (Considine & Haley, 1999; Hyerle, 1996; Messaris, 1998). Messaris (1998) noted,

Optimistically, it can be argued that, by acquiring visual literacy, people enrich their repertoires of cognitive skills and gain access to powerful new tools of creative thought. More pessimistically, it can be argued that visual literacy is useful primarily for purposes of self-defense, as a knowledge base for resisting or counteracting the baneful influence of mendacious ads, sensationalistic movies, and the like. (p. 70)

In other words, although images provide powerful visual perspectives, they also can be powerful tools of propaganda, deliberately shaping perceptions and manipulating the viewer (Jowett & O'Donnell, 1986).

Pedagogical Thinking and Image Use: Creating a Propaganda Poster

The following example of an activity with preservice teachers in social studies and technology integration methods classes explores exercises informed by Wineburg (1991), Werner (2002), and Hobbs (1998), which attempt to help students read images more critically and employ manipulation techniques to better understand their persuasive intent. In this exercise, students are introduced to photo manipulation examples from the media, source the photos using Wineburg's sourcing heuristic, and then create their own propaganda poster utilizing similar techniques. To introduce the activity, the instructor shows students the Lenin/Trotsky and Kerry/Fonda examples discussed previously, as well as a review of the case at the University of Wisconsin in which an African American student's picture was digitally inserted into a group of caucasian students at a football game to project a greater degree of ethnic diversity (Durhams, 2000). Students are encouraged in this introductory activity to offer multiple interpretations of the images' potential purposes and techniques, aligned with Werner's (2002) approach to photo analysis. For instance, students can discuss openly whether the composite photo of Kerry and Fonda represented a narrative, iconic, or editorial depiction of John Kerry's role in Vietnam.

As a second activity, students are provided with 20-30 images from the war in Iraq taken from a larger collection of several hundred images available on a weblog titled Conflict in Iraq ( http://www.spokesmanreview.com/iraq/blog.asp) hosted by the Spokane Washington newspaper The Spokesman Review. The images portray U.S. and coalition forces interacting with Iraqis in a variety of ways. Students are led through Wineburg's (1991) heuristic to source these images. In this approach students are asked initially to identify the source of the image, including the artist and publication outlet. Students are encouraged to make inferences about potential point of view and bias in the source of the image. The students then examine the date of the image and the corresponding historical context, encouraging students to situate the image in "a concrete temporal and spatial context" (p. 77). This initial sourcing provides an effective entry point for thoughtful analysis of the images.

Following the sourcing activity, the instructor leads the class through additional analyses of two specific photos: a photo of a U.S. soldier restraining an Iraqi as two other soldiers look on (Figure 3) and a photo of an Iraqi man kissing a U.S. soldier (Figure 4), again modeling Werner's (2002) techniques. Students at this stage are given the opportunity to work autonomously, using these techniques to "read" each photograph, allowing the instructor to gauge their understanding of the process. Students then write a short reflection paper on their individual and collective interpretation of the photographs and what they have learned in the exercise.

Figure 3. Soldiers arresting an Iraqi demonstrator. (Click on camera icon to display this photo linked from
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/iraq/gallery.asp?postID=12425)

Figure 4. An Iraqi man kisses a soldier. (Click on camera icon to display this photo linked from
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/iraq/gallery.asp?postID=8229)
After the discussion and writing activities, students switch from the role of consumer to producer, as suggested by Hobbs (1998). At this stage, students draw from techniques discussed in class to begin crafting their own visual propaganda focusing on the recent Iraq war. Divided into groups and randomly assigned a supportive or critical stance on the war, students carefully examine the entire collection of Iraqi War images searching for elements that support their point of view. After a brief tutorial on Adobe Photoshop Elements (including cropping, adjusting brightness/contrast and selecting, copying, and pasting portions of images onto another), students create a photomontage to advance their assigned stance on the war. They are encouraged to paint a persuasive picture of the conflict in a way they find compelling. The following examples in Figures 8 and 9 represent student products from this 2-hour activity.

Figure 8. Example of pro-war collage

Figure 9. Example of anti-war collage

While several technical questions emerge during the activity, most students quickly pick up the basics and move on to more sophisticated techniques. After sharing their collages with classmates, students discuss how they approached the activity and what they learned about the manipulation of images. We used the following quote by George Orwell as a starting place for a classroom discussion, "The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth." The preservice teachers are often amazed by how easily "reality" can be altered to advance a point of view. While they clearly enjoy the challenge of manipulating the images, many express a concern regarding the larger implications of widespread photo manipulation in the media. The issue of how much manipulation is too much is not an easy question to answer. In the end, the power of this activity lies in the realization that images must be viewed as a particular (conscious or unconscious) view of reality and not objective truth.

Future Directions

Social studies researcher Margaret Crocco (2001) commented,

I believe the importance of technology lies in its ability to leverage constructivist approaches in the teaching of social studies...The chief value of technology lies, therefore, in providing the leverage so urgently needed for moving social studies instruction away from passive, teacher-dominated approaches emphasizing recall and regurgitation toward active student centered forms of learning demanding critical and conceptual thinking from all students at all levels. (p. 387)

It is in this spirit, the authors hope to stimulate a dialogue on using accessible computer skills to explore image manipulation in the social studies classroom to enable students to uncover important ideas about perspective and point of view. The intent of this piece is to recognize the powerful role images play in social studies education and the challenge of sourcing images, particularly in the digital age. Additionally, we hope to catalyze new work in the area in which researchers explore not only different scaffolding strategies for critically viewing images, but also efforts at developing a scope and sequence of how teachers might address this complex challenge. Most helpful would be studies that compare the effectiveness of different pedagogical approaches engendering these skills. It would also be helpful to explore the similarities and differences in reading video as well as still images. If Lewis Hine's perspective is true, "While photographs may not lie, liars may photograph" (quoted in Burke, 2001, p. 21), it is a worthy cause to teach students more explicitly the voices that are embedded within an image.

References

Burke, P. (2001). Eyewitnessing: The uses of images as historical evidence. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Considine, D. M., & Haley, G. E. (1999). Visual messages: Integrating imagery into instruction (2nd ed.). Englewood, CO: Teacher Ideas Press.

Crocco, M. S. (2001), Leveraging constructivist learning in the social studies classroom: A response to Mason, Berson, Diem, Hicks, Lee, and Dralle. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, [Online serial] , 1 (3) . Retrieved October 10, 2005, from https://citejournal.org/vol1/iss3/currentissues/socialstudies/article2.htm

Curry, A. (2001, July 9). Now you see him, now you don't. Retrieved October 31, 2005, from the US News.comWeb site: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/doubleissue/photography/hoax.htm

Durhams, S. (2000, September 20). UW-Madison doctors photo to stress diversity. Retrieved October 11, 2005, from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Web site: http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/sep00/uw20091900a.asp

Hobbs, R. (1998). Literacy for the information age. In J. Flood, S.B. Heath, & D. Lapp (Eds.), Handbook of research on teaching literacy through the communicative and visual arts (pp. 7-14). New York: Simon & Schuster Macmillan.

Hyerle, D. (1996). Visual tools for constructing knowledge. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Jowett, G. S., & O'Donnell, V. (1986). Propaganda and persuasion. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

Levstik, L. S., & Barton, K. C. (2001). Doing history (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Messaris, P. (1994). Visual literacy: Image, mind, and reality. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Messaris, P. (1998). Visual aspects of media literacy. Journal of Communication, 48(1), 70-80.

National Press Photographers Association. (1995). NPPA code of ethics. Retrieved March 11, 2005, from http://www.nppa.org/professional_development/business_practices/ethics.html

Sontag, S. (2001). On photography. New York: Picador USA.

Werner, W. (2002). Reading visual texts. Theory and Research in Social Education, 30(3), 401-428.

Wineburg, S. S. (1991). Historical problem solving: A study of the cognitive processes used in the evaluation of documentary and pictorial evidence. Journal of Educational Psychology, 83( 1), 73-87.
Author Note:
Mark Hofer
College of William & Mary
[email protected]

Kathleen Owings Swan
University of Kentucky
[email protected]

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Digital Image Manipulation: A Compelling Means to Engage Students in Discussion of Point of View and Perspective

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In her 1977 book, On Photography, essayist Susan Sontag wrote, "In America, the photographer is not simply the person who records the past, but the one who invents it."Indeed, photographs can alter and magnify historical events, as the author of the image can literally manipulate the lens with which viewers see the world.