Teaching Students to Navigate Algorithms and Deepfakes

Teaching Students to Navigate Algorithms and Deepfakes

From Talk Cocktail by Jeff Schechtman

May 21, 2026 · 39 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the importance of digital literacy in education, focusing on how students can navigate algorithms and deepfakes.

Valerie Ziegler, a high school teacher in San Francisco, and Joel Breakstone, executive director of Stanford’s Digital Inquiry Group, join me on this California Sun podcast to talk about digital literacy in the classroom. Many self-described “screenagers,” they say, can no longer tell real from fake. Together, Ziegler and Breakstone are at the forefront of a movement to prepare young people for a world of influencers, algorithmic manipulation, and artificial intelligence, an effort recently profiled in the New York Times . Get full access to Talk Cocktail Podcast at jeffschechtman.substack.com/subscribe

People in this episode

Host: Jeff Schechtman

Guests: Valerie Ziegler, Joel Breakstone

Topics covered

  • digital literacy
  • education
  • algorithms
  • deepfakes
  • artificial intelligence
  • influencers

Keywords

  • digital literacy
  • algorithms
  • deepfakes
  • education
  • artificial intelligence
  • influencers
  • screenagers

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Stanford’s Digital Inquiry Group, California Sun, New York Times

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