Breaking News Generator is a free web tool provided by Classtools.net that enables you to instantly generate TV-style breaking news headlines. Teachers can use this tool to educate students on issues related to media including fake news, disinformation, news production, media literacy, among others. Breaking News Generator can also be used for generating writing prompts.

Students, individually or in pairs, engage in writing activities around a given news headline. As students work on their writing projects, they get to practice and develop a number of key digital skills including conducting effective online searches, evaluating sources, gathering data from multiple sources, citing credible sources, and many more.

Another way to use Breaking News Generator is to introduce students to the phenomenon of fake news. In fact, it can be used as fake news generator with you or students generating different types of fake breaking news and engaging the whole class in discussions around, for instance, the probable impact of these fictional news on viewers. Teachers can also use this visual entitled 10 good tips to spot fake news to help students learn about practical strategies to uncover fake news both online and offline.
Breaking News Generator is simple and easy to use. It does not require any software download and it works right from one’s browser. No registration or log-in is required either. Here is how it works: open Breaking News Generator, use the column on the left to type in your data. The generator simulates a real news broadcast. 
You need to provide as much information as possible. For instance, you need to type in the name of the news channel, the headline, description, date, place, and upload a background image. You can drag the image around to fit the entire screen. Once the simulated breaking news screen is complete you can download it as an image file to share with others.

This post originally appeared in Educational Technology and Mobile Learning ( www.educatorstechnology.com ).