Conference Calendar
California Council
for the Social Studies
(CCSS)
March 13-15, 2026 | Garden Grove, CA
Bringing Student Civic Learning and Reflection to Life with Infographics
Friday, March 13
10:10 - 11:10 AM PDT
Garden 2 - Orange County Hyatt
Bring together research skills and visual design as a way to open new, differentiated pathways for students’ civic learning and expression with Facing History & Ourselves and KQED Education.
Develop student's civic knowledge and skills using Facing History's new unit, Teaching What Makes Democracy Work. We’ll also create infographics with KQED and learn first hand how the language of visual design can inspire students to share their voice and communicate complex ideas and data. Participants will walk away with planning tools for student-created infographics and methods to research civic issues.
Tackling Media Bias, Misinformation and AI: Navigating the Changing Media Landscape
Saturday, March 14
11:10 AM - 12:10 PM PDT
Garden 1 - Orange County Hyatt
Helping students evaluate online information can sometimes feel like tiptoeing through a minefield. And that was before AI tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney came on the scene. This session with KQED and Facing History prepares educators and students to take stock of their media choices, unpack media bias, and evaluate online sources using proven methods, including our favorite game: Share or Beware!
Podcasting Democracy: Understanding the Constitution to Inspire Civic Change
Sunday, March 15
10:50 AM - 11:50 AM PDT
Harbor - Orange County Hyatt
Teach the fundamentals of democracy, build student civic voice and connect the founding documents to “real life” with Podcasting Democracy: Understanding the Constitution to Inspire Civic Change, a new civic media unit. Discover how linking historic struggles for liberty to present-day issues inspire historical thinking and media making, and explore the new units for middle or high school.
Spring CUE 2026
March 19-21, 2026 | Palm Springs, CA
Visit us at our table in the Main Conference Lobby!
Fact-Check the Chatbot: Spotting Misinformation in the Age of AI
Date TBD
Time TBD
Location TBD
Searching for reliable information can feel like navigating through a jungle of claims, clickbait, and AI-generated content. Fortunately, the strategies professional fact-checkers, journalists and media producers use to find reliable sources still work, whether that information is produced by humans or generated by AI. In this highly interactive CUE Lab from KQED public media, you’ll learn how to support students to develop healthy skepticism without turning into cynics as they gain vital online reasoning skills to use in the classroom and everyday lives. Then, practice evaluating sources using a variety of methods, including Share or Beware!, KQED’s ever-evolving, easily modifiable source evaluation game. You’ll leave with ideas, teaching tips and free, ready-to-use resources to help students find reliable sources no matter where they click.
KQED Resources
Youth Media in the Classroom
Free, ready-to-use lesson plans, videos and resources that promote youth voice and help students practice media making, media literacy and civic engagement. Find fresh ideas for all grade levels and subjects, aligned to standards like CCSS and NGSS.
KQED Youth Media Challenge
Invite your middle and high school students to share their voices and ideas beyond the classroom by creating original audio, video and images and publishing them on the Challenge Showcase. Choose from three standards-aligned projects that include free step-by-step curriculum and supports. Great for ELA, social studies, STEM and more.
Above the Noise
In this award-winning video series, host Myles Bess cuts through the hype surrounding controversial topics in the news that affect the lives of young people. Each video comes with a lesson plan and viewing guide to help facilitate civil conversation with students about complex topics.
PBS Learning Media
Bring the world to your classroom. KQED and PBS have curated FREE standards-aligned videos, lesson plans, interactive media and more for teachers of grades K-12.
Professional Development
As a leader in public media and education, KQED offers free workshops, courses and certification in making media and media literacy to educators in all roles, subjects and grades.
KQED Teach
KQED offers free hands-on media making and media literacy learning for educators in all roles, subjects and grades. Through live workshops and self-paced courses, teachers learn by doing to build necessary skills to prepare students to analyze and evaluate their media landscape, as well as participate in civil discourse digitally through media creation.
Looking for district or school-level training? Reach out to Almetria Vaba, our Director of Partnerships & Distribution.
Earn Graduate Units for Media Literacy PD
Submit your course completion certificates from KQED Teach to earn grad units from our higher ed partners at the University of San Diego or Teachers College of San Joaquin. Increase your earning power and your media literacy skills at the same time!
About KQED
KQED is a nonprofit, public media station and NPR and PBS member station based in San Francisco. As a leader in media innovation, KQED provides free standards-aligned classroom content and professional development courses that educators can trust. Our resources help educators strengthen their media literacy skills, empower youth voices, and encourage civil discourse.
Got questions?
Email us at education@kqed.org.
"Thank you for the fantastic Infographics webinar you presented with Rik! I truly appreciated the step-by-step guidance on using Canva to create engaging infographics. Even though I felt a bit rusty at first, your clear instructions and encouragement gave me a real boost in confidence. I'm excited to keep improving and simplifying my message more effectively."
— Yolanda Mitchell, Preservice Teacher, North Carolina
"Thank you for providing such quality FREE programming for educators... I can't wait to use some of these tools in my classroom. Thank you again for supporting teachers so much. We are very lucky to have you and your programming.."
— Karen Madden, History High school Teacher, California