Media Literacy in Primary School: new challenges in the digital age (original) (raw)
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Digital Media in Primary Schools
Educational Policy, 2013
This article examines the political and the media discourses concerning the Portuguese governmental program responsible for delivering a laptop named “Magalhães” to all primary school children. The analysis is based on the official documents related to the launch and development of the initiative as well as the press coverage of this topic. The main purpose is to recognize the dominant public discourses and to find out what the media select for the debate in the public sphere. This analysis was done with a particular focus on the critical media literacy framework. The results reveal that the press highlighted the negative aspects of that program and that this framing could have a strong impact on how it was accepted and understood by the public opinion. Analysis also reveals that the governmental initiative was predominantly driven by technological objectives, in particular the access to technology, rather than media literacy objectives.
Publicum, 2019
The Internet has opened up innovative pathways for children to participate in social life. Besides making available an extensive body of knowledge and enhancing their communication, it has allowed children to show support for issues they care about. Giving children a voice in the public debate, digital technology may critically improve the democratic character of society and foster equality. However, the Internet is also a complex phenomenon and requires relevant knowledge and the competence to sift through information, searching and evaluating content. Such a pivotal need for 'Internet literacy' bears a remarkable potential for discrimination. Research has pointed out that only a small percentage of children reaches the most advanced step of Internet usage, with individuals with a higher socioeconomic status more likely to produce creative and politically relevant content than disadvantaged people. The article specifically focuses on the European situation, analysing the relevant legal framework to foster Internet literacy and children's rights in the digital environment. It explores some pivotal pathways to address the issue together with the different actors, whose involvement is made unavoidable by the interdisciplinary nature of the digital world. This article argues for a stronger awareness on the risk of discrimination arising from the need of Internet literacy for children. Consequently, it advocates for a coordinated educational response by public and private actors to improve children's rights in the digital environment irrespective of existing social inequalities. **** A Internet abriu caminhos inovadores para as crianças participarem da vida social. Além de disponibilizar um extenso corpo de conhecimentos e aprimorar sua comunicação, permitiu que as crianças mostrassem apoio aos problemas com os quais se preocupam. Dando voz às crianças no debate público, a tecnologia digital pode melhorar criticamente o caráter democrático da sociedade e promover a igualdade. No entanto, a Internet também é um fenômeno complexo e requer conhecimento relevante e competência para filtrar informações, pesquisas e avaliação de conteúdo. Uma necessidade tão essencial de educação digital traz um potencial notável de discriminação. Pesquisas apontam que apenas uma pequena porcentagem de crianças atinge a etapa mais avançada do uso da Internet, sendo que indivíduos com um status socioeconômico mais alto são mais propensos a produzir conteúdo criativo e politicamente relevante do que as pessoas desfavorecidas. O artigo concentra-se especificamente na situação europeia, analisando a estrutura legal relevante para promover a educação digital e os direitos das crianças no ambiente digital. Explora alguns caminhos fundamentais para abordar a questão junto com os diferentes atores, cujo envolvimento é inevitável pela natureza interdisciplinar do mundo digital. Este artigo defende uma conscientização mais forte sobre o risco de discriminação decorrente da necessidade de educação digital para crianças. Consequentemente, defende uma resposta educacional coordenada de atores públicos e privados para melhorar os direitos das crianças no ambiente digital, independentemente das desigualdades sociais existentes.
Space for Media and Digital Literacy in the Context of Primary Education
Journal of Education, Technology and Computer Science, 2021
The contribution focuses on current questions and issues in the area of mass media influence on the behaviour of pupils of a younger school age in Slovakia. It offers partial results of research that appeal not only to the importance of implementing media education into primary education, but also show the real status of teachers' readiness in the area of digital and media literacy. Research was quantitative-qualitative and in addition to the questionnaire method was realised interviews with headteachers of schools and focus interviews with the pupils. The aim of our research probing was to find out the contemporary state of the implementation of the media education into the education process as well as preparation of the teachers in the educational practices in regard to the specific sphere. Research is currently continuing to diagnose the digital literacy of teachers and future teachers in Slovakia.
EDULEARN 2021, 2021
Children's routines are increasingly populated by the media, in its multiple formats and contents, which are configured as important agents of socialization together with family, school and peer group. There are studies that conclude that this reality presupposes a range of opportunities for those who have the skills to take advantage of media socially, professionally, politically and individually. Other researches indicate potential risks associated with media interaction, especially with regard the Internet usage, like cyberbullying, cyber predators, phishing, Internet Addiction Disorder, misinformation, among others. In this sense, the importance of promoting the development of skills that allow children to be critical actors towards media, but also active participants and creative media producers, is highlighted. The school institutions play a major role in media literacy, especially if we take into account that media are also a source of learning. However, the task of fostering media literacy in school contexts has presented several challenges for the agents involved, specially if we consider the Portuguese context, where there is little investment in teacher training regarding the field of media literacy. It is in this sense that the present research aims to understand the ways in which media education, and especially news literacy, can be integrated into the formal contexts of learning, so as to contribute to the development of media literacy skills among children. According to the action-research methodology, the empirical study was conducted in a school in Braga District, located in northern Portugal, during 2015, weekly, in two Elementary school classes, under the subject of Education for Citizenship, which is an opcional subject in the Portuguese school curriculum. 40 children, with an average age of 10 years old, participated in the research. Its main target was the planning, implementation and evaluation of an intervention project which was divided into three stages: i) diagnosis, ii) action and iii) evaluation. Educational activities that stimulated the interpretation of the media and current events and the development of a critical perspective towards them were carried out, avoiding situations of risk and manipulation and encouraging the use of their potentialities. Pedagogical dynamics promoted the expression, interaction, participation, creativity and the production of media contents from an inclusive and citizen perspective, placing children at the center of the learning process. The results indicate that although children contact media on a daily basis, specially in the family context, their use is passive and not very reflective. Especially with regard to news consumption, although the children reported that they contact with the news almost daily, they showed little predisposition to reflect on the contexts in which the news are published, on its relevance to society, and on the factors that can influence the news production. In this sense, the results highlight the pertinence and relevance of integrating media literacy into school curricula, in order to help young citizens to develop their critical, reflexive and autonomous skills towards the media and the news about the world.
PrimaryEdu - Journal of Primary Education, 2021
Students at the age of primary education are faced with a challenge in using digital technology, namely (a) the ability to sort information that is suitable for use and follow; (b) addiction to digital technology and the internet; and (c) changes in behavior and character. The purpose of this study is to identify: (a) obtaining information from digital media by elementary school students; (b) the use of information from digital media by elementary school students using; (c) the challenges faced by elementary school students in obtaining information using digital media; (d) the expectations of elementary school students regarding learning using digital media. The research method used is the phenomenological research method. The results of the research, some students use digital literacy only to find information. Meanwhile, a few elementary students have carried out the learning process in the form of products from the use of digital literacy. Digital literacy can be a suitable learni...
DIGITAL PRACTICES AND SKILLS OF CHILDREN UNDER 6
The objective of this research is to identify digital practices and skills with technologies of children up to the age of 6. The approach is qualitative, semistructured interviews were conducted with 15 families (including parents and at least one child under 6) and observations. Families were selected varying their socio-economic level and family composition. The following was explored: 1. what practical use and capacities do children obtain by using digital media and 2. what skills they acquire. Children are autonomous using digital media, especially when using their favourite devices, such as the tablet and smartphone. They search and install apps without knowing how to read or write, using the «store» suggestions and voice search features. Some of these apps need to be purchased, but most parents won't allow it, so children ingeniously switch user configurations on their devices as a work around. Some parents mention that children under 2 learn how to write the name of their favourite cartoon characters as to search them on YouTube. Parents renounce these learning's and notice that children are self-taught on the use of digital media. This use may favour the development of certain skills, like the ability to take decisions and problemsolving. Furthermore, children are cognitively stimulated and become more collaborative, training fine motor skills and develop their reading and writing skills.
2011
Segovia (Spain) & Austin (USA) Media Education, Media Literacy and Digital Competence Educación para los medios, alfabetización mediática y competencia digital This article addresses some possible relationship between education and media in contemporary society and explores the role that formal education should play in both the integration of media in the curriculum and the digital literacy skills necessary for the 21st century. The authors discuss here different theories and approaches that have dominated international media studies, media education and media literacy in recent decades. Confusion and misunderstandings in terminology for contemporary literacy in a complex, global and intercultural environment are explored and the authors present some inclusive categories for 21st century literacy such as media literacy, digital, multimodal, critical and functional. Interpretations of media literacy and digital competencies are discussed with particular emphasis on the current European regulatory framework. The authors warn that reductionist interpretations that focus on applied technical competencies with devices, hardware and software have the potential to severely limit media literacy education. Instead, the authors stress critical approaches as central to media literacy. In addition to technical competency, the authors highlight the need to include a broader and deeper analysis of the social uses, attitudes, and values associated with new media tools, texts and practices.
The impact and implementation of digital media on children’s upbringing and education
Digital Spaces-Challenges and Expectations, 2017
The paper deals with the influence of digital environment-digital media, in particular television and the Internet as the most influential mass media, on children through different cultural, social, educational and behavioral aspects. It analyzes the changes that information revolution and digital mass media brought to the society in terms of changes in patterns of behavior, new ways of creating personal identity through the patterns imposed by television and the Internet. The paper also represents the main educational and behavioral aspects of television and the Internet, especially e-learning; the implications and aspects of using smart mobile phone, and the concept of m-learning. In addition authors analyzed the advantages and risks mentioned returns, and they give their overview and proposals for developing e-learning and m-learning as concepts. Key words: Internet, television, pedagogical, educational, behavior, identity, e-learning, m-learning