Literacy, or literacy, is the ability to understand and use text. Among them, media literacy includes the ability to understand media and to consume, produce, and share information through media. These skills are crucial in the modern world, and the UK in particular puts a lot of effort into teaching media literacy. Here are some examples of media literacy training in the UK.
Burnet News Club
The Burnett News Club(https://economistfoundation.org/news/category/burnet-news-club/) is a program run by the Economist Education Foundation that aims to improve students’ critical thinking and literacy skills by reading and discussing news about a variety of current issues. The program provides teachers with a variety of news resources that they can incorporate into their curriculum or use for out-of-school activities.
Go Viral Games (Go Viral)
Go Viral(https://www.goviralgame.com/books/go-viral/) is an educational game developed by the University of Cambridge and the UK government to help distinguish false information about the coronavirus. This game will help you understand how false information is created and introduce you to the basic concepts of manipulation online.
BBC Own It App (Own It)
Developed in partnership with the BBC and the nonprofit organization Internet Matters, the “Only It” app(https://www.internetmatters.org/resources/bbc-own-it/) is a platform to help kids aged 7-12 use the internet safely. The app’s “smart” keyboard feature reduces children’s exposure to inappropriate language or harmful topics.
Google’s Be Internet Legends
Google has partnered with Parent Zone to develop a media literacy program for kids called “Non-Internet Legends”(https://www.onlinesafetyalliance.org/interland-internet-awesome/). The program aims to help kids learn how to live independently online while using the internet safely.
Internet Matters
Internet Matters (htps://www.internetmatters.org/resources/digital-resilience-toolkit/) is a nonprofit organization that provides awealth of information and tools for parents to help kids live healthy digital lives. They offer a “Digital Resilience Toolkit” to help kids protect themselves from false information on the internet.
Be Internet Citizens
YouTube and ISD have developed a program called “Be Internet Citizens”(htps://parentzone.org.uk/article/BeInternetCitizens/GoBigger) to teach young people media literacy, critical thinking, and digital citizenship. The program aims to help teens express themselves creatively while staying healthy on the web.
Through these different examples of media literacy education, the UK is focusing on improving children’s understanding of media and their ability to consume, produce, and share information through media. Through these efforts, we can see that children can improve their ability to understand the world and express their opinions through media.
This article is adapted from the book The Power of Media Literacy (UiBooks).
The Power of Media Literacy: UiBooks
