’Combatting Media&Information Illiteracy to Raise Good Citizens’

"<< Background >>Given the importance of media and information literacy education across EU countries, it was crucial for educators and practitioners to collaborate, learning from each other and strategizing for future changes. Combating media and information illiteracy presented as paramount since 21st-century-students must acquire the skills to access, assess, manage, and contribute to the vast information and media available to them. With the current and upcoming digital tools, our net generation students have unprecedented potential to enhance their critical thinking, learning abilities, communication, collaboration, and creativity. However, this power necessitates learning appropriate skills to navigate immense volumes of information, media, and technology.Our dedicated consortium from Portugal, Bulgaria, Italy, and Turkey acknowledged the necessity for today's youth to be informed citizens in a free and democratic society. Equipped with critical thinking, they understand the workings of mass media and how media texts are produced. An essential objective for us was fostering European citizenship and encouraging civic participation, especially as disinformation has become increasingly influential in political real. << Objectives >>The main objectives were empowering educators and enhancing Media and Information Literacy (MIL) among young individuals. By acknowledging that learning extends beyond the classroom in today's mobile-networked society, the project aimed to equip educators with advanced competencies in MIL. This required adopting innovative pedagogical approaches to effectively impart knowledge. For young people, the project aimed to combat media and information illiteracy, offering them essential MIL skills crucial in contemporary times. It intended to demonstrate to students the diverse interpretations of messages, the inclusion/exclusion of values and perspectives, and how media influences beliefs and behaviors. A key focus was on fostering digital citizenship skills among both educators and students. This involved instilling a comprehensive understanding of the ethical and legal aspects surrounding media use and promoting civic engagement ideals. << Implementation >>Within our project lifetime several initiatives were organized aimed at improving media and information literacy, namely:4 TPMs / LTTAs (A transnational project meeting+ Teachers Exchange dedicated to “Media&Information Literacy Key Concept and Approaches”, 07/22, Bulgaria; A Teachers&Students exchange: School Festival ''World Press Freedom Day'', 02/23, Portugal; A Teachers&Students exchange & Training event ""Digital Citizenship"" 05/23, Italy; and a Teachers&Students exchange & Conference ""Media&Information Literacy in 21st century, 10/23, Turkey); Dissemination of the project aimed and targeted groups within each partner school; Organization of working teams in each partner school; Internal working meetings for the preparation and/or evaluation of the project activities; WhatsApp group for fast communication and easy share of documents; The development and maintenance of the project webpage was a central hub for information; Dissemination of the project in all partners’ webpages; Press-releases at local newspapers from the different countries after the mobilities and other activities; Preparatory activities developed by the students and teachers; Parents involvement in helping with the preparation of the mobilities.<< Results >>The tangible outcomes of this endeavor comprise: A Compendium of Good Practices showcasing partner countries' experiences in providing Media&Information education and successful international practices. A project webpage presenting project findings, outputs and events. A model Media&Information Literacy Course Syllabus, aiding in the integration of MIL education into school curricula. A Flip Book offering didactic materials for enhancing MIL knowledge and skills, including workshops, project-based lessons, quizzes, and puzzles. As for the intangible results, in accordance with our horizontal priority, by perfecting MIL skills, we were able to help students to appreciate common values, fulfill their civic engagements, be responsible digital citizens. To stick to the priority of Supporting teachers, school leaders and other teaching professions, we focussed on promoting cross-curricular collaboration, using innovative learning approaches, developing creativity, supporting teachers in delivering competence- based teaching and developing 21st century key competences, strengthening the relationships between teachers, consolidating the digital dimension in education."