These past pandemic months affected not only our global health, they also caused (or, at least, blown up) new phenomenon – infodemics, period of easy spreading of fake news, false claims and general lack of thrust in media sources. That is why eTwinning topic for 2021 was “Media literacy and disinformation” and with our students we decided to pay tribute to it by making posters, Padlet boards and video about it. Through planned activities, in order to produce required materials, students had to learn how to search the internet, how to extract relevant information and how to make digital content.
Do you know that in 2021 thrust in information sources is at its record low? According to 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer, thrust is lost in governments, businesses and – all kinds of media channels. Even search engines lost their credibility.
That is why this year, 2021, eTwinning focuses on two sides of the same coin: Media literacy, on one side, and how to tackle the phenomenon of disinformation and fake news, on the other. It was made clear during 2020, the year of the corona pandemic, that the exposure of citizens to disinformation is a major challenge not only for adults but also for students. So, we decided to have a topic about media literacy and disinformation in our project.
There were three groups of students. Students in group 1 had to create page on Padlet about the 'smart TV signs' for their countries – numbers and letter on TV screens that signal which content is suitable for which audience. On Padlet each country will have a separate part for the signs.
Students from group 2 had to create posters and slogans about Media Literacy and Disinformation using Canva. On Canva each country had one poster and each poster had to be prepared at least by two international students. These posters are collected into one PowerPoint presentation so you can see them on one place.
Group 3 probably had the most relaxed and fun task. These students had to create a presentation on Powtoon about famous media workers such as TV presenters, directors or actors (etc.) in their countries. On Powtoon each student will have a separate presentation for their favorite person and, then, the slides will be saved as a short movie – which you can see below.
So, as you may notice, we covered this topic in a simple way with our students, without requiring a lot of the time and work. Still, we managed to raise awareness about importance and difficulty of jobs our journalists, directors and media outlets do everyday to make us entertained, informed and educated.