Thank you to everyone who participated in the first BaltsTeachMIL Zoominar on the 9th of May! You can find the summary and links shared during the webinar on this page.
The participants included
- Teachers (various subjects: AV media, English, technology and IT, etc.)
- Librarians
- Researchers
- Education and School Administration (principals, headteachers, deputy head)
- Communication and Media Specialists
- Youth Workers
- Psychologists
A shared concern among Baltic educators about children and young people’s internet use
- Cyberbullying and scams
- The rise of AI-powered chatbots like ChatGPT
- Excessive screen time and exposure to inappropriate content
- Negative influences from the online environment
- Data protection and privacy concerns
- The prevalence of deep fakes, digital stress, and an overwhelming amount of information leading to difficulties in finding quality content
- Children and inexperienced users struggling to cope with the vast amount of available information
- A decline in face-to-face communication skills due to increased reliance on digital communication
We shared valuable ideas and resources
10 tips for fact-checking a piece of information
- Do you really want to believe it? Do you like the message? Our brain is the greatest propagandist.
- Is it fact-checkable? Or is it someone’s opinion?
- Develop a fine-tuned crap-detector: does it sound “too” weird, good, outrageous, or emotion-rushing?
- Know journalistic standards: How is the story written? Are there any attention-grabbing phrases, non-neutral words throughout? Who is the info coming from, who could be missing from the narrative?
- Change the platform, don’t just stick to YouTube, TikTok, only one website
- Is there something in the news about it? Local, national, regional, global?
- Is it a hoax? Google fact check toolbox, snopes.com, poynter.org, factcheck.org, google/bing “[piece of info] hoax”, etc.
- Constantly develop ninja-search skills (Bellingcat, Google dorking etc)
- Talk to others 🙂 Collective crap-detection, communal correction.
- What does science say about it? (Google Scholar, Consensus.app, ResearchGate)
Resources from the audience
- Latvian research agency conducting occasional studies in media and market research
- An international research company providing website traffic data and audience analysis
- A Wired article discussing the influence of TikTok on Google’s search results and online trends
- An online game designed to teach players about the dangers of misinformation and how to recognize it
- Official media literacy resources provided by the Ukrainian government for teachers and students (in Ukrainian)
- A free Latvian e-book containing lesson plans and resources to teach media literacy
- A platform offering educational materials for teaching media literacy to young children and families
Resources from BECID
- Develop a fine-tuned crap-detector
- A comprehensive report that explores the challenges of misinformation and disinformation in the digital age: Wardle, C., & Derakhshan, H. (2017). Information disorder: Toward an interdisciplinary framework for research and policymaking (Vol. 27, pp. 1-107). Strasbourg: Council of Europe.
- This report from DataReportal provides an overview of key digital trends, internet usage, and social media statistics for countries around the world
- This comprehensive guide from UNESCO provides a framework for educators to integrate media and information literacy into their curricula
- “The golden tasks” of MIL rely on discovery, lived experiences, and reflection
- This Estonian educational resource offers a board game designed to teach digital competencies, cybersecurity, and safe internet use in a fun and engaging way
- Spoofy is an interactive browser-based game designed to teach players how to recognize and combat fake news and misinformation
- This interactive web game aims to teach players how to recognize and debunk misinformation by solving puzzles and challenges
- Bad News is an online game that puts players in the role of a fake news creator, teaching them about various tactics used to spread misinformation and manipulate public opinion
- Interland is an online game developed by Google to teach children digital citizenship and online safety in a fun, interactive way
- The CyberSafe Toolkit is a comprehensive resource aimed at helping individuals, schools, and organizations prevent and address online violence
- This module from UNESCO’s Media and Information Literacy (MIL) curriculum for teachers focuses on understanding and combating online hate speech
- Growth.Design is a platform that presents a collection of case studies exploring how various companies have improved their user experience, onboarding processes, and conversions. These case studies provide valuable insights into design
- This summary report from the 5Rights Foundation presents an overview of the key principles and recommendations for developing digital literacy programs, policies, and practices for young people
- Very Verified is an online test that teaches how to identify and debunk misinformation
- This comprehensive teaching guide from Childnet International provides educators with resources, lesson plans, and activities to teach online safety to children aged 9-12
- The Media Education Lab offers a wide range of curriculum materials, lesson plans, and resources designed to support educators in teaching media literacy
- Tech+ethics course syllabus, with a lot of materials from TikTok