Media at school

During the most difficult weeks and months of the Covid-19 pandemic, in which teaching had to be done online, here at MILObs we introduced the section "Media at Home", aimed at children and teenagers, teachers and educators, parents and other relatives. It consisted of simple activities to explore the media, as well as suggestions for children’s television and radio programmes and also books and video games.

Today we are pleased to announce to our followers the beginning of a new section to go along with the prospect of returning to life (more or less) as we knew it before the pandemic. Having the start of the new school year and the return to in-person classes in mind, we have created the section Media at School.

On the first Friday of every month, we will publish a media literacy promotion activity to be developed by teachers with their students at school. All the activities are designed taking into account the features of non-formal education, seeking to ensure the participants are engaged in the topics in question and to promote their participation in the construction of knowledge.

This is a partnership between MILObs and PICCLE – Intervention Plan for Competent Citizens in Reading and Writing, promoted by the National Reading Plan. PICCLE is an online platform that provides a number of resources for teachers to improve students' media literacy skills. It has an interesting range of materials, many of which are original: activities, a variety of media and digital resources, and a comprehensive glossary.

This month the activity will exceptionally be published on the third Friday in September, the week that marks the start of the 2021/2022 school year, scheduled for 14 to 17 September.

The new section can be found in the Resources menu, under the Media at School submenu. The first activity is called “STOP the stereotypes” and seeks to get children and young people to: identify the existence of negative stereotypes ( or prejudices) in society and in the media; understand how stereotypes present a reductionist view of society and how they ( particularly negative stereotypes) have an impact on the lives of the people that fall victim to them; understand how the media interfere in the perception we have of reality, constructing reality rather than just mirroring it.

If you carry out the activity and would like to give us some feedback on it, please send it to milobs@ics.uminho.pt