CILIP ILG Talk UNESCO MIL week 24th October 2019
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Jacqueline Geekie and Dr Konstantina Martzoukou present a talk in information and digital literacy as part of CILIP Information Literacy Group celebration of UNESCO Media and Information Literacy Week October 2019. Jacqueline Geekie shares case studies using the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) ILG definition of Information Literacy. Konstantina talks about children’s information and digital literacy and presents 'Maddie is Online' video cartoon: https://www.cla.co.uk/blog/schools/maddie-is-online. recorded slides available via: https://youtu.be/ocB_4pPKxR8
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CILIP ILG Talk UNESCO MIL week 24th October 2019
- 1. CELEBRATING UNESCO MIL WEEK 2019 CASE STUDIES USING THE INFORMATION LITERACY GROUP (ILG) DEFINITION OF INFORMATION LITERACY EXPLORING CHILDREN’S INFORMATION AND DIGITAL LITERACY ISSUES 24TH OCTOBER 2019 Dr Konstantina Martzoukou Teaching Excellence Fellow - Robert Gordon University E: k.martzoukou@rgu.ac.uk @Dinamartz Jacqueline Geekie Public Libraries Rep: CILIP Information Literacy Group
- 2. The IL Definition: what CILIP and the Information Literacy Group did next… Jacqueline Geekie Public Libraries Rep: CILIP Information Literacy Group
- 3. CILIP Definition of Information Literacy 2018 “Information literacy is the ability to think critically and make balanced judgements about any information we find and use. It empowers us as citizens to develop informed views and to engage fully with society.”
- 4. Information Literacy and Everyday Life • Checking information online • Online transactions • Behave ethically online • Social media • Digital footprint • Privacy
- 5. Information Literacy and Citizenship • How to understand the world around us? • Recognise bias and misinformation • Fake news • Critical judgement
- 6. Information Literacy and Education • All stages of education • School, Further Education and Higher Education • Critical thinking skills • Transition from school to Higher Education • Equips learners with intellectual strategies
- 7. Information Literacy and the Workplace • Knowing when and how to use information • To help achieve organizational aims and adds value • Interpret work related information • Contributes to employability • Teamworking • Problem solving and analytical skills
- 8. Information Literacy and Health • Using credible and reputable healthcare sources when looking for treatment and prognosis. • Becoming active partners in healthcare • Engaging in informed dialogue with healthcare professionals. • Making it easier (NHS Scotland)
- 9. What has the new definition meant for the team? “reaching people outside the academic sector and making it clearer that IL is not about teaching referencing skills to undergraduates. It’s about much more than that, and I think having the new definition gives us greater confidence to be doing all the advocacy work, with a very clear and broader idea of what IL is”. Jane Secker, CILIP ILG Chair “I send it out systematically whenever I make a new contact in different settings. So for instance, I’ve passed it on to the DCMS and DfE officials that we’ve been engaging with. So I think that the definition has been great at helping to raise awareness, almost like an extended calling card”. Stéphane Goldstein, CILIP ILG Advocacy Officer
- 10. What have we actually done? Since the launch of the definition we have engaged with: • DCMS • Ofcom • DfE • Took part in Misinfocon event. • Mozilla Foundation • National Literacy Trust • Newswire • UK National Commission for UNESCO • JCS Online
- 11. Working with CILIP to mainstream IL
- 12. How could you/do you use the definition? Discussion
- 13. Definition: - https://infolit.org.uk/ILdefinitionCILIP2018.pdf Posters and postcard: A3 - https://infolit.org.uk/wp- content/uploads/2018/08/ILG-definition-A3- poster_digital.pdf A4 - https://infolit.org.uk/wp- content/uploads/2018/08/ILG-definition-A4- poster_digital.pdf A6 - https://infolit.org.uk/wp- content/uploads/2018/08/ILG-definition-A6- postcard.pdf
- 15. MADDIE IS ONLINE Some reflections for the development of digital literacySubscribe to all the video Playlists bit.ly/2LwnE6T Website: https://maddiesonline.blogspot.c om/
- 16. POSITIVE ASPECTS RISKS •connect, play and interact with friends. •get inspired: watch videos from others around the world. •develop and showcase creativity and talent. •build a community around interests. •express feelings. •informal learning (social norms, digital skills). •Explore interests. •Validation/emotional support. • Addictive form of screen entertainment. • May replace learning the hard social "work" of dealing face-to-face with peers. • Children are adopting newer social media and games, social pressure. • Parents are not always aware of the social issues. • Safety: default public account - strangers could directly contact children: people can like or react to a video, follow an account and send messages. • Risk taking in order to get more followers/ likes • constant stimulation every single moment • To delete your account you have to request a code from the app using your phone number/email • Children may make different types of videos including sexually suggestive. • No real policy to stop young kids to join the community of adults/ kids participating in adult activities, hiding their age.
- 17. GOING ONLINE: REAL AND VIRTUAL SELF AND PLAY Roblo x Texting and time being ‘plugged in’ Snapchat Mind craft Social media & messaging / video sharing Online gaming Tik Tok WHAT DO CHILDREN DO ONLINE? POPULAR GAMES AND APPS
- 18. ROBLOX Learning about the world, self-expression, identity exploration & formation, acquiring technical skills How do you make money? https://youtu.be/JAn0mt0bHt U Inspired to be a park owner https://youtu.be/TpfcKj1TaH M From ‘Roblox Theme Park
- 19. ROBLOX “Welcome to Bloxburg” game Like real life Life skills: hunger, hygiene, fun, energy Building a Christmas cabin: https://youtu.be/ujPzpofG4Po Virtual work Working at the pizza place delivery (most profitable): https://youtu.be/TVzjotoiHnc
- 20. Snapchat SNAPCHAT Photo and video-sharing app with filters (and with a twist): media you send disappear seconds after they are viewed. Messages in group chat disappear after 24 hours. There are ways to capture and recover images – a false sense of “security” (e.g. saving images by tapping them or taking a screenshot). My Eyes Only “If you ever get a Snap that you want to keep extra private, you can always add it to My Eyes Only! That way, you can hand over your phone to friends when sharing Memories, without being worried they might catch an eyeful of something meant just for you 🙈”
- 21. TIK TOK Challenges Clothes challenge: https://www.dailymotion.com/video /x6uwk2l Lip challenge: #kyliejennerchallenge Kidlipchallenge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= gf05YGj31SM #10YearChallenge Privacy Private mode: only the creator can watch the videos Public: anyone within the app can see the videos By default the settings are public unless a user changes them Age inappropriate content Self-harm Life threatening challenges Positives: Creativity, socialising, having fun, learning together
- 22. U.K. COUNCIL FOR CHILD INTERNET SAFETY
- 23. ‘EDUCATION FOR A CONNECTED WORLD’:U.K. COUNCIL FOR CHILD INTERNET SAFETY 7-11 years old Other age groups: early years -7, 11-14, 14-18
- 24. MADDIE IS ONLINE : INTRODUCING THE STORY & SCENARIOS – SERIES 1 ONLINE RESILIENCE/SAFETY https://maddiesonline.blogspot.com/
- 25. SERIES 2 ON MISINFORMATION https://maddiesonline.blogspot.com/
- 26. VOICE-OVERS Miss Mason – Professor Adrienne Muir Andy, The Bold Voice – Professor Charles Oppenheim
- 27. https://maddiesonline.blogspot.com/ If you are interested in using the series in your school or library please get in touch directly with Dina via k.martzoukou@rgu.ac.uk. Twitter @MaddiesOnline A short anonymous evaluation questionnaire understand whether the tool was useful design new episodes of interest.
- 28. AREAS FOR LIBRARIANS Clearly define your digital citizenship role Make greater efforts to engage families in digital citizenship initiatives/ work (create your own initiatives!) Make a case for creating a Digital Officer post in schools (and be the one!) Design and promote learning opportunities and interesting resources to schools and families Monitor emerging trends and research Identify and curate resources Conduct your own research within context to better understand values, attitudes, skills. Do not reinvest the wheel – work together with other public libraries and schools to create playful, flexible, open learning in collaboration Promote your activities via national and global events (e.g. UNESCO Global Media & Information Literacy week, UK Safer Internet Week) Help add more to these recommendations! Photo by: Alexander Dummer https://unsplash.com/photos/UH-xs-FizTk
- 29. CELEBRATING UNESCO MIL WEEK 2019 CASE STUDIES USING THE INFORMATION LITERACY GROUP (ILG) DEFINITION OF INFORMATION LITERACY EXPLORING CHILDREN’S INFORMATION AND DIGITAL LITERACY ISSUES 24TH OCTOBER 2019 Dr Konstantina Martzoukou Teaching Excellence Fellow - Robert Gordon University E: k.martzoukou@rgu.ac.uk @Dinamartz Jacqueline Geekie Public Libraries Rep: CILIP Information Literacy Group
- 30. RESOURCES Suggested by Aberdeenshire Council Beat bullying BeatBullying is an international bullying prevention charity working and campaigning to make bullying unacceptable in the UK and across Europe. www.beatbullying.org Internet Watch Foundation UK’s hotline for reporting illegal content on the Internet. www.iwf.org.uk Internetmatters.com What are your children doing online? Learn more about the activities, technologies and sites they may be visiting. www.internetmatters.org Childnet Organisation that works to keep children safe on the Internet. They have their own resources giving practical advice to parents, teachers and carers. Includes the ‘Know It All’ programme. www.childnet.com UK Council for child internet safety The UK Council for Child Internet Safety brings together over 140 organisations and individuals to help children and young people stay safe on the internet. It is made up of companies, government departments and agencies (including the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), law enforcement, charities, parenting groups, academic experts and others. www.ukccis.co.uk
- 31. RESOURCES EU Kids Online: a multinational research network, funded by the EC’s Better Internet for Kids programme http://www.lse.ac.uk/media-and-communications/research/research- projects/eu-kids-online Digital resistance: https://pjp-eu.coe.int/en/web/charter-edc-hre-pilot- projects/digital-resistance “To promote digital citizenship of pupils by supporting the development of digital skills and competences through inquiry-based learning” Ofcom. Protecting your child in the Digital World: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/7107/managemedia.pdf Also published a range of guides ParentPort was jointly developed by the Advertising Standards Authority, the Authority for Television on Demand, the BBC Trust, the British Board of Film Classification, Ofcom, the Press Complaints Commission and the Video Standards Council/Pan-European Game Information. Get Safe Online, the UK’s national internet security awareness initiative. Ofcom also works closely with UKCCIS - the UK Council for Child Internet Safety - which brings together more than 180 organisations to help keep children and young people safe online.
- 32. ADDITIONAL REFERENCES Livingstone, Mascheroni, & Staksrud. 2017. European research on children’s internet use: Assessing the past, anticipating the future. New Media & Society, 1- 20. doi: 10.1177/1461444816685930 Livingstone, S., Haddon, L., Görzig, A., and Ólafsson, K. 2011. Risks and safety on the internet: The perspective of European children. Full Findings. LSE, London: EU Kids Online. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/33731 Base, Available from http://www.lse.ac.uk/media@lse/research/EUKidsOnline/EU%20Kids%20III/Report s/EUKidsOnlinereportfortheCEOCoalition.pdf Ofcom, 2017. Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes Report . Available from: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/108182/children- parents-media-use-attitudes-2017.pdf Office for Information Technology Policy’s Digital Literacy Task Force. 2013. Digital Literacy, Libraries, and Public Policy. Available from http://www.districtdispatch.org/wp- content/uploads/2013/01/2012_OITP_digilitreport_1_22_13.pdf.
Editor's Notes
- Good afternoon everyone. I’m Jacqueline and I’m the Public Libraries Rep on the CILIP Information Literacy Group. We launched the new CILIP Information Literacy definition at LILAC last April. So we’re a year and a half on. What have we been doing with our time since then? Well let me begin…
- Let me begin with reminding you of the top level statement from the definition. “Information literacy is the ability to think critically and make balanced judgements about any information we find and use. It empowers us as citizens to develop informed views and to engage fully with society.” Underneath this broad and encapsulating statement we have 5 different contexts or lenses which enable us to illustrate the breadth of what we talking about when we say information literacy. To me this statement of Information Literacy is needed now more than ever while the country seems more divided than ever with regard to Brexit and Scottish Independence. Professor Simon Burnett from RGU, tweeted recently: “I believe the absolute best thing we could do as a community acting for Scottish Independence is to create a reference list which we can share, covering a range of issues like energy, healthcare, etc. This would help to provide a base of hard, irrefutable evidence.” This is giving the basis from which people can make balanced judgements and be empowered as a citizen to fully engage with society.
- Our first lens is that of every day life information literacy. Vital to everyone as the world seemingly, revolves around all things online. Government website, shopping, holidays, children and snapchat, those of us of certain age that are delighted that not only did social media not exist when we were at university, phones didn’t have cameras and actually we didn’t have phones. These are the skills that as public librarians we are either modelling or providing support to develop.
- In our second lens we look at the importance of IL skills when negotiating the murky waters of misinformation and fake news We want people to be able to make more informed choices in elections and referendums. I did think about flashing up a slide with Donald Trump and Nigel Farage on, but I decided that no-one needs to see that today.
- Education probably seems a logical space for IL but realistically, higher education has the monopoly on IL educations and work, but even so students struggle to link skills learnt from one assignment to the next. School and further education librarians struggle to show how necessary IL is to their pupils’ lives and education because it hardly features in the national curricula of England and Wales. Our schools rep Sarah Pavey is currently doing tremendous job analysing the different curricula and her findings go someway to explaining why students find the transition to HE so hard, She’s also incredibly excited about the Scottish Advanced Higher curriculum. Apparently it’s wonderful. As far as she can tell, they’ve been advised by a librarian.
- Do you use Information Literacy in your own work from day to day?
- Finally the definition looks at health literacy, So in terms of this new definition we discuss how having health literacy skills help people to make informed choices relating to the health and wellbeing of individuals and their families. And how finding reliable sources of information for management of health conditions, preventative care and ageing is vital for individuals or carers. It allows people to use credible and reputable healthcare sources when looking for treatment and prognosis. To be an active partner in their healthcare, patients benefit from information literacy, allowing them to engage in an informed dialogue with healthcare professionals.
- I want to tell you now about how the new definition has affected our work at ILG. I asked the team what impact the new definition has had on them. Our illustrious chair said “reaching people outside the academic sector and making it clearer that IL is not about teaching referencing skills to undergraduates. It’s about much more than that, and I think having the new definition gives us greater confidence to be doing all the advocacy work, with a very clear and broader idea of what IL is”. Stephane our advocacy officer told me “I send it out systematically whenever I make a new contact in different settings. So for instance, I’ve passed it on to the DCMS and DfE officials that we’ve been engaging with. So I think that the definition has been great at helping to raise awareness, almost like an extended calling card”. Stéphane Goldstein, CILIP ILG Advocacy Officer
- So what have we done and been able to do since the launch? We’ve engaged with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, more particularly, its new unit charged with addressing disinformation). Jane and I wrote a blog post for DCMS for the libraries taskforce on IL and the role of the public libraries, mentioning specifically work being done by CILIP’s Public and Mobile Libraries Group to up-skill public library staff in supporting library users' Health Information Literacy. Stéphane has attended two DCMS roundtables on digital/media literacy. We’ve met with Ofcom, establishing new lines of dialogue to develop awareness of respective agendas. Our events such as the and LILAC have been included in their monthly media literacy bulletins. We are having meetings with the Department for Education, and as I said previously, we’re currently working to examine the national curriculum for information literacy content – looking at areas we can get involved and ensure that it’s real IL content and not just tokenistic. We took part in a Misinfocon event London. (Started in the US, the organisation, Trust, Verification, Fact Checking & Beyond: MisinfoCon is a global movement focused on building solutions to online trust, verification, fact checking, and reader experience in the interest of addressing misinformation in all of its forms. And we’ve made contact and/or reconnected with other relevant players. Blog post: https://librariestaskforce.blog.gov.uk/2018/05/31/information-literacy-and-the-role-of-public-libraries/
- What do I mean when I say that we are working to mainstream IL? Well essentially our aspiration is that people leave school, not just with the 3 Rs but with information literacy skills too. So the 3Rs and an I Now we might not end up talking about IL – the terminology itself, but we want people to leave school able to think critically and make balanced judgements about any information they find and use. To be empowered as citizens to develop informed views and to engage fully with society.” (Yes I did just quote the new definition again… sorry) Nick Poole, Yvonne Morris, Stephane Goldstein Sarah Pavey and I met to discuss the future of IL and had a discussion about why IL needs to be mainstreamed: To avoid negative outcomes at a global scale and maximise the positive outcomes To restore public faith in democracy To restore trust in expertise To avoid social and economic inequality Because there’s need for a factual rather than an emotional response We talked about what who our audiences were and thought about where we should be embedding IL or at least having conversations about IL : We discussed Embedding IL further into the PKSB Library schools (via accreditation) Public librarians (via the Public Library Skills Strategy) School librarians Thinking externally to the sector we thought we need to access Education space in the broadest sense (formal, informal, lifelong learning, adult, HE/FE) Teachers; SLT; managers; governors Chartered College of Teaching Ofsted PSHE Association (Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) Education Assoc) Unions Government (DCMS/DfE) We talked about some of the ways we possibly could access these internal and external stakeholders Seek external funding to train school librarians to deliver information literacy and evaluate the impact of this. Seek to build IL awareness into QTS training. CILIP to approach contact at DfE and follow up with DCMS. Raise profile of IL through CILIP conference programme and Information Professional Magazine. (6) ILG to continue working with TeenTech Ensure IL is covered in the CILIP/SLG response to the OFSTED consultation. We want to engage with CILIP Special Interest Groups. So that we can see where if any crossovers may lie and seek to collaborate with them
- It would have been good to show you the updated pages on the Information Literacy Group Website, however the new information hasn’t been published yet. We are always looking for Case Studies which have used or support the new Definition of Information Literacy.
- The second part of the talk discusses the diverse challenges and opportunities created for children in the online everyday life context, and presents ‘Maddie is Online’, an open educational cartoon resource for information literacy and digital resilience, aimed at schoolchildren (9-12 years old), addressing how public libraries can play a key role in developing children’s information and digital literacy in collaboration with primary schools, families and communities. We have had interest expressed from mainly secondary schools and international schools so. Our work was promoted via the IASL and reached the United Arab Emirates! Also emails from Ukraine, West Lothian, Motherwell, Chanel islands. Organised as part of Summer Schools for various age groups of school and college pupils. Personal Social Health and economic education curriculum PSHE education is a school subject through which pupils develop the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to keep themselves healthy and safe, and prepared for life and work. Well-delivered PSHE programmes have an impact on both academic and non-academic outcomes for pupils, particularly the most vulnerable and disadvantaged.
- The 2017 Children’s and Parents’ Media Use and Attitudes report (part of Ofcom’s media literacy research programme) provides evidence on young children’s media use, attitudes and understanding (aged 5-15) as well as the views of parents. It highlights a wealth of interesting findings with evidence that more and more younger age children are exposed to the world of online social media connectivity and the effects of online misinformation. For example, the research study found that almost a quarter of children between 8-11 years and three-quarters of children between 12-15 years have a social media profile. At the same time, more parents are concerned about their children’s use of online social networks and media, and more are taking direct action to educate and guide their children. However, as the applications that children use change, parents and teachers find it more difficult to keep up. What is also of interest, on the basis of online information behaviour specifically, is that, according to the study, “around a quarter of 8-11s and 12-15s believe that Google provides some kind of authenticating role, in that if a website is listed by the search engine then it can be trusted”, raising issues around the education of young children on what is good information and how it can be evaluated. Therefore, we need to turn to educating children on issues that have to do with judging the credibility of online information, using effective internet searching approaches and developing digital resilience and safety skills. As children transfer into their learning environments self-taught behaviours, learned via experiences in the home setting, educators and librarians have an important role to play in helping children develop into digital citizens, who have mastered essential digital competencies. Schools and libraries are constantly working to incorporate digital citizenship aspects into classrooms and educational environments, however the emphasis usually lies on teen children rather than the emerging younger users of social media and online information. Safety (personal information, sexual predators Difficult for parents/children to manage/ awareness or keeping up Screen time Social pressure/identity (e.g. being popular)/ cyberbullying Complex advertising environment (Ofcom, 2017) can report bad content Digital Wellbeing feature: control your spent time on TikTok and limit the appearance of content that may not be appropriate for all audiences. Screen Time Management: Helps you to hold yourself to 2 hours on the app per day (parents set a passcode). can block users and report abuse online risks – being contacted by strangers (33% parents) or seeing inappropriate content (32% parents) - rank 5th and 6th. reporting tools: 13% of children who were upset by an online risk say they have used reporting tools, and two thirds of those who used them found them helpful age-appropriate privacy settings: 43% of 9-16 year old SNS users keep their profile private, 28% have it partially private and 26% have it public. sexual images on websites: 14% of 9-16 year olds have seen them and 32% of all 9-16 year olds were upset by them 11-16 year olds: 26% hoped the problem would just go away, 22% tried to fix it, 19% deleted unwelcome messages and 15% blocked the sender. Only 13% reported the problem online Potentially harmful user-generated content: seen by 21% of 11-16 year olds (hate sites, pro-anorexia sites and self-harm sites)EU EU Kids Online almost a quarter of 8-11s and three-quarters of 12-15s have a social media profile Snapchat has increased in popularity, doubled since 2016 (Snapstreaks: children send each other messages every day over consecutive days) one in ten 12-15s have ‘gone live’ by sharing a video using live streaming services such as Facebook Live, Snapchat’s Live Stories or Instagram Live, while a third have not shared content themselves but have watched live streams EU Kids Online 25 country survey (parental worries) almost a quarter of 8-11s and three-quarters of 12-15s have a social media profile Snapchat has increased in popularity, doubled since 2016 (Snapstreaks: children send each other messages every day over consecutive days) one in ten 12-15s have ‘gone live’ by sharing a video using live streaming services such as Facebook Live, Snapchat’s Live Stories or Instagram Live, while a third have not shared content themselves but have watched live streams
- We see Today's teens seem constantly plugged in to video games, social networking sites, and text messaging. However, beyond negative portrayals… Hanging Out, Messing Around and Geeking Out: Kids Living and Learning with New Media, by Mizuko Ito, Sonja Baumer, Matteo Bittanti, danah boyd, Rachel Cody, Becky Herr Stephenson, Heather A. Horst, Patricia G. Lange, Dilan Mahendran, Katynka Z. Martinez, C.J. Pascoe, Dan Perkel, Laura Robinson, Christo Sims, and Lisa Tripp ambitious three-year ethnographic investigation into how young people are living and learning with new media in varied settings—at home, in after-school programs, and in online spaces. Heather Horst, put it this way in a conversation with University of Southern California media professor Henry Jenkins: “Hanging out is when kids are using technologies…to hang out socially with their friends. Messing around is when they are looking around online for information, or tinkering with media in relatively casual and experimental ways. Geeking out is when they really dive deep into a specialized area of knowledge or interest” that wouldn’t necessarily be seen as “geeky” or traditionally related to tech, for example sports, music or needlework.
- Welcome to Bloxbug” game You have to keep your stats up, to be able to walk faster, to be health, not to smell (a big cloud forms otherwise). You can do lots of things for fun, play music, watch TV, red a book. Hygiene: take a bath, wash your hands, drink glass of water, energy: seat down or sleep. If you are tired it walks slowly so you can’t go to places. You can collect money working in a pizza place for example,. There is over 10 jobs you can do.
- Gender stereotypes Caution: May include upsetting content Lip challenge going wrong: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wykr8O3RKFk Lip challenge children: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBJRRa_bWHM Interesting article on Tik Tok – US university set up a tik tok account to be closer to students http://www.josieahlquist.com/2019/07/25/tiktokisgoingtocollege/
- Vygotsky scaffolding. It may sound like a construction term, but Vygotsky scaffolding and the related concept of the zone of proximal development are teaching methods that can help students learn much more information much more quickly than they would with traditional instruction. Vygotsky scaffolding is part of the education concept “zone of proximal development” or ZPD. The ZPD is the set of skills or knowledge a student can’t do on her own but can do with the help or guidance of someone else. It’s the skill level just above where the student currently is. ZPD is often depicted as a series of concentric circles. The smallest circle is the set of skills a student can learn on her own, without any help. Next is the ZPD, or skills a student wouldn’t be able to do on her own, but can do with a teacher or peer helping her. Beyond that are skills the student can’t do yet, even with help.
- A metaphor used by Global Kids Online researchers is that of a ladder – a progression of online activities kids and teens engage in, starting with the most “attractive and accessible” ones, like watching video or hanging out with friends online, and stepping all the way up to activity such as civic engagement or involvement “in a campaign or protest.” A whole study could be done about the ranking of the activities in the chart you’ll find in their post, but the researchers acknowledge that “pressing questions remain about what society hopes children will or should do online” – and how interesting that the “ladder” replicates across three countries on three separate continents (Bulgaria, Chile and South Africa). the “leveling up” that both projects surfaced suggests a growing depth of experience, meaning, and commitment, in the way many kids and teens engage with media – which gets buried in the negative press and political discourse.
- ‘Maddie is Online’ is an educational video cartoon series for schoolchildren (9-12 years old) which aims to illustrate the dangers of online connectivity and to teach preteen children online information, digital and media literacy through animation. The series has been created using the cartoon animation application Plotagon https://plotagon.com/ and real voice over actors. The series offers parents, teachers and librarians a tool that helps to draw young children’s attention on critical issues of online connectivity in a way that is fun and engaging, and linking to their own online experiences within everyday life. The educational resource was developed with a focus on information, media and digital literacy as well as the concept of ‘digital citizenship’ that has emerged in both academic research and government policy agendas. This highlights the need to develop not only the technical skills required in today’s digital online environment but also the ability to find, understand, use and share information as well as create media and communications in diverse online contexts, following responsible and ethical behaviour. Maddie is Online’ draws attention to the younger online media and information users and provides a tool that can be used with pre-teen children. It can be incorporated into subjects to create engaging and creative learning resources for children in both primary and secondary school level. Using cartoon storylines is an authentic pedagogical tool, suitable for diverse educational purposes, and as a method for attracting the attention of young people, stimulating critical thinking and discussion. ‘Maddie is Online’ has its own blog space available via https://maddiesonline.blogspot.com/. It is aimed at teachers, librarians and parents and it offers direct access to the video material together with instructions and ideas that complement the series. Get link Currently, there are two available series. Series 1 Online Resilience focuses on online resilience and safety and consists of 8 short episodes which ask children to choose the best scenario for dealing with issues of online connectivity, safety and resilience. Maddie is a ten-year-old girl, who is social media active and uses a range of applications via her own smart phone. She particularly enjoys lip-syncing to music and sharing videos of yourself with friends from school. Maddie’s phone is not just a tool she uses, it is a way to express herself, become creative and connect with her friends online. However, Maddie spends too much time on her phone and is getting increasingly anxious.
- Series 2 Misinformation consists of 11 longer episodes and aims to teach children the importance of information evaluation on the Internet. The story, which is a combination of reality and fantasy, begins with Maddie discussing with her friend a school assignment, which involves searching for information on an unfamiliar country for a class presentation. In her quest to find good quality information, Maddie asks many different people for information, including the Computer Class Teaching Assistant, who has just started her new role at the school, a travel agent, a scientist, a librarian, a teenager and a journalist. Maddie finds out some interesting and useful facts about the country but also some controversial and confusing information. The story ends with the importance of evaluation criteria such as currency, authority, point of view, and highlights the ‘How to spot fake news’ infographic, developed by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). Series 2 aims to teach children the importance of information evaluation on the Internet. The series includes 11 episodes. Episode 1 introduces the scenario, where Maddie has been asked to prepare a presentation on a country called ‘Kaione’ (it is a fictitious place for the purposes of the story) and particularly to find information on its culture and its people. However, Maddie is not allowed to use the Internet and therefore she needs to find other sources of information for the country and this is where the story unfolds as Maddie tries to find information. When Maddie meets up with Miss Mason, the new Computer Class Assistant (Episode 2), she promises to help her. However, Miss Mason tries to misdirect her to sources that are confusing and unreliable. For example, Miss Mason sends Maddie to a travel agent who tries to sell her a holiday rather than give her information. She also sends her to a scientist who gives her very technical information she cannot understand, and then to a journalist, the editor of a dubious newspaper, ‘The Bold Voice’ who tries to mislead her to believe that the wind turbines recently installed in the country are only dangerous (episodes 3, 4 and 7). Maddie also meets up with some helpful people, Betty, a girl from a community centre and with the Top Class Librarian, who both try to help her and teach her about good information evaluation criteria and critical judgement (episodes 5-6). In the end, it turns out that Maddie has not listened to her teacher’s advice and went to check the Internet instead. At the same time, it is revealed that all the sources of information that Miss Mason sent her to were actually websites and that Miss Mason herself is misinformation personified. Episodes 8-10 reveal this secret. The story then presents the importance of evaluation criteria such as currency, authority, point of view, and highlights IFLA’s ‘How to spot fake news’ infographic (Episode 10). It should be noted that this story presents a mixture of fantasy and reality. Miss Mason in the story directs Maddie to all the websites presenting them as physical places rather than as online. This is an intentional addition to the story, which aims to demonstrate metaphorically the thin borderline between the online and physical information world in today’s online connected environment (and a possible basis for discussion with the children who watch the videos, especially those that use the Internet and social media as part of their everyday life).
- Maddie is Online’ has its own blog space available via https://maddiesonline.blogspot.com/. It is aimed at teachers, librarians and parents and it offers direct access to the video material together with instructions and ideas that complement the series.