Media Literacy for Parents Erasmus Project

Project Title

Media Literacy for Parents

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Open and distance learning; Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

We are living In a digital environment, where the boundaries between the responsibilities of the various media players are in continuous evolution. Because of this, it becomes increasingly important to ensure an adequate level of awareness amongst viewers and work on their literacy (European Audiovisual Observatory, 2016).

Media literacy is the term referring to the acquisition of skills and competences for the use of modern media of all types. Media literacy includes all these skills and competences required to access, analyse, evaluate and create information in media, communicate with others and behave in social media, in a safe and responsible manner.

Extensive work has been done the last years in respect to teens and older students’ media literacy education, either in the form of media education curricula in schools or of extracurricular activities aimed at improving mainly digital skills.

Media literacy education, though, has failed till now to take into account the first educational actors: families. Parents are the most important role models for their children regarding media usage. At present though little or no evidence exists on the ability of their parents to protect them (LSE Media Policy Project, 2017). In EU-28 only a small number of initiatives are aimed at parents, which prompts questions about the level of media literacy support being provided to them (Mapping of media literacy practices and actions in EU-28, 2016).

The present project aims to bridge this gap and develop media literacy skills and competences for parents.

The specific objectives of the project are:
-To develop a training programme on media literacy for parents
-To develop a web application that will bring media literacy education in their houses
-To develop a parents’ guide on media literacy
-To organise workshops for parents
-To disseminate the project results and to create an online network of parents to promote media literacy.

Direct target groups of the project are parents as well as trainers at parents’ schools or parents’ support organisations.

Indirect target groups are the schools and all actors currently active in the promotion of media literacy (Cultural centres / Foundations/ NGOs, educational departments of municipalities, policy makers in the field of media/ digital literature, education, adult learning) and the children themselves.

The project results are:
-Training programme: Media Literacy for parents, comprising of the training curriculum and the training materials in 6 languages. The programme will consist of workshops of small duration (2h) that will cover different thematics and 3 levels of media literacy, in total 15 workshops of 30 hours.
-Web App MeLiParents: digital web application accessible through tablets in 6 languages. It will send SMS/ emails to parents’ mobiles, notifying them about short duration (minutes) activities/ resources they can do/watch on the topic of media literacy, alone or with their children. The app will choose activities from a pool of contents developed by the partners.
-Parents’ Guide to media literacy in 6 languages that will consist of printed and online supporting materials and an online community for parents.

Intermediary results which the partnership will exploit during and beyond the lifetime of the project are:
– Synthesis report comprising of desk research at EU level and needs analysis of parents regarding media literacy in Poland, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria.
– Online supporting materials to the guide that will consist of open educational resources collected by partners and made available to parents through the online guide repository.
– Online community of parents, facilitated by partners in order to support and reply to questions regarding media literacy.
– Training of trainers on how to deliver the MeLi parents training programme and tools.

MeLi Parents project is composed by 7 partners representing 6 EU countries: Poland, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Belgium. The partners are NGOs, adult training organisations, one ICT company and 2 European networks, one focusing on the promotion of digital and lifelong learning and one that represents 150 million parents and contributes to the development of education policies and decisions at EU level.

The expected impact on parents will be to enhance their skills on the topic of media literacy and improve their confidence and knowledge as guides and role models for their children in today’s media scene. They will connect with adult trainers/ experts in the field as well as with other parents and through this community will work together in combating the problems we face as users of the media.

Through the participating networks but also through the planned promotional activities, the associated partners and the extended dissemination channels in regional, national and European level the partnership has, the project is expected to reach around 40000 people during its 2 years of implementation.

Project Website

http://meli4parents.eu/

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 289339 Eur

Project Coordinator

Fundacja Mapa Pasji & Country: PL

Project Partners

• EUROPEAN PARENTS ASSOCIATION
• E-business Academy
• AINTEK SYMVOULOI EPICHEIRISEON EFARMOGES YPSILIS TECHNOLOGIAS EKPAIDEFSI ANONYMI ETAIREIA
• A & A Emphasys Interactive Solutions Ltd
• European Digital Learning Network
• HEARTHANDS SOLUTIONS LIMITED