Charting Media and Learning in Europe 2013

Promoting media-based learning to organisations and practitioners through local training and networking events,
online resources and knowledge sharing
“Charting Media and Learning in Europe” Report
Laura Orlescu, Activewatch (Romania)
Sofia Papadimitriou, EduTV
(Greece)

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission
21 November 2014
Report background
The production of the report is a core activity of the MEDEAnet Project supported by the European Commission through the Lifelong Learning Programme
8 Partners in 7 Countries
MEDEAnet is promoting media- based learning through local training and networking events, online resources and knowledge sharing.
MEDEAnet operational from January 2012 – December 2014
Media & Learning, Brussels 2014

21 November 2014
Research question
How is media used to support teaching and learning in different parts of Europe?
The results of this investigation were published in a series of 3 annual reports – “Charting Media and Learning in Europe”.
Each annual report had a different focus:
2011: policies
2012: school curriculum
2013: teacher training

21 November 2014
Report background
Creating knowledge
•Gathering information from Estonia, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and regions (Baden- Württemberg, Flanders, Upper Austria)
Sharing Knowledge
•Publishing information in reports online, presentation at events and distributing summaries and selected texts

21 November 2014
Data collection
Analysis of public documents
Consultation of existing researches
Interviews with experts in the field of education + representatives of public bodies
Online resources

21 November 2014
Report Year 1 - 2011
Policies, trends and developments in media literacy and media education
Description of key players, initiatives, organisations, policy frameworks and good practices. Analysis of relevant definitions of media literacy in each country.
Described for all learning sectors, from pre-primary to adult learning.
Focus

21 November 2014
Key Findings 2011
Media literacy is understood and defined very differently in the involved countries and it is a shared responsibility for several stakeholders. Some efforts are being made to measure the “level” of media literacy in different European countries (for example in the context of Eurydice) but this still has to improve. It was also noted that some countries or regions rather focus on the cultural component of media literacy whereas in others ICT is in the centre of attention. It is important to see both sides as complimentary, and therefore, both should be addressed simultaneously instead of in a separate way.

21 November 2014
Key Findings 2011
Media education connects media culture and the classroom. It sets out a rationale for teaching that reflects the changing nature of contemporary culture and communication and also of young people’s experiences.
Media education is the process of teaching and learning about media;
Media literacy is the outcome - the knowledge and skills learners acquire.
About definitions

21 November 2014
Curriculum Design in media literacy and media education for compulsory level education
Focus
Information about organisations involved in curriculum design
Description of good practices related to curriculum design

21 November 2014
Key Findings 2012
Media literacy is integrated in the curriculum in various ways and there is a discrepancy between the curricula and the effective daily classroom practice.
The curricula is flexible and teachers play an important role in integrating media education – both its cultural component and a more technological approach – in the classroom and thus require high quality teacher training to enable them to act as multipliers.

21 November 2014
Teachers and their training in production and use of educational media
Published in Summer 2014
Each of the country or region chapters describes the current state of teacher training related to media education and media literacy.
Focus

21 November 2014
Key Findings 2013
Future teachers are not (yet) trained in a way that will increase access to opportunities for MBL.
They do not acquire the media literacy in their studies needed to realise cultural expression and reflection.
Even where new methods and approaches are prevalent in pre-service training, teachers often revert back to old models when they are actually teaching.
About pre- service training

21 November 2014
Key Findings 2013
 national initiatives (such as the Digital School programme in Greece)
 local, small initiatives in other countries, such as Estonia
 differences are due in school autonomy and type of initiative
About in- service training

21 November 2014
Key Findings 2013
•tend to come back to old models soon
• Teacher training sometimes focuses too much on theory and not enough in practice.
Theory and practice
• there is a growing consensus that teacher training has to be adapted to accommodate a successful integration of media literacy and media-based learning.

21 November 2014
Key Findings 2013
More and more training opportunities addressing both the actual use of ICT as well as media literacy are offered and there is an increasing number of initiatives and networks for schools.
Initiatives & networks

21 November 2014
Key Findings 2013
positive attitude towards media education can successfully be created during pre-service training and supported with periodical in- service training programs.
Esthonia
About attitudes

21 November 2014
Key Findings 2013
Teachers’ initial and in-service training focuses on ICT and e- learning skills rather than on media education and media literacy
About ICTs
Romania, Bulgaria, Greece

Key findings in Greece
21 November 2014
Data collection
secondary resources published by the public authorities and institutes responsible for educational matters:
MoE , The Institute of Educational Policy (IEP),
The Computer Technology Institute and Press "Diophantus" (CTI),
The Greek School Network (GSN),
The Eurydice Network, the Operational Programme “Education and Life Long Learning”
Universities
Their websites and official documents educational and media conference proceedings.

Initial teacher education
21 November 2014
a pedagogical training certificate has been established in the curriculum from all University departments of Education Sciences.
In-Service Training
 The A and B level In-Service Training for the use and application of ICT in the teaching practice.
 The B level distance training: Blended learning methods, combining distance learning and a limited number of f2f sessions.
The major in-service teacher training Program.
 Research Projects

European or national projects
21 November 2014
 eTwinning,
 Teachers4Europe,
 Medeanet,
 School-Lab

Communities of Practice, Professional Learning Networks
Top Down
Bottom Up
Even if media literacy is integrated in the curriculum (either in an integrated way, or connected to specific compulsory or optional courses), it mostly still depends on the initiative/freedom/autonomy of the teacher whether or not it is implemented.
21 November 2014

Key findings in Romania definitions and policy
21 November 2014
In Romania no common definition for media literacy in its wider pedagogical and cultural understanding exists at national policy level.
The only definition present in official education policy papers and relevant for media and learning refers to ICT skills.
The media education definitions used in non-formal learning situations vary from the ones that embed the protectionist approach to the ones closer to the participatory model of media education.

Key findings in Romania curriculum design & teacher training
21 November 2014
Good presence of media and learning recommendations embedded in the various school curricula Flexible curriculum for teachers to include media education activities in the classroom
One reason that not much media education happens in the classroom is that teachers lack the training and hence the confidence.
Another reason is the lack of institutional support

Key findings in Romania curriculum design & teacher training
21 November 2014
The teachers’ training process in Romania is substantial and offers many opportunities for the teachers to develop the most varied competences to use in the classroom. The teachers’ initial and in-service training contains only a few media literacy learning outcomes.
The focus stays on ICT and e-learning skills (for all formal education) The 2013-2016 Governmental Programme mentions for the first time support for open educational resources (OER), a step forward to open education. Media literacy in its various forms is more present in non-formal and informal education settings, as initiatives of small organizations

Recommendations Romania
21 November 2014
The Ministry of Education should consider upgrading the teachers’ training in order to make it more relevant for the production and use of educational media in the classroom. The Ministry of Education should limit the hours of mandatory ICT classes and consider ways to integrate media literacy in all forms of formal education. Academia should develop training programmes for teachers and consider research in the field of media and education because they have a key role in curriculum development. Romanian policy makers should consider a wider cultural approach to media education and support its integration in all forms of education.

21 November 2014
Main conclusion
It emphasizes the importance of high quality teacher training as a crucial factor in making teachers more aware of the value of media education and media literacy. And more fundamentally, to provide them with the competences and attitudes to play an active role as change-makers in education.
All reports freely available on www.medeanet.eu/report More about MEDEAnet here www.medeanet.eu
About our research

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!
21 November 2014
LAURA ORLESCU: laura@activewatch.ro SOFIA PAPADIMITRIOU: sofipapadi@gmail.com

Charting Media and Learning in Europe 2013

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