DCMF's Media, Information and Literacy
programme has trained almost 600 students from all around Qatar in the past
year.
As
part of Doha Centre for Media Freedom’s commitment to promoting quality
journalism and defending media freedom in Qatar, the Arab world and across the
globe, the centre has been providing Media and Information Literacy education
to over 600 students, empowering them with the ability to consume media
effectively and prevent the spread of misinformation.
The
centre has developed a flagship MIL programme which has been introduced to
around 90 schools in Qatar, as well as a number of other schools across the
region. The programme now has 14 full time trainers, including six Qatari
nationals, and is conducted in Arabic and English languages for students from
primary and secondary schools.
At
a time when the number of media platforms available to readers continues to
increase, the need to educate youngsters about the importance of being media
literate has never been so pressing. This is particularly important in
Qatar, which was shown by the UN as leading the developing world in terms of
individual internet usage in 2013, and as having the fourth highest number of
Facebook users in the Arab world.
Addressing
Qatar’s needs
MIL
education is a relatively new concept, and DCMF quickly identified a need for
the subject to be addressed in Qatar. When the programme was launched,
there was a lack of data related to the needs of teachers and students, and so
the centre began by launching a survey of local teachers.
The findings of
this survey determined the direction the initiative would take, and it quickly
became clear that while media was being used in classrooms across Qatar, there
was a distinct lack of awareness about the concept of MIL and the importance of
educating youngsters in this field.
Following
its launch in 2011, DCMF’s MIL programme has become one of the most successful
of its type around the world. Through working closely with organisations
such as UNESCO and UNAOC, DCMF has built a model for MIL education which is
widely recognised as a pioneering effort in the field.
A
cornerstone of the centre’s programme is the Junior Reporters initiative which
takes students from the world of media consumption to media production.
DCMF’s Junior Reporters have covered events ranging from the UN Alliance of
Civilisations in 2011, through to the UN Forum on Media
and Gender in Bangkok in 2013. This week, our junior reporters were in
Paris covering UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Day celebrations on their blog through news stories, photos
and video interviews.
Through
creating news stories and learning about media production, young participants
gain a much more comprehensive understanding of media in general.
MIL in the future
Through
partnership with global organisations, particularly UNESCO, DCMF intends to
continue to spread awareness of MIL education and to educate young people and
teachers across the Arab world.
The
centre is working towards the ultimate goal of introducing an element of MIL
education to the national school curriculum to ensure that the values embodied
in MIL are taught to every student in Qatar.
There
is also an immediate need to train as many teachers as possible to be able to
host workshops at schools across the region, something which the centre is
working on.
Last
year, DCMF hosted an experts meeting on MIL education in the Arab world, which
brought together international practitioners from the field to discuss the best
ways to develop this facet of education in the region.
The
meeting adopted the Doha
Declaration on Supporting MIL Education in the Middle East, including a
number of recommendation and action points for the development of MIL in the
future, many of which DCMF has since been working towards.
Youngsters
“need to be media literate”
DCMF
remains firmly committed to promoting quality journalism around the world, with
a specific focus on the Arab region. While it is important to develop the
capacities of those responsible for producing the news, it is also essential to
educate consumers about how to process the information to which they are being
exposed.
Recognising the interests of news-producers and the motivating
factors behind a story, as well as the veracity of the sources used and the
professionalism of the piece are integral factors in consumers being able to
fully comprehend the media.
Modern
society exposes us to more news, images and videos than ever before, and this
trend is only set to increase in the future. As our youngsters are given
more information to process, it is essential to ensure that they are able to
process it correctly, so as to enable them to be fully active participants
within society.
In
this regard, DCMF remains steadfast in its commitment to delivering MIL
education to students in Qatar and the region, as a result of its belief that:
“Reading and writing doesn’t do it anymore, you need to be Media Literate.”
Source: http://www.dc4mf.org
No comments:
Post a Comment