I am sure we would all be interested to hear how other schools deal with the challenge of integrating media in meaningful ways in their educational policy. So please share some aspects of how your school handles the topic.
Until now the use of mobile phones is not allowed at our school (“FWS in Ostholstein” / Lensahn) but most of the students always carry a smartphone in their pockets. Some teachers make an exception to let them take a photo or search for pictures. When you don’t allow it they go to the toilet and come back surprisingly “inspired”…
In spring break we had a further training by media specialists to draw out a concept for our school but we could not go on because of Corona. Now most of us have to work in the digital classroom without being briefed.
I think one of the problems is that children are often more experienced with online media than the teacher. That makes it difficult to educate them in a proper way, especially as they will be aware of this fact.
Also I am not sure how to teach in a way that motivates them. If they already know their way around, trying to explain step-by-step from the start might just annoy them.
I doubt they know how to judge all the Information they find online. We won´t have to explain the “double-click” to anybody but I´m sure that we have Information that is useful for them. After all they dont have the same life experience and don´t know for example the effects that excessive media comsumption may have on them. They probably never heard of the scientific Triangle Research-method etc. I think we can benefit from their “new” knowledge and turning this into a reciprocal fruitful way to work together.
Growing up in New Zealand we started an IT class in the 5th grade (year 5). The first few months consisted of learning to understand, respect and use correctly the internet and computer. Nowadays children are exposed to such courses from the 2nd grade (year 2) onwards.
Our school has a media policy, yes. In the lower school, parents are asked to come up with a media agreement that everybody signs and abides by. The idea is that the class community agrees that children in the class should not own and/or use a cell phone or other device before, say, class 7. While you can say that this agreement reflects the stances held by families in that class, it does not always work out that way and communication about media use in the family is often uncomfortable.
Personally, I much rather had we would tell parents that we expect them to hold to a certain standard that the school has set and that we spell that standard out to them.
Just last year, our school started educating Media Scouts, older students in the higher middle school classes. They have been trained in and are knowledgeable about the pitfalls of using social media and they can be approached by other students who experience problems, feel that they are being mobbed or are concerned about media addiction.
In the upper school, I feel that many colleagues see the advantage of including digital sources, particularly in the language lessons.
I am not sure, however, that we have a concept that spells out to us, teachers, how we want to approach media literacy, and when.
Our school has a media policy that, for example, states in which grade students are allowed to bring a mobile phone to school, where on the school ground technical devices can be used by students, and in which grades digital media can be used in the lessons.
However, I think it is important to keep in mind that nowadays many students use the internet and technical devices from an early age on at home. Therefore, introducing and working on media literacy in school should be started slowly and adequately, but also, when appropriate, earlier than indicated by the media policy.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.AcceptPrivacy Policy
8 Comments
I am sure we would all be interested to hear how other schools deal with the challenge of integrating media in meaningful ways in their educational policy. So please share some aspects of how your school handles the topic.
Until now the use of mobile phones is not allowed at our school (“FWS in Ostholstein” / Lensahn) but most of the students always carry a smartphone in their pockets. Some teachers make an exception to let them take a photo or search for pictures. When you don’t allow it they go to the toilet and come back surprisingly “inspired”…
In spring break we had a further training by media specialists to draw out a concept for our school but we could not go on because of Corona. Now most of us have to work in the digital classroom without being briefed.
I think one of the problems is that children are often more experienced with online media than the teacher. That makes it difficult to educate them in a proper way, especially as they will be aware of this fact.
Also I am not sure how to teach in a way that motivates them. If they already know their way around, trying to explain step-by-step from the start might just annoy them.
I doubt they know how to judge all the Information they find online. We won´t have to explain the “double-click” to anybody but I´m sure that we have Information that is useful for them. After all they dont have the same life experience and don´t know for example the effects that excessive media comsumption may have on them. They probably never heard of the scientific Triangle Research-method etc. I think we can benefit from their “new” knowledge and turning this into a reciprocal fruitful way to work together.
Growing up in New Zealand we started an IT class in the 5th grade (year 5). The first few months consisted of learning to understand, respect and use correctly the internet and computer. Nowadays children are exposed to such courses from the 2nd grade (year 2) onwards.
Here is a link to New Zealand’s Digital citizenship idea: http://elearning.tki.org.nz/Teaching/Digital-citizenship#js-tabcontainer-1-tab-1
As I am still a student, I have not mad any experiences on that topic yet, but am keen to learn more from other participants.
Our school has a media policy, yes. In the lower school, parents are asked to come up with a media agreement that everybody signs and abides by. The idea is that the class community agrees that children in the class should not own and/or use a cell phone or other device before, say, class 7. While you can say that this agreement reflects the stances held by families in that class, it does not always work out that way and communication about media use in the family is often uncomfortable.
Personally, I much rather had we would tell parents that we expect them to hold to a certain standard that the school has set and that we spell that standard out to them.
Just last year, our school started educating Media Scouts, older students in the higher middle school classes. They have been trained in and are knowledgeable about the pitfalls of using social media and they can be approached by other students who experience problems, feel that they are being mobbed or are concerned about media addiction.
In the upper school, I feel that many colleagues see the advantage of including digital sources, particularly in the language lessons.
I am not sure, however, that we have a concept that spells out to us, teachers, how we want to approach media literacy, and when.
Our school has a media policy that, for example, states in which grade students are allowed to bring a mobile phone to school, where on the school ground technical devices can be used by students, and in which grades digital media can be used in the lessons.
However, I think it is important to keep in mind that nowadays many students use the internet and technical devices from an early age on at home. Therefore, introducing and working on media literacy in school should be started slowly and adequately, but also, when appropriate, earlier than indicated by the media policy.