The 16th MEDEA Awards Ceremony took place on Wednesday 19 June, in the Town Hall of Leuven as part of the 2024 Media & Learning Conference: Back to the Future? organised by KU Leuven and the Media & Learning Association.
This year, the prestigious MEDEA Award was awarded to “Geld verstehen digital”, submitted by Sebastian Freisleder of FWU Institut für Film und Bild, Germany. “Geld verstehen digital” (Understanding Money Digitally) is an innovative interactive e-book designed for students in grades 5 to 9. It addresses everyday financial questions like using, saving, and borrowing money. It includes various media, such as informative videos and interactive exercises, which enrich traditional classroom lessons and enhance students’ knowledge, motivation, and media skills.
The Special Jury Prize was awarded to “Please, Touch the Artwork 2” by Thomas Meynen, Studio Waterzooi, Belgium. This engaging hidden object adventure game allows users to explore iconic paintings, collect items for quirky inhabitants, and solve casual puzzles, offering a relaxing dive into the world of James Ensor, a pioneer of Belgian Modern Art.
After a week of online voting involving over 1200 participants, the Audience Favourite Prize was awarded to “Reimagining Geohazard Fieldtrips” submitted by Suzanne Bickerdike, University of Leeds, U.K. This suite of resources leverages Virtual Reality technology to address the challenges of in-person field trips, providing an immersive and interactive learning experience to all students.
During the ceremony, José Bidarra, Universidade Aberta, Portugal received a special reward for his continuous support and help as a Judge. Short clips from all the 8 finalists were shown before the winners were announced. Following the announcment of the winners, the remaining finalists all received commemorative medals, they are:
- BetterTeaching submitted by LINK, University of Olso, Norway and represented by Audun Bjerknes and Tatsiana Komissarova.
- Empathy Inc. Scandal: Business and Human Rights in the Tech Industry submitted by IE University, Spain and represented by Andrea Camero Jareño.
- Miniclips: Native American Nations submitted by ClickView, Austrlia and represented by Vicky Lee.
- Philosophy through Podcast: Sense and Sound submitted by IHECS – ULB, Belgium and represented by Sébastien Schmitz.
- The Jordan Valley Tour: bringing the real challenges to the students submitted by Wageningen University & Research, Netherlands and represented by Alexander Bolding.
This year prizes were sponsored by SONY and presented by Bert Cornillie, Councilor for Culture, Tourism, Events, Part-time Art Education and Seniors, who welcomed everyone to the city of Leuven and to the historic town hall. 125 entries were submitted this year coming from all over Europe as well as the US, Australia, Canada, Singapore, Kazakhstan and Indonesia!
