Mobile Stories, a tool that teaches students critical thinking and responsibility towards information they share and consume, is now available across Europe. After a decade of success in Sweden and a successful pilot phase in Romania, Ireland and Finland, the Mobile Stories platform has demonstrated remarkable potential in building student confidence and media and information literacy by providing a platform to produce quality journalism.
Using the new international version of Mobile Stories, students have already published 136 articles on mobilestories.com, with another 700 currently in production so still in edit mode, under review, or even approved for publication by a teacher. Their topics range from book reviews and local cultural events to in-depth feature articles on the decline in young people’s mental health and child labour in the fast fashion industry.
During the Creative Europe-funded pilot phase, the Mobile Stories publishing platform and online course were adapted from Swedish into an English language version and tested in 21 schools across Ireland, Romania, Finland and other countries. Along with the translation of the tool itself, the project created open-access media literacy resources, including video tutorials featuring media professionals, worksheets, materials for cross-border collaboration and ethics guides.
All these efforts have led to a tool that most students find easy, relevant and fun to use, as Mobile Stories user experience survey shows. 91% of students said they found the video content engaging, and 96% said the content is up-to-date. Continuous research efforts so far indicate that students become more confident in their abilities to evaluate sources, check images and videos, as well as produce fact-checked content. They also improve their knowledge of the digital information landscape. For example, more students now know that not all visuals are reliable evidence and the first results on Google might not be the best and most trustworthy.
The platform’s impact extends beyond numbers. Students get a practical, hands-on experience that values their voices and opinions. Teachers have been particularly enthusiastic about its transformative potential. “The students responded well and liked to work as if they were actors in an actual newspaper editorial staff,” noted a Finnish teacher. Another educator from Romania observed that the experience “encouraged students to investigate, to seek confirmation, fostering habits of skepticism and diligence.”
Students found particular value in the platform’s publishing function. As teachers noted, seeing a finalised, professionally formatted article makes students “grow as individuals and realise they are capable of more than they previously thought” and “motivates the students because it looks so professional and authentic.”
Are you an educator and would like your students to have this opportunity? Learn more on the Mobile Stories information website or reach out to jenny@mobilestories.se. As part of our commitment to fostering media literacy, we’re offering a free subscription to 10 schools in each pilot country—Ireland, Finland, and Romania. We’re also considering expanding this offer to more European countries. If your school is interested, contact us for more details.
