The National Centre of Audiovisual Media & Communication – EKOME SA and the Greek Ministry of Education, Research & Religious Affairs, Department of Educational Radiotelevision & Digital Media co-organized the one-day conference under the title “Your Story is your Hometown’s Story: Pedagogical Approaches on Media and Information Literacy” in Athens, 28 January 2019. The conference was under the Auspices of UNESCO Hellas, with the support of the Ministry of Digital Policy, Telecommunications and the Media and was the first action in 2019 of the newly-formed UNESCO GAPMIL European Sub-chapter Mediterranean Group.
The aim of the conference was to promote media and information literacy skills as basic skills of the 21st century, through the participation of the national school student community to the preservation of the audiovisual heritage. The students are challenged to conduct local research to the archives and libraries of their hometown, to document family stories, practice in storytelling and create a related short film or a digital artefact. The event was the kick-off event of the 1st student contest under the same title “Your Story is your Hometown’s Story” that is being organized by the Department of Educational Radiotelevision & Digital Media, the General Library Council, the Faculty of Archivist, Librarians and Museums of Ionian University and EKOME. In the first year of implementation (school year 2018-2019), students of secondary education are invited to practice themselves into the creative and narrative use of user generated content (short films, digital products) through taking part to the preservation of historical evidence and archives, advance their search skills and practice themselves to the learn by doing educational method of media and information literacy.
The event was a big success. Over 120 participants mainly from the educational field but also from the media and creative industry in Greece gathered and expressed their active interest into practicing MIL in school. The conference was divided into four main sessions: a) MIL in the classroom, theoretical approaches b) libraries and archives as supporting tools in the modern school c) audiovisual creation in the classroom d) digital creation in the classroom, where school of thoughts, case-studies and good practices were presented. All educators expressed the need for more educational actions and resources for searching and evaluating information for elevating student’s critical attitude and MIL as a multidisciplinary approach in school.
For more info please visit EKOME’s website.
