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MELIA Observatory Media Literacy Observatory for Active Citizenship and Sustainable Democracy

MATERIALS for highschool students

The world in the online environment does not only bring us positives, but also a number of negatives, which are constantly increasing with the rapid development of technology and it is not easy to immediately react to them and know their pitfalls. In fact, the virtual world is an environment that provides an opportunity to simplify and distort information, to manipulate and influence the opinions of all age groups.

People who spend a large part of their time online may perceive this world as one of the main sources of information that significantly shapes their worldview. Moreover, in today's society, there is a tendency to simplify information and people tend to gravitate towards stereotypes and shortcuts that can reinforce their beliefs and view of the world.

These learning materials are focused on a world that is very close to contemporary society. We will explain the most basic concepts and definitions in the field of media literacy education and show through concrete examples and activities that are linked to real problems in the field how to approach the topic with perspective and in a way that does not pose a danger in practice.

 

 

WHAT ARE WE GOING TO FOCUS ON?
 
 

We will equip you with information and recommendations on how to understand the topic and learn to critically assess and sort media content so that we can make the most of the media world. We will also focus on why active citizenship is important and how to get involved and have the ability to influence the world around us.

 

Go through the interactive presentations together with the handbooks and test your media literacy skills. At the end of this programme you will be equipped with the knowledge and skills to navigate and succeed in the media world.

 

Croatian

 

 

Behavior on social networks
 
 

Do you think you know a lot about social networks and you can‘t learn anything new? Try it, maybe you‘re wrong. Surely you can use them actively and you know what they are for. But do you also know what they can be abused for and how they can influence us without realizing it? Don’t you? And that‘s what it‘s about!


Maybe your knowledge and experience will help your classmates to orient themselves in the digital world of social networks, maybe your teacher will also learn something from you.

 

 

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Critical thinking skills
 
 

People often perceive the online world as one of the main sources of information that significantly shapes their worldview. They simplify information, they tend to stereotypes and abbreviations, which often force them to interpret things in a way that confirms their own beliefs and world views.

 

Critical thinking is a combination of words that are used more and more often in the field of media and education in various cases. What can we imagine under this term and how to make us think critically? Strengthening critical thinking is essential to maintaining common sense in evaluating information, including politically-related information.

 

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Manipulation and propaganda
 
 

In this lesson, you will be introduced to the concept of manipulation and manipulation techniques that are often used. Most people get most of their information from the internet - and it is this environment that has become a haven for manipulators. Don‘t you believe it? Manipulation often hides from forms in which it is difficult to detect. You can encounter it on any website, including social networking sites.

 

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Marketing and advertising
 
 

The online (but also offline) world is full of so-called product placement, which influences consumer behavior. It is a modern marketing tool - a promotion of a product or service, which, in addition to the classic advertising presentation of the product, focuses on the social, personal and societal features and characteristics of the consumer. Marketing strategies directly target the young generation through the internet and use areas that are close to this generation, such as music videos, online games and, above all, the power of influencers.

 

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News and hoaxes
 
 

In the lesson, you will learn what the most important elements of media communication are and, with the help of a practical sample with a topic close to them, you will learn the difference between news and journalism. In the next part of the lesson, you will learn to define and recognize disinformation and find out where they are used (propaganda, troll farms or conspiracy theories).

 

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Politics
 
 

The world has largely moved to an online environment where hate speech and fake news, which negatively affect the democratic environment in the EU, are easily disseminated. An integral part of active citizenship is participation in the political environment. Political parties and organizations also operate in the online environment. Online platforms allow all users to create a public profile and
use it to communicate with other users, spread ideas and express their opinions.

 

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Programme co-funded by European Union funds (ERDF, IPA, ENI)