The world of 21stcentury is controlled by media, driven by technology, and globalized day.It took its place in education as well. Computers and the internet are quickly becoming our dominant cultural tools for searching, selecting, gathering, storing, and conveying knowledge . It is also a place where people are more connected with each other.Increasing one's knowledge by using mass communication tools and media has both advantages and disadvantages especially when we think of the time spent on it .According to the researches children ages 8 to 18 now spend an average of 7.5hours per day with entertainment media outside of school. Many media messages contribute to public health issues such as obesity, bullying and aggression, low self-esteem, depression, negative body image, risky sexual behavior, and substance abuse, among other problems. As partners from Turkey, Bulgaria ,Romania ,Portugal ,Italy and Greece ,we believe that the negative messages disseminating through various media technologies can be avoided by developing the skills to question, evaluate and analyze these messages which can be done by being media literates. The concept of literacy has gained great importance recently , European Parliament of 6 November 2008 wishing: “Media literacy to be made the ninth key competence in the European reference framework for lifelong learning .The concept of literacy includes gaining skills and knowledge to read, interpret, and produce certain types of texts and artifacts and to gain intellectual tools and capacities to fully participate in one‘s culture and society. Individuals who can do research and analysis, think critically and construct information via interpretation could be said to have the qualifications expected from the 21st .century human in this rapidly developing world of information .For this reason, we decided to prepare this project to develop media literacy education in our schools ,countries and in Europe so that our pupils can make the best use of the new technology and so that they can interpret and process all kinds of media messages with Media literacy which refers to the ability of people to access ,create and evaluate critically the content of media. The aims and the activities listed in our project are in accordance with the recommendations offered in the Declaration of Brussels for Lifelong Media Education it says : 'The necessity to integrate media education in the framework of lifelong education and training, as defined by the European reference frameworks (Lisbon Strategy and the “Education and Training 2020” strategic framework). The aim is to enable, persons, at every stage of their life, to participate in stimulating learning experiences and to contribute to the development of the education and training sector in Europe. The target group are students 13-17 years old who will be journalists ,searcers debaters ,photographers,advertisers and film and news makers through involvement in various activities which will promote tolerance, social cohesion and solidarity for them.Teachers will gain by strengthening communication between the students and themselves, strengthen and develop media literacy competencies,while exchanging ideas in the field of media literacy and the development of inter cultural dialogue with colleagues and students from partnering schools. All schools will benefit by creating better relations between teachers, students and the community, making school more dynamic and stimulating for all. This project will also broaden the horizons providing opportunity and awareness on a European level. Each partner will work towards implementation of results /activities media literacy project into the curriculum. Participants will be given the opportunity to develop intercultural dialogue and exchange experiences among all partnering schools.Besides we expect ; an increased mastery of ICT tools which will be the vehicle of communication and dissemination of all the tasks and products throughout the project ,an increased awareness of young citizens towards concepts such as European citizenship and democracy based on the development of critical thinking;an improvement in the research skills and innovative solutions of those involved in the project ,improved teaching practices and methods. The results of the project will have a lasting impact on the target groups on local,national, European and international level. The students directly involved in the project will develop new skills such as responsibility, communication, problem solving, initiative, creativity, planning, team work, flexibility, tolerance and acceptance towards different cultures.
Being aware of the risks of internet addiction and that this problem cannot be solved by limitation and/or censorship, partners from Greece, Italy, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Portugal came together, created and implemented the project '' YOUNG MEDIA LITERATES OF EUROPE'' with a joint aim: 1- to find measures in fighting against media addiction and 2 - attracting the pupils interest in media literacy. During the project lifecycle, we had 3 TPMs in Portugal , Greece and Bulgaria and 3 LTTs in Turkey , Romania and Italy. Schools created Media Labs at their schools for the implementation of the project. Some activities that were implemented to reach success were as follows: firstly ,students created logos for the project.They made interviews with journalists and visited local media organizations to understand media production better and learn more about media usage, wrote articles, created school newspapers and prepared radio programmes at their schools. They did researches about the history of media in their countries and shared with their peers in other countries. Brochures about National Strategies against media addicition - Media Education in Europe were created after making deep searches about the topics .Students prepared a media dictionary in 6 languages and English of the most common words related to the topic .A workshop with primary students was organized where all partners' students took active roles working with little kids about how to create an advertisement. Debates happened in all schools about ''Internet is a foe or a friend ? Students also prepared some sketches about social media addiction and performed their peers during a LTT. Shortly , students became journalists, writers, seachers, debaters, photographers, videomakers. Some outputs are: the project website, brochures ("National strategies of partner countries against media addiction" - "Media education in Europe"), a photo collage of the project meetings, a social media page, an etwinning page, videos, school newspapers, a portfolio of lesson plans on media literacy education .With the project ''YOUNG MEDIA LITERATES OF EUROPE '' students aged 13-17 ,(most of which had educational, social and economic obstacles) developed skills such as responsibility, communication, problem solving, initiative, creativity, planning, team work, flexibility, tolerance and acceptance towards different cultures. They are now more open and interested in other peoples' culture, accepting the differences as value and not as an obstacle to a united Europe.They developed their own identities in the context consciousness local, national, European, Europeans manifesting in infancy. During the 2 years , they created brochures, e-magazines, e-newsletters and even radio programmes, which improved their ICT skills. Working at international environments and also using English while creations these materials have improved their language skills as well. They are now aware of the risks of media addiction and now they use their performance in a more useful way. They improved interest in media literacy activities help them achieve more success at school.interaction generated by the educational materials and innovative teaching, pupils experienced different learning situations. They are able to work in a non-competitive environment based on the student specific need-learning by doing. Students with disadvantaged backgrounds gained self-confidence with project activities and they find the school environment attractive. The teachers involved in the exchanges with other teachers from other countries had their methods enriched and their horizons broadened. They increased their professional skills and had the opportunity to share experiences and ideas with colleagues from other European countries; got familiar with education systems, programs and practices in partner. started to reflect on new insights and to integrate them into lessons across the curriculum in agreement with their partner schools e.g. languages, history, geography, religious education, physical education, science, drama, information technology and music. Teachers improved their language and digital skills. Learning about other cultures and lifestyles of collegues in Europe, and they experienced real interculturalism; working with other teachers in Europe, which led to the development of intercultural skills and the ability to overcome certain stereotypes and prejudices. They also developed self-esteem and are more motivated to continue to work to promote the prestige of their institution. All the projects outputs are shared on Erasmus+ Results platform, our website and etwinning as well.