The “innovative methodS for Media & Information Literacy Education involving schools and librarieS” (SMILES) project will address the topic of media literacy and combating fake news in Europe, with a strong focus on digital media use and COVID-19. Following the rise of fake news and disinformation, fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a strong urgency for the participating organisations to develop and test new methods for media and information literacy. Representing libraries, media literacy organisations and a research institute, the consortium is determined to contribute to a safer and more responsible use of digital technology, particularly amongst young people. The SMILES project aims to test innovative educational approaches in the form of fake news workshops at secondary schools held by school teachers and librarians, and monitor their effectiveness. The project method is to deploy a 'train the trainer' approach, in which school teachers and librarians are equipped with the necessary knowledge, skills and materials to deliver workshops to secondary school pupils (age 12-15). Concretely, 60 school teachers and librarians are trained in organising ‘fake news’ workshops to young people; and they will organise the workshops at secondary schools in Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands for 600 participating young people. In order to reach the overall objective to enhance the digital readiness of secondary schools and empower young people to critially use digital technology, the consortium will develop three Intellectual Outputs. A Baseline study will be conducted in the three countries to research and connect different educational approaches in Europe, enabling the development of a shared methodology on fake news workshops (intellectual output 1). Based on the results of intellectual output 1, the SMILES training programme to promote the safe and responsible use of digital media tools will be developed and deployed, including the production of a manual for trainers and a digital toolkit (intellectual output 2). Finally, the project partners will develop a report on the effectiveness of the workshops and tested methodology in the three countries (intellectual output 3). As part of the project, transnational meetings and dissemination activities will lead to a sharing of knowledge on the effectiveness of the fake news workshops between three European countries (Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands), as well as on a wider level through a dedicated dissemination plan. The ultimate goal of the project is to help create more awareness and trust of young people in the institutions that provide verified information - i.e. schools, libraries - and the essential role these institutes play in the information society.
The overall aim of this project was to improve the digital readiness of secondary schools through the support of teachers and librarians, and to empower young people to use digital tools while developing their critical media literacy. This would be achieved through the following specific objectives: - Establish a strategic partnership to test a joint innovative (digital) media literacy training methodology for librarians and teachers as well as students aged 12-15. - Provide practical guidance and training to school teachers together with librarians in 3 European countries in disinformation methodologies, equipping them with new skills for organizing (digital) media literacy workshops for secondary school students. - Help young people in secondary schools in three European countries to use digital technology more safely and responsibly, with a focus on identifying reliable and authentic information versus disinformation. - Evaluate the effectiveness of the workshops implemented through an evaluation framework that encouraged further dissemination and exchange of media literacy practices at a transnational level. - Strengthen existing and new cooperations between schools and libraries in the 3 partner countries.
The consortium applied for the "innovative methodS for Media & Information Literacy Education involving schools and libarieS" (SMILES) project to address the issue of media literacy and combating disinformation in Europe, with a strong focus on the use of digital media. Following the rise of disinformation, fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a strong sense of urgency for the participating organisations to develop and test new methods of media and information literacy. The consortium, representing libraries, media literacy organisations and a research institute, was determined to contribute to a safer and more responsible use of digital technology, especially among young people. Disinformation is particularly harmful to young people who use social media as a primary source of information. The project realised an innovative education method based on a thorough baseline study, in cooperation with associated partners, including schools, libraries; and pupils, for the latter to recognise and deal with disinformation. A topic that, although Covid-19 is less so, is still very relevant, for example surrounding the war in Ukraine. We also trained the teachers and librarians in delivering this training programme to the pupils.