The MINDING MEDIA project cultivates critical advertising literacy skills in children through interactive media literacy education (MLE) resources: 1. Video Training Library: Using gamification, a digitized interactive media and advertising literacy video training library is created for wide dissemination. 2. Minecraft World: Leveraging Minecraft, the MINDING MEDIA Education world extends media and advertising literacy through problem-based learning. 3. Teaching Toolkit: A MINDING MEDIA Teaching Toolkit equips teachers for fostering media and advertising literacy in pupils aged 8-12. These resources introduce media literacy effectively, promoting advertising literacy, cognitive defenses against messages, and resilience to fake news. The approach addresses teacher challenges in staying updated on applications and stealth marketing. Utilising innovative methods, it emphasizes participative learning and critical thinking. Positive reinforcement, including the Minding Media Monster mascot, badges, certificates, and engaging materials, incentivizes children's progress. Introducing effective MLE resources, the project contributes significantly to advancing digital competences in schools, tackling evolving media consumption challenges
The Minding Media project aims to enhance children's digital competences by addressing the evolving challenges of media consumption in our increasingly digitized society. Targeting Generation Alpha, born after 2010, the project recognizes their heightened exposure to digital marketing content, emphasizing the need for improved cognitive competences and defenses. Despite the integration of digital skills into curricula, there's a noticeable gap in emphasizing media literacy, a crucial aspect for responsible navigation of the digital landscape. The European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators (DigCompEdu) underscores the pivotal role of educators in fostering learners' digital competences, including information and media literacy. Minding Media bridges this educational gap by integrating comprehensive media literacy programs. It aims to teach students how to discern reliable sources, critically analyze information, and understand the impact of media. Focusing on ages 8 to 12, a pivotal stage in understanding persuasive intent in commercial messages, the project recognizes that while children can evaluate message content, the enjoyment of advertisements often diminishes motivation for employing resistance strategies.