How to use critical-thinking to enable media literacy

Code: 065

Course overview and purpose:
In education, media literacy promotes awareness of the influence media has on all aspects of our lives, from what we buy to how we vote, and how we can take an active stance towards both consuming and creating media. A prerequisite of media literacy is being able to think critically and, thus, recognise and evaluate what you read, see, and hear. Teachers can support students in developing critical-thinking skills that allow them to effectively evaluate content from a variety of media sources.

The course will have both theoretical units and group activities through which you will build frameworks and tools to support students develop critical-thinking skills and the ability to evaluate the information they are exposed to. Thinking tasks, logical fallacies, and critical-thinking tests can be used to develop the ability to logically analyse assumptions, arguments, deductions, inferences, and interpreting information. Those critical-thinking teaching resources are thus instrumental in checking for facts, bias, and fake news, to recognise how – and why – a media message is constructed, as well as its impact on the world, and to learn how to create media responsibly. Role-playing models for divergent thinking such as “Six Thinking Hats” are great tools to develop creative problem-solving and to make connections between the class materials and media they consume at home, to use their new skills to better understand historical events, and produce media in inventive formats. When students are confident in these abilities, they are better at research, writing, and communicating, all of which are vital skills for students today. Find out more about lesson plans, videos, downloadables and games organised according to a few key topic areas, such as interpreting media, media creation, and media manipulation, and discuss with your colleagues from all over Europe to better understand and practice media literacy by teaching critical-thinking!

Learning outcomes:
- Gain information on what media literacy and critical thinking are
- Improve understanding and acquire new methods and instruments on how to evaluate and create information
- Learn how to increase critical-thinking skills
- Understand how to share the competencies gained in the course with the students
- Recognise why critical-thinking and media literacy are especially important when it comes to sensitive issues