COVID-19 Impact on Media Education in Technical University
The article considers raising students' media literacy as the response to the pandemic challenges highlighting the problem of deficiency of information verifiability and the importance of raising students' critical thinking as a crucial tool in decreasing the COVID-19 pandemic potential damage. The focus of the study lies in the research what sources/genres students of technical universities resort to in getting the information concerning the pandemic, what is their ability to distinguish facts from opinions, trustworthy information from misinformation as well as what are possible differences among students of technical and humanitarian specialities in terms of media literacy. The findings of the survey of 511 students majoring in different specialities at the National Technical University of Ukraine' Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute' (after this, the official abbreviated name – Igor Sikorsky KPI) revealed a need in raising students' media literacy in terms of critically assessing information concerning the coronavirus.