Cooperative Learning With and About Internet Forums: A Case Study on a Unit on the Consumption and Chemistry of Mineral Water vs. Tap Water

In today’s society, digital media play an increasing role in gathering and exchanging information. A growing part of communication takes place in the Internet and many people are increasingly influenced by information provided via digital and social media. Development of critical media literacy is needed, if the general public is expected to effectively deal with this flood of information and to become able to distinguish between correct and false information sources. Thus, critical media education becomes an important aim of education in general, and of chemistry education in particular when considering questions directly related to chemistry and its associated consumer products or technologies. The article describes a curriculum development case study investigating the integration of media education with chemistry learning along the case of learning with and about Internet forums on the topic of water chemistry. A unit integrating theoretical and practical chemistry learning based on student communication is described, which is built around a digital forum operated by Moodle. The unit design and findings from the implementation are presented.

Teachers' perspectives for a critical agenda in media education post COVID-19. A comparative study in Latin America

The COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America forced a transition from a face-to-face educational model to a distance model affected by emergencies, technological precariousness, and lack of planning. This has heightened the need for media literacy in the region. In this context, the changes that have occurred were analyzed in order to propose a critical agenda from the perspective of teachers. First, a desk research of official sources was carried out to learn about the strategies of the four countries under study: Argentina, Ecuador, Chile, and Peru. Secondly, eight focus groups were conducted with primary school teachers from public and private institutions to learn about their perception of their own and their students' media competencies, the impact of the pandemic on their practices and needs, and the emerging challenges in this crisis. The results shed light on the need for relevant ICT training from a media literacy perspective, and strategies to address connectivity gaps, lack of adequate environments and work overload. The specific results per country and the differences and demands of each context are discussed in this work as contributions to the development of a critical agenda in media education. La pandemia causada por la COVID-19 en América Latina obligó a transitar de un modelo educativo presencial a uno a distancia atravesado por la emergencia, las precariedades tecnológicas y la falta de planificación. Esto ha agudizado las necesidades de educación mediática en la región. En ese contexto, se analizó los cambios ocurridos para proponer una agenda crítica desde la perspectiva de los docentes. En primer lugar, se realizó una revisión documental de fuentes oficiales para conocer las estrategias de los cuatro países de estudio: Argentina, Ecuador, Chile y Perú. En segundo lugar, se llevaron a cabo ocho grupos focales con docentes de primaria de instituciones públicas y privadas para conocer su percepción sobre sus competencias mediáticas y las de sus estudiantes, el impacto de la pandemia en sus prácticas y necesidades, y los retos emergentes en esta crisis. Los resultados apuntan a la necesidad de capacitaciones pertinentes en el manejo de las TIC, así como estrategias que atiendan las brechas de conectividad, la falta de ambientes adecuados y la sobrecarga laboral. Los resultados específicos por país, las diferencias y demandas propias de cada contexto, se discuten en este trabajo como aportes al desarrollo de una agenda crítica en educación mediática.

Video games in the context of screen technoculture and media education: new rhetorical strategies and educational potential

Video games have become a prominent part of on-screen technoculture today, breaking the purely entertaining social labelling framework. They contribute to the generation of new social activities, and also become an innovative media space for the explication of artistic and aesthetic values, political meanings and educational practices. The aim of the study is the reconstruction and analysis of the cultural constitution of video games, revealing the features of their screen rhetorical capabilities, as well as revealing the educational potential of gamification practices and Digital Game Based Learning strategies. This is intended to form the competence-thematic framework of video games as a platform for modern media education. The methodological basis of the work is the cultural-historical and dialectical approaches, as well as the methods of systemic and structural-functional analysis. The study made it possible to trace the genesis of the cultural formation of video games, which demonstrated many strategies for their integration into the space of mass media culture. The main rhetorical models implemented in video games are analyzed. Particular attention is paid to the comprehensive consideration of procedural rhetoric as an original way of convincing the user through gameplay, interactive involvement in virtual practices. The foundations of the practice of gamification and the strategy of Digital Game Based Learning in education are considered. It identifies the possibilities of gamification as an innovative methodology for organizing incentives and rewards, and also identifies the range of difficulties and risks of total gamification of the educational process. Based on the results of the study, it was determined that video games use an original complex of rhetorical techniques that combine both traditional audiovisual formats of narrative, characteristic of other on-screen media, and procedural-interactive techniques. They made it possible to directly integrate the user into virtual narratives, turning them from a passive recipient into an actor. The importance of gamification as a tool for building strategies of internal stimulation with elements of entertaining practices in the dynamics of learning is also revealed, which increases the effectiveness of education. It has been revealed the significant educational potential of video games as a promising media platform in the framework of the implementation of the Digital Game Based Learning strategy. They can act both as carriers of knowledge and as a virtual environment for the formation of competencies in the field of history, economics, literature and social management. Procedural and rhetorical tools allow a person to become a part of an interactive scenario, which greatly increases the likelihood of assimilating information and developing professional skills.

MEDIA EDUCATION TECHNOLOGIES AS A BASIS FOR REALIZING THE CREATIVE POTENTIAL OF YOUTH

The current trends in the development of media educational practices are analyzed in this article in the context of the problems and opportunities for the development of youth media creativity in the structure of social and cultural activities of cultural and leisure institutions. The analysis is carried out on the basis of comparing the positions of specialists and the results of a diagnostic study of the degree of involvement of young people in the processes of media creativity and media education, where mentoring technologies are acquiring a special role, replacing traditional teaching didactic techniques today.

O USO DA EDUCAÇÃO MIDIÁTICA PELAS BIBLIOTECAS UNIVERSITÁRIAS EM TEMPOS DE COVID-19: um relato de experiência na região norte do Brasil = THE USE OF MEDIA EDUCATION BY UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN TIMES OF COVID-19: an experience report in the Northern region of Brazil

Ao longo das últimas duas décadas do século XXI, as bibliotecas universitárias têm enfrentado um grande desafio: alinhar o suporte tradicional da informação às inovações tecnológicas voltadas para o ensino e aprendizagem. Isso se torna bastante evidente no contexto da pandemia do coronavírus SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19), que obrigou as unidades de informação a repensarem ainda mais a forma de gestão e oferta de seus produtos em ambientes virtuais. Em razão das restrições impostas, as bibliotecas passaram a investir maciçamente em treinamentos, webinar (webconferências) e eventos on-line, tais como: seminários, congressos e oficinas. O objetivo geral direcionou-se a descrever a utilização de educação midiática pelas Bibliotecas Universitárias da UFRR e da UFAM. Para a consecução deste trabalho adotou-se uma pesquisa caracterizada como um estudo de caso, além de abordagens de caráter descritivo e qualitativo, com fito de estabelecer a correlação da qualidade informacional e dos serviços fornecidos. Propõe-se que os estudos, objetos deste trabalho, tenham prosseguimento, produzindo ações e conhecimentos novos.AbstractOver the last two decades of the 21st century, university libraries have faced a major challenge: to align the traditional support of information with technological innovations aimed at teaching and learning. This becomes quite evident in the context of the SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) coronavirus pandemic, which forced information units to further rethink the way they manage and offer their products in virtual environments. Due to the restrictions imposed, libraries started to invest massively in training, webinars (web conferences) and online events, such as: seminars, congresses and workshops. The general objective was aimed at describing the use of media education by the University Libraries of UFRR and UFAM. In order to carry out this work, a research characterized as a case study was adopted, in addition to descriptive and qualitative approaches, with the aim of establishing the correlation between the informational quality and the services provided. It is proposed that the studies, objects of this work, continue, producing new actions and knowledge.

The Process and Model Innovation of Ideological Education Network Communication in Colleges and Universities Based on Cloud Computing

The purpose is to improve the power and innovate the communication mode of mainstream I&P (Ideological and Political) education in C&U (Colleges and Universities). The opportunities and challenges that I&P education is facing or will face in media times are analyzed from three factors: the subjective, the mediator, and the environment, which affect the power of mainstream I&P in C&U. Educational means, carriers, resources, places and times, and the interactions between educators and the educated can bring opportunities for the improvement of the educational power of C&U. However, there are great challenges in all aspects of the mainstream ideology, such as education methods, education ideas, education content, education leadership and discourse power, and network public opinion control. Finally, a series of measures are proposed to improve the power of mainstream I&P education in C&U in media times, and they are updating the concept of media education, strengthening the ideological guidance, ensuring the direction of mainstream I&P education, and optimizing the media environment so that a more perfect innovative mode of I&P education is constructed. The research enriches and develops the theory of mainstream I&P education in C&U, innovates the methods of mainstream I&P education in C&U, and enhances the power of mainstream I&P education.

Media education role in achieving physical education goals in Poland

Indirect education found and is still finding its source in various media for a long time. Technological advancement results in the educators having an increased ability to use new tools in education. The goal remains the same but the social conditions impose a new identity – the subject teacher evolves into a media one. In the school system, necessary corrections have been introduced to the most important documents and the curricula, but there is still a lack of knowledge on what media education looks like in practice in specific national realities. The review article shows how goals determined by the curricula are already realized through new media in Poland and for which goals the didactic activities should be expanded. In the thematic block concerning physical activity, there is an entry: “The contents of this area have been enriched with modern forms of movement, physical activities from other European countries and use of modern technologies to monitor and plan physical activity” (MEN, 2017: 191). When organizing activities in the classroom area and with the right equipment, conducting lessons with the use of the media is not a problematic task. But are the PE teachers in a similarly comfortable position? It turns out that the development of information technology is conducive to the achievement of the objectives of this subject as well. The literature review and the solutions used so far in the school system are the basis for the thesis of a correlation between the ways in which modern media are used and the formation of the students’ attitudes towards physical culture.