Media citizenship in Europe

Erasmus+ strategic partnership

27.02.2014
Key stages:
1. Media in context
Media and its definition in a European context.
The growth and development of different information mediums.
The impact of various forms of media.
2. Media in my community
Media and its definition in a community context
Use and acceptance of different form of media in partner school
communities.
Comparing and contrasting media across EU using partner schools.
3. Social media in Education
Social media and its definition in an educational context related to
schools, students and teachers.
Pros and cons of the use of social media in education.
Uses, availability and training of teaching pedagogy related to social
media in education.
4. Social media in democracy
Social media and its wider use as means to increase the freedom of
formation and speech.
Social media and its recent impact on European affairs.
The future of social media in our lives.
Activities:
TabCasts- short video presentations made by students related to the
key stages.
Articles- made by students related to the key stages.
Social media magazineSurveys- made by students in their communities related to the key
stages. Use of maths and statistics. Connection to local media
company, newspaper for example. News papers are interested in the
trends of young people and their use of media.
Products:
4 TabCasts per school- 16 TabCasts total from all schools.

4 Joint TabCasts made during the 4 exchanges totalling 16.

4 Joint Articles made during the exchanges and used as part of the
production of the Joint TabCasts. JTC and JTA.
4 surveys per school- 16 surveys in total with presentation and
comparison of result in the magazine articles.
4 Articles per school based on the key stages
1 Social media magazine - containing 4 chapters with 4 articles each
related to the 4 key stages.
Website
Youtube channel containing all TabCasts.
Edmodo Online education media service

Key words:
Communication technology (ICT)
Linguistic diversity 4 languages, English as working language.
Transnational cooperation
European citizenship
Transversal skills- such as entrepreneurship, Digital skills,
Multilingualism
Innovation in education
Attainment those at risk of early leavers.
Social entrepreneurship - the process of pursuing innovative solutions
to social problems
Numeracy and literacy

Strengthen cooperation between the world of education and the world

of work

The key areas of the project relate to students examining their

relationship with media in their European - community and social
media in education and democracy. The project will be based on 4
key stages. 1- Media in context, 2- Media in my community, 3- Social
media in education, 4- Social media in Democracy.
At the core of the project lies the desire to provide students with
practical transversal skills that will benefit and enhance their future
employability. The adoption of transversal skills will aid the students
for their future employment and create a stronger social cohesion
amongst their fellow EU youth. The key competencies that they will
learn and experience relate to communication in foreign languages,
instilling a sense of initiative and social entrepreneurship, digital
competence and cultural awareness and expression thorough the
cooperation and interaction with the fellow project partners.
International projects have the ability to provide a rejuvenating effect
for those students lacking motivation and lead to increased
attainment through the establishment of practices related to modern
ICT, international exchange, learning by doing and increase the
interest of students in general which can raise the self-esteem of
pupils at risk and increase their resilience against difficulties in their
learning.
The project "Media citizenship in Europe" aims to examine the role of
media and its impact on school life between these fours partners and
in turn these four European cultures. Over the course of 24 months
the project activities will provide students and teachers a platform to
gain a more deeper understanding of the role and impact of media in
their European community, of social media in school and education
and also learn about social medias role in democracy.
The project will provide students and teachers the opportunity to
work as part of a transnational cooperation with their partners using
modern ICT methods and provide students with transversal skills
needed for their future life and provide teachers with new
opportunities to learn about new teaching methods involving ICT and
social media.

Students will create "TabCasts" (TC) in short video form using tablet
computers which are related to the 4 key stages. By using modern
ICT hardware such as the tablets, students will also be updating their
practical skills of this important working tool and be able to fully
utilise all the communication opportunities that it will be bring.
A further element of the project will be the inclusion of a local media
company (newspaper, TV etc) which will be part of the local schools
project activities. This "Media Provider" will become a practical source
of information for schools and also provide a tangible link for students
when working on project activities. This will provide students the
opportunity to connect their transversal skills that they have learned
through the project with a 3rd party who will work in cooperation with
project activities.
Each key stage will be researched, recorded and edited in partner
schools with the final TCs being presented during each exchange. To
aid in the sharing and enhance the flow of communication among
partners schools students and teachers their will be a Google+
platform established where students can easily share, upload and
comment on new content as they research each stage. The use of
modern ICT methods forms a key element of the project ethos with
the objective of interesting students in a natural way and increase
attainment for those at risk of early school leaving.
This innovative approach to a modern subject will foster the
development of students learning and attitude to digital skills, social
entrepreneurship and language through the interactive cooperation
between partners.
The project is based on students carrying out the work involved so as
to provide them with the optimal environment to develop their
transversal skills, however, in order to achieve this, teachers will also
need to gain new skills in the use of ICT, language divseristy and
multinational competence when guiding the students. It is important
that the key stages of the project become a catyst within the schools
curiciculum to provide these new, relevant and interesting topics a
platform for teachers and students to develop, learn, grow and gain
new skills for their future and the future of the school. Teachers will
be encouraged to share their resources and experiences with their
new ICT tools among their colleagues both in their local school and
through the use of the social media platform (google+) that will be
utilised throughout the project.

The project aims to use modern ICT methods in a multinational

atmosphere to examine the role of media in the lives of students and
by dong so also provide teachers a new resource for information and
teaching.
A major element of the project involves the use of tablet computers
which will be used by students to research and create TabCasts (TC)
as part of the project. These tablets will also be used to provide
students with the ease and opportunity to communicate with their
fellow project workers and the main key stages of the project. This
online conversation will take place to bolster the exchange of
information between students when researching their topics and the
the creation of the TCs.
Students will also need to use the tablet computers to record, edit
and share the TCs that they have created. Online channels and
services such as Google+, youtube and googledocs will be used by
the students to share information easily between partners schools
and subsequently schools in each partner region providing a large
spread for dissemination of project results.
Teachers will need to learn new skills related to the use of tablet
computers with the classroom being "flipped" where students may
teach the teachers in how to use this new tool more efficiently and
effectively. Of course students will also be guided by ICT teachers in
each school to show and provide adequate guidance.
Teachers will need to learn new ICT skills related to creating online
tasks for students, sharing information between fellow teachers in
this multinational project and gaining skills that can also be shared
between teachers in their own school. The use of ICT, such as tablets,
is becoming more acceptable in schools but its practical adoption is
being hampered by lack of knowledge and skill. Through this project
teachers will learn how to use this new education tool and by doing so
create new methods and teaching skills that appeal to students and
lead to higher levels of interest and attainment among students.