Within MEDIActive Youth project on media literacy, the training course has been successfully held in Belgrade from 25th June to 2nd July 2022. The training, hosted by Centar za drustveno ekonomski razvoj (CDER), had 21 youth worker participants, 3 from each partner NGOs. It was led by experienced CDER trainers.
The goal of the training was to provide media literacy/activism and blended learning skills for the youth workers/trainers from seven partner NGOs from Europe (Estonia, North Macedonia, Serbia) and Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia). After the training, they have been empowered to educate young people in media literacy by using blended learning. They also perfected their writing skills and started writing for the Transnational Youth Magazine – TYM, tymagazine.net.
During the training, the participants developed a range of skills in the field of media literacy/activism: technical competences (the ability to access media), critical skills (understanding, interpreting and critical evaluation of media content) and practical skills (creating media messages – in particular writing texts for the media; using social networks as vehicles for the media activism; blended learning). They were also familiarized by the existing OER in the field of media literacy, and learned how to use the blended learning method in education; in concrete terms, how to educate young people in media literacy by using this method.
The TC contained several main parts:
1. Media Literacy and The Power of Media
This TC segment provided essential knowledge and skills on media literacy and critical thinking, required for understanding contemporary media and media content, as well as for understanding and interpreting messages that we receive and send via mass media.
2. Writing skills
Through this segment of the course, the participants improved their writing skills and learned how to write a good media article. This segment offered a practical guide to style, composition and good usage that underscores all good writing. It provided practical advices for avoiding typical stylistic and grammar mistakes in writing and exemplify elementary rules of style, composition and good writing.
3. Blended learning
Within this TC segment, the participants got familiarized in detail about the blended learning methods and practice this method in their work through a simulation of the educative process.
4. Team building, cultural and relaxation activities
5. Strengthening cooperation among partners
Entire TC was based on active participation of all participants who gained new skills and instantly applied them i.e. acquired knowledge through hands-on training. The TC was implemented by different working methods and techniques of non-formal learning: workshops, discussions, practical work (news writing), watching media content, case studies and movie projections, group work, online learning, icebreakers, energizers…
MEDIActive Youth project is supported by the EU Erasmus+ Programme.
