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Media Competence and Digital Literacy of Seniors – the BonJour Project

PeterMaz Blended Learning, BonJour, Technology Enhanced Teaching
Media Competence and Digital Literacy of Seniors – the BonJour Project

BonJour LogoThe BonJour Project (Erasmus+ 2023-1-IT02-KA220-ADU-000160320) aims to improve media literacy among older adults by enhancing their journalism and digital skills. This will empower them to be more socially active and bridge the digital gap between generations. A new profession, the Media Educators for the Elderly, will be established to address the specific needs of this demographic. The project will involve training these educators, developing media literacy curricula for seniors, and creating an e-learning platform for seniors to become active and critical media consumers. The EBI – as a partner in this project – has undertaken some specific analyses of the focus rounds (with experts, implemented in May, analysing the new role of Media Educators and different points of view on media literacy of seniors). Here is the first summary:

Roles and Responsibilities of Media Educators

Media educators play a vital role in supporting seniors in their digital journey. They should equip seniors with the skills to use digital technologies effectively, while also raising awareness of both the risks and opportunities associated with them. Promoting social inclusion through digital literacy is another key responsibility of media educators.

Educators should focus on teaching core digital competences such as recognizing different types of online content, understanding how the internet and social media work, and developing critical thinking skills. However, fostering a positive learning environment is equally important. By adopting a friendly and non-hierarchical approach, media educators can create a space where seniors feel comfortable asking questions and learning from each other.

Media Educator - symbolic picture created by AI
Media Educator in the On-site Training – working with senior adults.

Core Competences for Media Educators

Several key competences are essential for media educators working with seniors in the frame of the BonJour Project. These include:

  • Pedagogical Skills
    The ability to identify effective learning strategies that cater to the specific needs of older adult learners.
  • Emotional Skills
    Understanding and addressing the anxieties or frustrations seniors may experience while learning new skills.
  • Digital Skills
    Strong digital skills to serve as a role model and provide clear guidance to seniors.
  • Socialization Skills
    The ability to create engaging learning experiences that promote interaction and build a sense of community among participants.

Training and Certifications

Currently, there is a lack of widespread awareness regarding specialized training courses or certifications specifically designed for media educators who focus on teaching seniors.

Pedagogical Approaches and Teaching Methods

Experience-based and transformative learning methods might be most effective for engaging senior learners and making the educational process meaningful. Cooperative learning with clearly defined micro-objectives can also be highly beneficial. However, face-to-face teaching, practical exercises, and demonstrations remain crucial elements in creating a successful learning environment for seniors.

Illustration of Media Literacy
Media Literacy will be taught using a Blended Learning delivery (Based on Flipped Learning 3.0).

Preferred Learning Methods

When it comes to learning methods, seniors tend to gravitate towards concrete approaches such as practical exercises, face-to-face interaction, group work, and video tutorials. Methods that encourage the exchange of experiences and the application of newly acquired skills in real-world scenarios are particularly effective for this demographic.

Practical Issues in Creating Learning Material

Accessibility is a key consideration when developing learning materials for seniors. This includes using larger font sizes, increased line spacing, and clear, concise language. Self-assessment tools and cooperative evaluation methods can also help to reduce feelings of anxiety or inadequacy among learners. Basically, the team will select an active learning approach. The team will also create a learning platform with multimedia-based and interactive training materials.

Challenges Faced by Elderly Learners in the BonJour Project

Several challenges can hinder seniors’ ability to learn new digital skills. Age-related difficulties like vision problems or motor skill limitations can create obstacles. Additionally, some seniors may be hesitant to change their established routines or may fear appearing outdated. Psychological barriers such as the fear of making mistakes can also impede progress.

Overcoming Challenges

Media educators can address these challenges by creating tailored learning modules that cater to the specific needs and abilities of seniors. Designing lessons that are relevant to their personal experiences and providing ample opportunities for practice are also crucial. Motivating senior learners by emphasizing the benefits of digital competence and demonstrating how these skills can enhance their lives is essential for promoting continued engagement.

Use of Technology in Teaching

Various digital tools can be incorporated into lessons for seniors, including the Office Suite, web browsers, PDF editing tools, and even social media platforms. However, it is important to prioritize familiar and accessible technologies such as smartphones and commonly used applications.

While some seniors may be comfortable using platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp, navigating unfamiliar platforms can present challenges. Repetitive practice and confidence-building activities are essential for overcoming these hurdles.

Responsible Sharing of News

Media educators in the Bonjour Project play a critical role in teaching seniors about responsible news sharing. This includes emphasizing the importance of verifying information before sharing it and teaching them to critically evaluate sources and cross-check information.

Quality Control in Journalism

Quality control in journalism is paramount. Media educators should impress upon seniors the importance of verifying information from reputable sources and cross-referencing information with relevant authorities to ensure accuracy. The ever-evolving media landscape presents a challenge to maintaining quality, but critical thinking skills are essential for navigating this complex environment.

Media Literacy in the BonJour! Project.

Media literacy is crucial for both younger and older generations. Educators play a vital role in teaching everyone to critically evaluate the information they encounter and to avoid the pitfall of accepting information at face value. Developing strong research skills and fostering a culture of persistence and critical thinking are essential components of media literacy education.

Algorithmic Influence

The rise of algorithms and the creation of information bubbles are significant challenges in today’s media landscape. Media educators should raise awareness of these issues and encourage seniors to seek out diverse sources of information to gain a well-rounded perspective.

 

BonJour: Kick-Off in Lecce

PeterMaz BonJour, Project, Technology Enhanced Teaching
BonJour: Kick-Off in Lecce
We are excited to convene the Kick-off Meeting at the EduVita Intergenerational Centre in Lecce, marking the beginning of our collaborative endeavour in the frame of the BonJour Project, an adult education media literacy cooperation. This meeting is a critical first step in launching our project, bringing together a diverse group of experts and professionals.

The partners in this Media Literacy Adult Education Project

EduVita is the coordinator in this project. It is an educational and cultural center in Southern Italy founded in 2019 to improve the quality of life for all ages through intergenerational learning. They focus on social activities for elderly people and innovative teaching methods. Currently, Hanna Urbanovich, Damiano Verri, and Teresa Voce are in the project team.

  • Associação MY MADEIRA ISLAND, represented by Anastasia Mazur, and Andreia Jesus is a non-profit that supports Madeira Island’s cultural and social development through educational events and activities. They focus on helping young people gain digital skills and find online work due to the island’s limited job market.
  • Foundation Pro Scientia Publica (Poland), represented by Aleksander Kobylarek and Martyna Madej, is a non-profit organization focused on adult education, especially for elderly people. They provide workshops and seminars on various topics to help seniors stay socially engaged and develop new skills.
  • Our organisation, the European Initiative for Education (EIE), a non-profit organization in Austria, promotes innovative education and training methods for adult learners and educators. They focus on technology-enhanced learning and developing new teaching techniques. Peter Mazohl participated in the meeting.
  • Fundacja Imienia Juliusza Mieroszewskiego (Foundation of Juliusz Mieroszewskiego), established in 2013, focuses on strengthening ties between Central and Eastern European countries through educational and cultural initiatives. They promote lifelong learning, especially for older adults, by offering virtual courses, training educators, and supporting programs like the Golden Age University in Belarus. From this organisation, Lana Rudnik, Vitaut Rudnik participated in the meeting.
  • Nazilli Hayat Boyu Öğrenme Derneği (Nazhayat) is an association founded in 2015 by educators to bridge generations and cultures. They focus on re-invigorating adults over 50 after retirement and offer courses for teenagers and adults. Their main goal is to integrate retired people back into society and promote active ageing through various activities. With a core group of 30 active members, mostly volunteers, Nazhayat benefits numerous participants both in Nazilli and online. Participants: Hasan Yuce, Emin Masalcı.
Each partner brings a wealth of knowledge and experience vital to the project’s success.

During the Meeting

A session designed to welcome participants, aimed at fostering camaraderie and collaboration among all partners. Each partner provided a brief introduction, detailing their organization’s role and contributions.
Kick-Off meeting BonJour Project Lecce
The Kick-Off meeting of the BonJour Project took place in Lecce, in the rooms of EduVita.
The meeting featured a comprehensive outline of the project, including detailed descriptions of the work packages, with a focus on the specifics, responsibilities, and forthcoming steps of WP2. There will be a discussion on project management strategies, communication methods, financial rules, and the partnership agreement to ensure clarity and cohesion in our collective effort. Additionally, the meeting will focus on establishing quality benchmarks, evaluation plans, and risk mitigation strategies to guide us on our path to success.

Summary

This Kick-off Meeting promises to be a milestone event, setting the foundation for our collaborative work on media literacy. It’s an opportunity to align our goals, understand our roles, and embark on this journey with a shared vision and enthusiasm. We look forward to a productive meeting that paves the way for our project’s success.
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The project’s number is 2023-1-IT02-KA220-ADU-00016032, the complete title “BonJour! Enhancing the Critical Media Literacy of the Elderly through Digital Education and Journalism”. We appreciate the funding of the European Commission for this project.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.

Do we need books in technology enhanced learning (TEL)?

Europaeische Bildungsinitiative Miscellaneous, Technology Enhanced Teaching
Do we need books in technology enhanced learning (TEL)?

In the last three years I met many people mentioning that they use eLearning in their teaching and books are outdated. But – is this true?

Technology in learning

First of all, it would be necessary to clear the term “eLearning”. This term says nothing and expresses everything – from an objective point of view it is more or less meaningless.

The Cambridge Dictionary defines e-Learning[1]

learning done by studying at home using computers and courses provided on the internet

This definition is highly influenced form Marc J Rosenberg[2] who mentions three columns for eLearning:

  1. E-learning is networked making it capable of updating, storage and retrieval, distribution and sharing of instruction or information.
  2. It is delivered to the end-user via a computer using standard internet technology.
  3. eLearning is more than eTraining.

A modern description is done by the North Carolina Education Cabinet (as one example taken from the USA) and defines “eLearning is learning utilizing electronic technologies to access educational curriculum outside of a traditional classroom”.

Rosenberg’s descriptions are approx. 20 years old. The modern version also does not match with the reality. The term eLearning must be replaced by the new expression technology enhanced learning (TEL).

Technology enhanced learning is used to refer to technology enhanced classrooms and learning with technology (and not through technology), which means a learner centered approach using the technology for the learning.

Where is the place for “traditional” books?

Books are still available – Amazon started the business success by selling books (and still sells them), libraries are still used intensively by people borrowing books there. Masses of books – in small quantities – are published and printed as “book on demand”.

Books are transferred to the digital age as eBooks. The reader used an eBook reader (like Kindle, Kobo, or Tolino) or read the book by a viewer on their digital device (laptop, tablet).

Printed books provide all the advantages of technology enhanced learning: you can read them at any time, everywhere, and in your own pace. An advantage is the use of books without energy (you must not recharge your book).

Another big advantage is that you can share the book easily (this is more or less impossible with eBook readers) and that books have page numbers. Did you ever try to cite a text correctly from a eBook without any page information (pure PDF documents often have page numbers but do not supply the advantages of eBook readers like enlarging the fonts).

 

[1] https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/e-learning

[2] Rosenberg, Marc Jeffrey (2001): E-learning. Strategies for delivering knowledge in the digital age. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Image source: © Peter Mazohl

 

Project presented at the EDEN Conference 2018 (Genoa)

Europaeische Bildungsinitiative Project, Technology Enhanced Teaching, VTT-Box project
Project presented at the EDEN Conference 2018 (Genoa)

Peter Mazohl will present the European Erasmus+ project the “Virtual Teachers Toolbox” (VTT-Box) at the EDEN conference in Genoa (in June 2018). This 2-year project aims to create a special virtual toolbox for teachers as a sophisticated tool for developing Open Online Distance Learning (OODL) courses which means open, online, flexible and technology enhanced education (OOFAT).

Example of a self evaluation mandala (taken from the VTT-Box pilot course about electric circuits)

As a complete innovation, the self-evaluation mandala is implemented as a motivating tool. It is a graphical pattern to collect the pre-competence of the learners and to compare it with the learning outcomes. Another innovative tool is the toolbox which helps the teachers to create correct mandalas and supplies the teachers with information and knowledge to create the courses easily. A specific pedagogical approach is developed in the frame of the project.

Several frameworks developed by the European Commission (EC) in the frame of former projects are also part of the project and used in the toolbox. In particular, the DigiCompEdu2.0 framework is used as well as the E-xellence quality framework developed by the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU) for course development, course creation and implementation and the course evaluation. The used learning platform is Moodle 3.X.

This project uses a strategic cooperation between formal and non-formal/informal educational providers using ICT based teaching and the enhancement of digital integration in learning. It will be enhancing teachers’ professional development and support students‘ acquisition of values, skills and competences.

The partners in Erasmus + project VTT-Box 2017-1-ES01-KA201-028199 are:

  • Colegio Internacional Costa Adeje (Spain), coordinador
  • Europäische Bildungsinitiative (Austria)
  • T.S Vittorio Veneto Salvemini (Italy)
  • University of Crete (Greece)
  • Swedish Association for Distance Education (Sweden)

Tutorial Support – how to Contact the Trainer?

PeterMaz Technology Enhanced Teaching
Tutorial Support – how to Contact the Trainer?

As an organization intensively involved in eLearning we permanently check the quality of our courses and try to amend the quality. One issue is the communication – here mainly the contact between the learners and the tutor.

In fact, we were sure that the best method is a forum where learners can ask the trainer. The result of a questionnaire (conducted in the frame of a Grundtvig Multilateral Project) the results prove our current opinion – but not fully.

Do women prefer to talk?

In an eLearning course, there is always the problem of the support of the learners. Sometimes, learners want to contact their tutor or the have a problem and need help from their trainer or teacher. Which method – do you think – is the best one?

There are several methods available and you have to select the best one. Here is the list of possibilities:

  • Telephone
  • Skype
  • Forum
  • Chat

Here are two synchronous and two asynchronous methods mentioned.

Chat

Forum

Skype

Telephone
Female

15 %

63,2 %

17 %

5 %
Male

12 %

72,0 %

13 %

3 %

The behavior is similar: the majority prefers forums. Here the preference of male participants is about 10 percent higher as the female answers.

Female participants in the opposite show a higher percentage of skype preferences – they prefere to talk.

If you check the differences between synchronous and asynchronous communication you will find a six percent higher level of preferences for synchronous methods at the female users.

eLearning Quality Fields

PeterMaz Miscellaneous, Quality, Technology Enhanced Teaching
eLearning Quality Fields

The use of eLearning and Distance Learning is increasing and plays a more and more important role in the teaching environment. Here are some quality characteristics of eLearning (focusing on the learner):

Sorting some images instead of contribution to the learning.
  • Learning goal: What does the learner want to learn?
  • Learning motivation: Why does the learner want to learn?
  • Learning setting: Activities surrounding the learning object
  • Time: How much time does the learner have to learn?
  • Culture and language: Learners are in a multi-cultural context as well in a multilingual environment (especial in Europe)
  • Educational level: Age and learning background of the learners
  • Accessibility: Access for all (also disabled of handicapped people; in Germany called barrier-free access).

The images show a teaching situation where the motivation of the students is not-existing and the eLearning (in a face to face environment) fails …

No motivation: facebook is more interesting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Key Areas for Quality definition in eLearning

PeterMaz Quality, Technology Enhanced Teaching
Key Areas for Quality definition in eLearning
To be successful in eLearning several key areas of quality should be fulfilled.

2002 the “Council for Higher Education” CHEA published the following seven key areas as criteria for measure eLearning quality:

  1. Institutional Mission
  2. Institutional Organization Structure
  3. Institutional resources
  4. Curriculum and instruction
  5. Faculty support
  6. Student support
  7. Student learning outcomes

In the same paper, three key areas are mentioned as challenges for quality assurance of distance education:

  • An alternative design of instructions (dealing with curriculum, student support etc.
  • Alternative providers of higher education (focus on all seven key areas mentioned before)
  • Expanded focus on training

You may download this interesting document from the CHEA-Website

http://www.chea.org/pdf/mono_1_accred_distance_02.pdf

eLearning and Blended Learning Materials

PeterMaz Blended Learning, Miscellaneous, Technology Enhanced Teaching
eLearning and Blended Learning Materials
Books were a source for learning hundreds of years. Today, they still play a role – but often in an electronical version (ebook)

To plan and develop an eLearning course covers many aspects. To ensure the necessary quality you have to consider the institutional mission, the organizational structure and the available resources. Furthermore, you have to care for a well-fitting curriculum and design, the support from faculty (or similar internal structure) as well as the students’ support and to define the competence oriented learning outcomes.

Create the content

For the content of such a well-designed course, you have to develop the best-fitting material. Content in eLearning should cover different activities and learning content in a well-defined mixture (that depends in most cases from the taught subject). The following issues must be included:

  • Content to gain knowledge
  • Activities to interact with other learners. To promote group work and to develop the skills defined in the competence oriented learning outcomes
  • Content to develop the learners’ attitudes (as defined in the learning outcomes)
  • Assessments and test environment to check the learning progress

Reuse the content

The created content should be reusable – that means, that – as a start developed – content can be used easily also in other courses. The costs of content development for one single course ar too high to create high quality eLearning courses economically.

Where to take content?

There are different types of content based on the used media. Specialists in the subject can do writing a text easily. To provide the necessary graphics or high-quality multimedia material is more difficult and in the most cases cost extensive: You have to buy the material from companies specialized in that field of multimedia or expansive internal or external specialist create it.

Images and graphics

In spite of paying a lot of money for external specialists or image agencies, you may use content from sources under the Creative Commons (or similar environments).

This chapter of the webpage will supply you with information about “open resources”.

Animations

The same situation as mentioned above is in the field animations. There are many applications available either to create animations or ready-to-use animations that can be used without copyright violation.

You will also find here some information about free material and the legal conditions for their use.