On the 1^st of November, Media Literacy Ireland held its annual conference at the Irish Film Institute. Participants included Prof. Brian O’Neill, chair of MLI; Deirdre Veldon, Board Member of the Irish Times; Joe Hoban, Head of Communications in RTE, Ronan Costello, from Twitter; Teresa Hanratty, from Learning Waves; and many others.

The topic this year was Media Literacy, Information and Journalism: Empowering Citizens – Enabling Journalists, and I had the opportunity to participate in a panel about media education practices with other MLI members. For 5 minutes, I presented the experience that I had running the Media Literacy Week with TY students in Bridge21, Trinity College Dublin, and then we discussed with the audience some ideas around the implementation of media literacy practices in Irish schools.

It was a great opportunity to show a little bit about my work, and to meet so many interesting people that are working hard to promote media literacy education across the country.

Carlotas Deutchland is a social enterprise based in Munich that uses art and playful education to provide a dialogue on empathy and respect, and to expand the appreciation for diversity. Their website can be accessed here.

Media Aware was hired to give a workshop on Fake News and Disinformation to around 20 Brazilians who are currently living in Germany. The group was very participate and keen on learning about media literacy, so we had a great experience discussing the knowledge and skills necessary to have a safer and more meaningful experience with digital media.

A very interesting media literacy game where gamers have to learn the main tricks used by fake news creators in order to fight back the spread of disinformation in their town. Quite useful even though it was designed for an audience of 18 years and older. I think with few small changes the game could be used by younger people and have a much bigger impact. You can try it out here.

I had a great experience sharing my research with other scholars at the NAMLE conference in Washington D.C. NAMLE is the most important media literacy conference in the U.S. and it offers the opportunity to engage with some of the leading figures in Media Literacy Education and correlated areas.

One of the most interesting aspects of the conference is its practical side, where Media Literacy teachers and researchers engage the audience in practical learning activities on various topics around media and education. More information about the conference can be found here.

I was delighted to contribute to this great article by Barry O’Rourke in The Irish Times on the importance of media literacy to prepare children for a world of fake news. Click here to access the full article.

During the EU Media Literacy Week 2019, I offered a few free workshops for secondary schools in Dublin. In two separate events, TY’s in Donabate Community College and 5th year students in Maryfield Global participated in a 2-hour session discussing the importance of information literacy, the challenges imposed by the spread of fake news, and the role of journalists in the 21st century media culture.

In 2019, the theme for the 4th Media Week in Bridge 21 was ‘Disinformation and Fake News’. Over the course of four days, 25 TY students from different schools explored the many elements involved in creating, spreading and consuming fake news online. They were also provoked into looking at their own confirmation bias and had the chance to reflect on how our psychological impulses determine the way we consume and share information, especially on social media. During the learning process, participants created a website, a movie, a TV Ad and a visual poster.