MIL: MEDIA AND INFORMATION LITERACY FOR TEACHERS, POLICY MAKERS & PROFESSIONALS

Course Description: To be a successful and useful citizen of the 21^st Century, there is need for one to master multiple types of literacy beyond the ability to read and write. You need the skills to critically analyse information in traditional and digital media in order to have a better appreciation of what is important in changing world.

The course introduces the learners to basic understanding of media and information as channels of communication and tools for the development of individuals and societies. It also aims to develop students to be creative and critical thinkers as well as responsible users and competent producers of media and information

Media and information literacy as proposed by UNESCO in 2007 covers all competencies related to information literacy and media literacy that also include digital or technological literacy. It focuses on different and intersecting competencies to transform people’s interaction with information and learning environments online and offline.

Media and information literacy seeks to bring together disciplines that were once separate and distinct. MIL is concerned with the knowledge and understanding of the functions of media, libraries, archives and other information providers, how they operate, how they convey messages and values, how they can be used, and how to critically evaluate the information they present.

Throughout the course, students will be actively engaged by the instructors to think and write critically about information and media in order to resist the corporate environment in which we all are hoped, assumed, and constructed to be passive consumers. This course will empower learners to be active consumers and or global producers of media content and information.

As teachers will realise, MIL is crucial for insuring quality and inclusiveness of learning and teaching, and vital for the success of lifelong learning.

MIL constitutes a composite set of knowledge, skills, attitudes, competencies and practices that allow effectively access, analyze, critically evaluate, interpret, use, create and disseminate information and media products with the use of existing means and tools on a creative, legal and ethical basis. It is an integral part of so-called “21^st century skills” or “transversal competencies”.

 “We live in a world where the quality of information we receive largely determines our choices and ensuing actions, including our capacity to enjoy fundamental freedoms and the ability for self-determination and development.”

This course will assist teachers, policy makers and professional to become agents of change through the development of Media and Information Literacy in their communities and through enhancing intercultural understandings.

Course objectives:

By the end of this course, students will be able to…

1. Evaluate and be critical consumers of information and media content.
2. Know their legal rights in relation to information and media, how these emerged in Uganda (or respective country), and the structures of ownership.
3. Use critical thinking and problem solving skills to build an intellectual framework for discovering, using and evaluating information.
4. Know how best to participation in media and information creation and sharing