4 Useful Open Source Tools for Developing Media and Information Literacy

In the age of fidgety fingers, habitual multitasking and smartphone addiction, it can be hard to try and stay present when consuming audiovisual media. This strategic movie night plan, along with the handout from Common Sense Education, is a great way to train youths to focus, analyse and be mindful media consumers. The prep time for you as a facilitator is no more than 30 minutes and the discussion-based format is pretty intuitive. This also poses an opportunity to choose a thought-provoking film and make sure your viewing group actually dives as deeply as the film maker intended. Win!

The themes of non-consentual sharing of sexual images, exploitation, coercion and threats, sexualised bullying and unwanted sexualisation are important to discuss openly, but often difficult to navigate. The CYBERSAFE Toolkit, created by 9 partner organisations and co-funded by the REC program of EU, is a great helper for educators, youth workers or others facilitating workshops on the topic of online sexual harassment and safety for young people. The toolkit combines materials that are downloadable as a PDF and an online tool that encourages discussion through case studies and role play. The best part? The online tool has a nice guide for the facilitators too, so, instead of having to read into the topic for hours beforehand, you can learn by doing and get going right away!

The GetBadNews game is exceptional, because it actually delivers on interactivity that is often promised by MOOCs. As a facilitator, you have a handout to turn to for a quick and effortless overview of the activity, as well as two different versions to choose from depending on the age group you are working with. The only downside is that at least one device per team is needed. Make it more fun by competing against each other. Maybe even something sweet as a reward? The game will take approximately 20 minutes.

It is time to awaken the detective spirit in your group! CyberSec is a card deck game based on real-life case studies, which are really helpful in bringing theoretical privacy and security problems into life. The facilitator or game master will be aware of the ‘right’ answers (no need to try and memorise them beforehand!) to the riddles. After each card, you will ask the players, “What happened?”, who will then ask yes or no questions. The goal is to find out the real story – and you will have some amazing discussions in the process, I promise. The deck is available as a downloadable PDF and, if you happen to be gathering over Zoom, you can try out the online version, which gives you a new card after each refresh.