CheckMate: from the metaverse for media awareness

Dec 17, 2024News

CheckMate is dedicated to media literacy as a key element for individual awareness and the defence of democracy. Among its various activities, it explored the metaverse and planned its next goals.

During October, meetings were held on the platform in the metaverse, created for the occasion by experts from Syncnify, the French project partner organisation. These events were the most innovative and engaging initiatives of the project. Within these immersive spaces, media literacy experts and participants with different backgrounds, adults, students, education experts and information enthusiasts had the opportunity to meet, exchange views and talk about information.

A platform in the metaverse is a virtual space where you can move around, interact with other people and experience things in an immersive way, almost as if you were really there. You can create an avatar with your own features or create one with your own style, the combinations are endless. All you need is a computer or a smartphone and an email to register an account. In these little digital worlds you can do so many things: play, work, have meetings with your colleagues, organise an exhibition or a reading, socialise or, as in our case, have an event with experts.

These events addressed topics central to greater media awareness, such as evaluating information sources, dealing with fake news, the infamous algorithms, the use of social media, and the unconscious motives that drive our behaviour within social networks. As a first experiment, the public response was very positive with more than 130 participants from the five countries involved. The metaverse proved to be an ideal ‘place’ to promote this type of event, breaking down geographical distances. This success represents an important step towards making current and debated topics, such as disinformation and media literacy, accessible and relevant to an increasingly broad audience that is comfortable with digital tools.

Having completed the events in the metaverse, the project now enters a new and important phase. Together with the CheckMate partners, we are working to develop an online media literacy course for adults. This training will be designed to meet the needs of older adults who wish to improve their ability to navigate the contemporary media landscape. The courses will offer a mix of practical and theoretical content, including simple and useful methods for recognising fake news and its spreaders and understanding how social network algorithms work and their impact on our daily lives.

The course will be accessible, flexible and entirely online, allowing anyone, anywhere, to participate and increase their knowledge in this increasingly important field.

More details on the course and how to register will be shared in the coming months. In the meantime, visit the CheckMate platform in the metaverse. There are currently no events scheduled, but you can check out the content developed on fake news and disinformation, including the Tackling Misinformation and Digital Media Literacy Best Practice Guide.

Follow the news! Together, we can build a more informed and responsible society! To find out more, contact Salvatore Duminuco: salvatore.duminuco@danilodolci.org.

CheckMate – Empowering Europeans towards a Media-Savvy Citizenry is a project co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme (Key Action 2 – Cooperation Partnerships in Adult Education) and aims to develop new educational and Media Literacy methods targeting adults, those most exposed to the risks of disinformation and those involved in information and educational processes.

Partners

For further information contact Salvatore Duminuco: salvatore.duminuco@danilodolci.org.