In the era of hyper-connection, the rapid flow of information and news presents both opportunities and challenges. While it allows for better awareness and updates on global trends, it also exposes individuals to risks such as fake news, misinformation, and disinformation. These risks have significant consequences, as they undermine critical reasoning and trigger psychological mechanisms like anger and fear.. Consequently, individuals may develop tendencies such as fact resistance, confirmation bias, and the illusion of truth, amplifying the spread of disinformation and impacting society at large.
Moreover, the proliferation of technological devices has made it easier for individuals to create and disseminate news without being accredited bodies, contributing to the spread of unreliable information. Advanced digital communication technologies, including bots and deep fakes, have further complicated the issue, eroding trust in institutions and accredited sources of information. Recognizing the detrimental impact of disinformation on societal stability and democracy, the European Union has undertaken various initiatives to counter these challenges, emphasizing the importance of media and digital literacy in addressing them.
The aim of the project MILES is to build resilience against disinformation and promote independent and critical thinking within the educational sector, considered as the key to reduce all the issues linked to disinformation among young people namely school students. To achieve this aim, the project will focus on three methodologies in particular: Media and Information Literacy (MIL), Pre-bunking and Data Literacy, with the aim to:
- Develop innovative approaches tailored to the educational context.
- Intervene in both Initial Teacher Education (ITE) and Continuous Professional Development (CPD) to equip current and future teachers with the necessary skills to address the complexities of the online environment.
- Enhance teachers’, students’, and families’ awareness and preparedness to tackle fake news and disinformation, focusing on strategies for identifying and countering misinformation.
- Foster collaboration among educational stakeholders, policymakers, and relevant organizations to integrate digital literacy initiatives into educational curricula effectively.
- Ensure the sustainability and scalability of the project outcomes, enabling them to be transferred to different educational contexts and audiences.
By addressing these objectives, the project aims to contribute to Europe’s innovation capacity in education and support the development of resilient, digitally literate societies capable of navigating the challenges posed by disinformation.
Activities
- Mapping existing resources at National and EU level and collection of data and insight at local level through interviews, focus groups and surveys
- International training for the development of the training materials targeting ITE/CPD teachers
- Training of trainers
- 2 Teachers’ trainings of 15 hours per country, on the topic of cognitive biases and logical fallacies, conspiracy theories, mechanisms of propaganda and populism to manipulate opinions, filter bubble, echo-chambers, information disorder, pre-bunking techniques.
- 2 co-design workshops with teachers for the development of training materials for students (syllabus, practical exercises, games)
- 8 workshops per country with students and led by trained teachers, which will have the aim of improving students’ critical thinking and ability to pre-bunk fake news, check truthfulness and reliability of sources
- 2 co-designed workshops with students to design the flipped classrooms experience for teachers, parents, carers
- 1 flipped classrooms workshop per country led by students with teachers and parents, carers
- Creation of a boardgame per country, designed by students and one common EU version will be created and disseminated
- Meetings with the educational community that will gather and lay down a list of requests to submit to local policy makers
Results
- MIL & Debunking: datasheet, needs, best practices – Report on the existing resources and data collection on the local level of awareness and policies
- E -Learning platform containing all the resources
- Report on ITE and CPD containing the final results of the tests taken by teachers and insights from the local contexts
- Report of the workshops with students
- MILES students’ toolbox with materials to develop workshop with students based on practical exercises adapted to different subjects
- Board games designed and tested by students with their families and teachers
- Lists of requests laid down by the educational community to the policy makers
- Collection of MoU: at least 10 MoU signed by policy makers per country, 100 in total, which will state their will to take the responsibility of the educational community requests for improving the school environment
- Report of National and EU-level events
- Miles website
- Impact Evaluation(1st and 2nd Report)
