mediakasvatus.fi - Mediakasvatus.fi on palveleva sivusto mediakasvatuksesta kiinnostuneille opettajille, tutkijoille, nuorisotyöntekijöille, varhaiskasvattajille, vanhemmille ja alan opiskelijoille.

This newsletter is about the field of Finnish Media Education. It is a part of Children and Media is an Action Plan initiated by the Ministry of Education and Culture, Deparment for Cultural, Sport and Youth Policy, Division for Cultural Policy, Finland.  Newsletter is published three times in a year.

Contact Person: Leena Rantala, leena.rantala(a)minedu.fi.

MEDIA EDUCATION IN PRE-SCHOOL AND PRIMARY EDUCATION - HANDBOOK AND EDUCATIONAL MATERIAL
Centre for School Clubs

A handbook titled Media Education in Early Childhood Education and Care was published in the spring of 2009. The Centre for School Clubs, Media Education organisations, teachers and researchers produced the booklet as a collaborative effort. Its objective is to lend support to scheduling and implementing media education in both teaching activities and curriculum planning. Among other institutions, the handbook was presented to the work group responsible for planning the distribution of lesson hours.

Learning material connected with the handbook will be available in the beginning of December. The working title of the learning material is Image, Sound and Text – Exercises in Media Literacy for Primary Education. The material is intended for the use of educators, teachers and instructors working with young children. The exercises can also be adapted for older children.

In addition, The Centre for School Clubs and The Mannerheim League for Child Welfare are co-operating in the production of the Peer Students as Instructors of Media Clubs education material. The materials are intended for training peer students to work as assistant instructors in media clubs. The idea is that secondary school students can, together with teachers or other adults involved in the activities, act as instructors in media clubs directed for primary school students. The material will be published in December.

Further editions in Finnish and Swedish have been published of the popular Muffe and the Lost Key – Media Education Exercises for Children Aged 3 to 8.

Contact person: Minna Riikka Järvinen, kerhokeskus(a)kerhokeskus.fi

TRAINING MODEL AND MATERIAL FOR THE SUPPORT OF YOUNG CHILDREN’S MEDIA EDUCATION
Muksut ja media (Kids and Media) project / Mannerheim League for Child Welfare

A training model dealing with the media environment and the development of children as well as expedients of media education and media protection has been developed as part of the Muksut ja media project. The training model is directed to parents and professional educators as well as volunteers working with children.  
The training model consists of a series of transparencies for presentations and a trainer’s handbook.  To begin with, the model will be made available for the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare’s national media education network for instructors.  

One of the productions of the Muksu ja media project is the Meidän media instructor’s handbook / inspirational material, which supports the implementation of media education in volunteer work. The material consists of, for example, support materials such as discussion cards for the use of guided peer groups of parents of young children. The material will be distributed to all 566 local organizations of the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare as well as various actors working in the field of media education. The material will also be made available for downloading from the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare’s website.

The objective of the training of instructors for early childhood media education is to bring the new practice methods available for the national instructors’’ network of the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare. The instructor training will be organised as a four-week online course during November and December. Twenty-seven instructors within the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare will take part in the 40-hour training course.

Materials containing tips for media activities and media education at home, directed and distributed for parents, will be published towards the end of the year.  The material will be given out in local events, for example at parent-teacher meetings and the family cafes organised by the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare.

Contact person: Juuso Peura, tel. +358 (0)40 728 5070, juuso.peura(a)mll.fi

TRAINING, LITERATURE AND ONLINE SERVICES FOR MEDIA EDUCATION IN LIBRARIES
Children, Media and Libraries project / Finnish Library Association

The training of local media education instructors in libraries has been continued in 2009. The programmes of the training sessions are available at KirjastoWiki (LibraryWiki): http://wiki.kirjastot.fi/index.php/Mediakasvatushanke.

The book Media Education in Public Libraries was published in October 2009. Among other issues, the book deals with the educational responsibilities of public libraries in the changing media environment and the ways in which libraries ought to invest in media education.

A specific media education site for library workers is being created within the Kirjastot.fi website service. All media education material for libraries will be collected to the site. The website will contain the following sections: copyrights, media education materials, searching information on the Internet, games and gaming, local instructors, current events, publications and training sessions, and library-specific media education projects.

The development of Okariino.fi, a national online service for children, is underway.  The service is targeted for children between the ages of 6 and 12. Information on the different areas of the service is available at http://wiki.kirjastot.fi/index.php/Lasten_verkkopalvelu. The development work for the children’s online service will continue in 2010.

Contact person: Pirjo Sallmén, tel. +358 (0)50 375 7686, pirjo.sallmen(a)lasipalatsi.fi

MEDIA TIPS AND MEDIA LESSON MATERIALS FOR LIBRARIES
Media Education Centre Metka

The project’s objective is to expand library activities such as book recommendations and storytelling hours by developing media tips and media lesson materials.  Media Tips is designed for two age groups; 7 to 9-year-olds and 10 to 12-year-olds. Activity plans within the Media hours are designed for 3 to 6-year-olds.

The objective is to create a new and permanent practice of media tips and media hours in libraries as well as the development of children’s media literacy and the instruction of children on how to use media in various ways and create their own media productions. Another goal is to promote the readiness of library workers around the country for directing media hours and training as well as to develop and maintain library professionals’ expertise in the field of media education.    

Over 30 activity plans related to games, the Internet and cinema and over 10 activity plans related to magazines will be created as part of the project.  Listings of instructions, tips and links as well as assessment tools and additional materials will also be produced.

The materials will be ready for publication and available for library workers on the Kirjastot.fi website during December. The materials will also be published on the Freimi and Skriini sections of the Media Education Centre Metka’s website.  

Contact person: Anu Ruhala, tel. +358 (0)40 836 0292, anu.ruhala(a)mediametka.fi

ENGLISH LANGUAGE CONTENT FOR THE MEDIAEDUCATION.FI PORTAL
Finnish Society on Media Education

The mediakasvatus.fi portal has invested in the promotion of international co-operation in media education during 2009. Presentations of organizations and projects in English were introduced into the Portal. The Society also published a set of English language brochures on Finnish media education available online (www.mediakasvatus.fi/node/194#education). The brochures can be ordered for international use from mediakasvatus(a)mediakasvatus.fi.

Mediaeducation.fi training and introductory events have been organised around the country. The events have reached hundreds of people interested in the subject and increased the user traffic of the portal.

The Finnish Society on Media Education has also made use of existing networks in its publicity activities. Mediakasvatus.fi is present in most of the online networking platforms within Finland, and internationally on Twitter, Twibe and the UNESCO networking website for organizations and individuals working in the field of media education.

In December, the Finnish Society on Media Education organises a Mediaeducation.info seminar in Turku, a Swedish language Media och Makt seminar in Helsinki, and is involved in the media literacy and youth work seminar organised in Tallinn, Estonia.

The groundwork for reshaping the Mediaeducation.fi –portal got underway in the autumn of 2009. The development needs will be researched in more detail through the results of a user questionnaire in December. The objective of the renewal work is to make the portal more user-friendly and to allow the users the ability to shape the service according to their own needs.

Contact person: Anniina Lundvall, tel. +358 (0)50 594 2275, anniina.lundvall(a)mediakasvatus.fi

MEDIA EDUCATION FOR SÁMI CHILDREN
The Indigenous People’s Film Centre Skábma and the Sámi Parliament

The Skábmagovat film festival organized by The Indigenous Peoples’ Film Centre brought in the year 2009, the year of media education for the children of indigenous peoples. Part of the festival consisted of film and media workshops for the Sámi children and young people.

Various cinema workshops have been held in Karesuvanto, Rovaniemi, Utsjoki, Oulu and Inari. A new undertaking in 2009 has been the organizing of film and media courses for the upper secondary schools in Utsjoki and Enontekiö. A representative of Skábma also gave a presentation on working with cinema and the Sámi film culture to the students at the upper secondary school of Ivalo.

In addition, the Skábma Film Centre has been involved in spreading expertise on organising workshops for children and young people as well as creating content for various organisations. The Centre has worked in co-operation with Sámi organisations to promote media education for children and young people.

This year, presentations of Sámi productions have been the focus of the Oskari competition at the The Oulu International Children’s and Youth Film Festival. At the present moment, seven films produced by the Indigenous Peoples’ Film Centre have been selected for the competition. An exhibition of the Sámi children’s’ TV programme Unná Junná will also be held as part of the Festival. The objective of the exhibition and film screenings is to present an up-to-date image of Sámi culture to children outside of the Sámi region.

Contact person: Suvi West, tel. +358 (0)40 187 9909, suvi.west(a)gmail.com