The photograph above shows a mosaic at the Library of Congress which is in Washington, DC. You'll notice that within the mosaic there is a quote, "knowledge is power". Most commonly attributed to Sir Francis Bacon, this is such a fitting quote for a library, whose purpose it is to provide accessible knowledge to patrons, and felt like the right choice for this blog as we consider the importance of libraries and access to information in general, but especially in developing nations and throughout the world.
My research this week led me down a few rabbit holes, starting with the International Federation of Library Institutions and Associations (IFLA) whose vision is:"... a strong and united library field powering literate, informed and participative societies" (IFLA, 2023). A great mission!
They have many projects on the go as a part of their IFLA Strategy 2019-2024 program in which they are looking to unify libraries across the globe. And while they had lots of really interesting (and worth-reading) initiatives (such as standardizing library practices in Nicaragua and Iraq), I didn’t find quite what I wanted to explore for this blog.
Eventually I stumbled into IREX. IREX describes themselves as “a global development and education organization [that] focus[es] on people” (Who We Are, IREX). They mention that they work in “more than 100 countries on issues such as education, leadership, information, and youth” (Who We Are, IREX).
This means that they have multiple locations in Africa; the Americas; Asia; Europe and Eurasia; and the Middle East and North Africa (Our Work, IREX). Their broad spectrum of locations is also coupled with a multitude of project focuses including; civil society, education, gender equality and inclusion, media, technology, and more (Our Work, IREX). I was pretty surprised by their vast breadth of projects, and enjoyed looking at many of the initiatives that they are undertaking in a variety of areas.
However, given that we are talking about technology this week, I ended up focusing on the technology aspect of their work. Here I should take a moment to note that most of IREX’s projects do seem to focus on communities that already have access to technology, rather than getting technology into the hands of individuals.
However, their projects remain impactful for many communities because they identify a focus on “[d]esigning and launching online resources, such as digitized learning resources for teachers, chatbots, and distance-learning content” (Strengthening Media Literacy in the Ukrainian Education System) which indicates that they are working to increase information accessibility for individuals overall through the use of technology.
With IREX being so broad in their projects, I had a hard time choosing just one to focus on. However, after a little browsing, I landed on this one:
What is this project and how is it being delivered?
This project is based on the “Learn to Discern in Education” (L2D-Ed) coursework and training (designed by IREX). Its purpose is teaching teachers and other education stakeholders how to integrate Media Literacy skills into secondary schools to increase awareness about media misinformation, propaganda, and other forms of manipulation. (Strengthening Media Literacy in the Ukrainian Education System). It is being delivered within secondary school curriculum and teacher training programs (and teacher in-services) in a partnership between IREX, the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science, and other education stakeholders (Strengthening Media Literacy in the Ukrainian Education System). Interestingly, this program has also been used and adapted in a variety of other countries as well (Learn to Discern).
See the video below for further explanation from project stakeholders about this project and the reasoning behind its creation
Why I picked this?
I chose this project because it demonstrates the powerful impact that access to both in-person and digital learning resources can have and how access to training and information in digital literacy skills, such as media literacy, can significantly impact communities in positive ways.
In this project, combined in person and online training/resources has allowed IREX to train “more than 1,100 eighth- and ninth-grade teachers” in “650 schools” (Strengthening Media Literacy in the Ukrainian Education System). These educators are now able to use that training and those provided resources to move forward in working with more than “47,500 students” with the purpose of facilitating an important increase of media literacy skills (Strengthening Media Literacy in the Ukrainian Education System).
This expansion of digital literacy skills for teachers and students in media literacy will change the way that they access and consume media which is identified as “a critical skill for citizens these days”, as it is imperative that individuals have the ability to recognize when information is intentionally filtered, misinformative, undemocratic, or censored (Learn to Discern in Schools: Kyiv Launch Event [English], 0:42). This awareness then positively impacts the community as citizens can now make more informed opinions and choices.
On a personal level, I also found this project a significant choice in that it recognizes that simply providing people with increased access to information, technology, or media on its own is not enough to improve literacy skills. We must also ensure that they have a means of acquiring the necessary digital literacy (in this case media literacy) skills to consume media effectively and safely.
If you are interested in reading a bit more about this programming and the impact it is having, I definitely recommend checking out IREX’s information here, but would also recommend checking out the articles below discussing IREX’s project as well from a few different perspectives:
Strengthening Media Literacy to Win the Fight Against Misinformation (authored by Kristin M. Lord & Katya Vogt who are a part of the initiative at IREX and posted to Standford Social Innovation Review , Mar. 18, 2021)
Students In Ukraine Learn How To Spot Fake Stories, Propaganda And Hate Speech
(authored by Sasha Ingber and posted on NPR, March 22, 2019)
Works Cited:
Ingber, S. “Students in Ukraine Learn How to Spot Fake Stories, Propaganda And Hate Speech”. NPR, 22 March, 2019. www.npr.org/2019/03/22/705809811/students-in-ukraine-learn-how-to-spot-fake-stories-propaganda-and-hate-speech
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). “Home Page”. IFLA, 2023. www.ifla.org/.
IREX. “Learn to Discern in Schools: Kyiv Launch Event (English).” Youtube, uploaded by IREXdc, 2 July, 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=a83WgMySljU
Lord K. M. & Vogt, K. “Strengthening Media Literacy to Win the Fight Against Misinformation”. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 18 March, 2021. ssir.org/articles/entry/strengthen_media_literacy_to_win_the_fight_against_misinformation
“Our Work”. IREX, 2023. www.irex.org/our-work
“Strengthening Media Literacy in the Ukrainian Education System”. IREX, 2023. www.irex.org/project/strengthening-media-literacy-ukrainian-education-system
“Who We Are”. IREX, 2023. www.irex.org/who-we-are
Hi Chelsey,
ReplyDeleteThank for you the insight and information about IREX! It really resonated with me when you said, "simply providing people with increased access to information, technology, or media on its own is not enough to improve literacy skills". It's SO true! We really owe to our students the opportunity to learn digital literacy skills.
-Andrea
Hi Andrea,
DeleteI'm so glad you enjoyed reading about IREX, I was totally unaware that they existed prior to this blog, so it was interesting for me as well.
As you mentioned from reading, for me the recognition that just having the tech available isn't enough is just such a key piece. And I suspect its a problem that is more widespread than we think... For example, this is even a problem for my school right now where I feel like we have access to technology, but aren't teaching the digital literacy skills to support students in using it effectively.
A well-researched and thoughtful post. I appreciate the manner in which you walked your reader through your thought process as you conducted your reading and research. I also appreciated your comments about access alone not being enough.
ReplyDeleteHi Chelsey,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting post, that is so topical. I feel like, often, propaganda is taught in schools in a historical context without real world/time implications. Media literacy is so incredibly important when media can be just as manipulative to young minds in any country, especially when we consider what is going on in the Russian/Ukrainian War.
Great Work!
Hi Tova,
DeleteI'm glad to hear you enjoyed reading and definitely agree with your point that we teach propaganda in historical contexts typically... which is interesting because it doesn't necessarily help students to recognize propaganda that they're exposed to in present day. As you've pointed out, this need to teach critical thinking and media literacy becomes even more important in situations where the political climate means that there are real instances of true propaganda occurring.
Also as you've pointed out, I do agree that it media literacy is important everywhere because online content including fake news, clickbait, advertising, "influencing" etc. all exists as forms of manipulation that students need to be aware of as well.