“Digital Media: this is how it works”
During the last year IMS has provided students with online possibilities to support their in-school and home school learning, in particular through the use of the Anton, Zoom and Seesaw Apps. This development of digital media use in school has been further stimulated by our media project “This is how media works!”
Through the project, the pupils acquired basic knowledge about digital media. They had the opportunity to share their experiences and digital know-how with their classmates, to discuss problems and dangers, and to discuss how to stay safe online. At the end of the project, they created their own digital medium as trained digital experts.
In a first step, the young researchers dealt with the following topics:
– Copyright
– Internet Safety (How do I create a secure password?)
– Data protection
– Use of images on the net
– Online etiquette
– Online Games/Danger of Addiction
– Social networks
– Digital footprint
The pupils used the sources “Klicksafe” and “Internet ABC” provided by the media authority of the federal state of NRW. They explored their topics with great motivation and created short explanatory videos for their classmates.
Exchange in expert rounds
The girls and boys held a “net expert round” on each topic. To do this, they sat down in a circle in a discussion group (like in a kind of discussion group). The pupils took on different roles and exchanged views on various problems (e.g. cyberbullying): e.g. as teachers, parents, fellow pupils, doctors and representatives from politics and business. One pupil acted as the “net expert”.
This led to very lively but also objective discussions in which the girls and boys also reported on their own experiences. The role play gave the pupils the opportunity to deal with various real problems with media, to exchange ideas and to learn strategies for action and problem solving.
My own digital media
As newly qualified media experts, the students began to create their own digital media. Here they had active help from some parents who work in a media profession. For example, they created audios about different stories about Maria Montessori, an image video about our school, a school brochure, an explanatory video about Maria Montessori and a guidebook for pupils on the use of digital media. At the end, everyone proudly shared their work with their classmates. The media project “So geht Medien!” was a complete success: The girls and boys have learned a lot about media and have become real “net experts”.
Authors: Mrs Dunzer and Mrs Gerstner, class teachers years 4-6
