Digital media are an integral part of our lives today and shape the way we communicate, do research and spend our free-time. Due to travel restrictions during the pandemic, we decided to turn this last module on "The Power of Digital Media in Post-Truth Times" into a teacher training workshop. From Tuesday, 18th May 2021, to Thursday, 20th May 2021, teachers from Denmark, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and Cyprus exchanged their views online on how digital media have changed interaction in the classroom and how schools may foster criticial thinking skills.
Preparatory activities:
Before the workshop...
- ... teachers did a survey at their schools about the professional use of digital media in and outside the classroom.
- ... teachers compiled a list of digital tools which are currently used at their schools to compare with colleagues from the other European project countries.
Online Workshop schedule:
TIMETABLE
Online Teacher Workshops on “The Power of Digital Media”
May 18th 2021
09h00’ Welcome
Headmistress welcomes the workshop participants; teachers get to know each other.
09h30’ Teacher Presentations
Teachers present the results of the two preparatory activities: a Survey about ‘Digital Media Use Among the Staff of Each Project School’ and a compilation of all ‘Digital Tools Used by Teachers at the individual Project Schools’.
10h30’ Break
11h00’ Introduction to the ‘World Schools Debating Championship’ Format
Italy introduces participants to an international debating format, which fosters critical thinking in students and raises their awareness of fallacious arguments.
13h00’ Lunch Break
14h00’ Debate Preparation
Teachers work in international groups to prepare the debate.
15h30’ End of Workshop
May 19th 2021
09h00’ World Schools Debate – source sharing and fact checking
11h00’ Break
11h30’ World Schools Debate – Round 1
Teachers try the debating format themselves and compete in debating teams.
13h00’ End of Workshop
May 20th 2021
09h00’ Conference on The Role of Social Media on Political Discourse by Diego Puppin (Twitter)
10h30’ Break
11h00’ Teacher Workshop about ‘The Role of Critical Thinking in Education through Debate’
Teachers discuss the role played by debate as an educational tool and produce a shared document.
13h00’ Lunch Break
14h00’ Evaluation & Planning Session
Teachers evaluate the workshop programme and produce a workshop schedule for
a f2f teachers’ meeting about ‘The Role of Digital Tools in Education’
Guiding questions:
– How have digital media changed our communication culture? How can schools help to combat deliberate misinformation?
– How can educators help their students to deal with “fake news”, “alternative facts”, unfounded conspiracies and hate speech?
– How can students be taught to reflect about the concepts of truth and post-truth?
15h00’ Attendance Certificates, Virtual Ceremony
15h15’ End of Workshop
