Workshops

“Wiped, Watched, Clicked – Teaching Media Literacy in ECEC” – Focus group workshop in Finsterwalde, Germany (E1)

On Thursday, March 5, 2020, the first focus group workshop within the Kit@ project took place in the premises of the project partner of the Evangelical Trinitatis Community of Finsterwalde. Between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. the event was conducted in the form of a conference with expert lectures and short workshops with the title “Wiped, Watched, Clicked – Teaching Media Literacy in ECEC”. A total of 17 participants* from the discipline of early childhood education accepted the invitation. Highlights were besides the presentation of the Kit@ project and the discussion on the topic, the expert lecture by media pedagogue Andres Hackert (lmb – Landesfachverband Medienbildung Brandenburg e.V.) as well as the two practice-oriented short workshops on photo projects in ECEC and meaningful and creative creation of stop-motion films with pre-school children.

Focus group Workshop in Syros, Greece (E2)

The Focus Group event in Greece was implemented on Syros island on 31st May 2020 on the EDUCATIONAL DYNAMICS premises at 4, Arch. Komninou Street.

The workshop was realised within the framework of ERASMUS+ for the Project KIT@ and its aim was to introduce the topic of Media Literacy in the Pre-school Education level and elaborate on the benefits that preschoolers aged 3-6 can gain by experiencing the media from this tender age.

It targeted educators and professionals at ECEC centres both in private and public sector on the island of Syros and in the region of the Cyclades. In total there were ten (10) participants, all women. The public sector was represented by 30% and the private sector by 70%. Eight participants attended the workshop with physical presence and two from other regions attended it online.

The Focus Group Workshop was divided into two main parts. The first part was presented by Dr. Eugenia Papaioannou and it contained an introduction to the KIT@ Project and Media Literacy at ECEC focusing on media prospects in preschool education, applications of media education in ECEC and the content of the intellectual outcomes O2 and O3.

The second part was presented by Ms. Christine Kanellopoulou-Kyriakopoulou who demonstrated the function and applicability of the app PicCollage and the app Stop Motion Studio. The attendees had hands-on experience downloading the apps in the tablets that they were provided with and creating small projects in two groups. They created postcards in PicCollage and two small films in Stop Motion Studio.

The participating teachers strongly supported the idea that the subject of Media Literacy should be incorporated in the Pre-School national curriculum offering opportunities to children to acquire knowledge, develop important skills by using the media in a creative and playful way, learn through exploration and gain multiple linguistic and cognitive benefits.

 

Focus group Workshop in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia (E5)

We organized the focus group on June 9, 2020, in a kindergarten in the center of Banska Bystrica. We decided to lead the focus group in a kindergarten classroom environment, because such an environment is close and comfortable for teachers. We deliberately decided to create a focus group of respondents of different ages to get an insight into the issue from representatives of the younger and older age group. Our participants were aged from 24 to 59 years. The focus group was guided by one moderator and was attended by 10 respondents. By leading a focus group, we aimed to obtain feedback from pre-primary education practitioners on the benefits of an interactive manual focused on the development of media competencies. Based on the analysis of the statements of the respondents from the focus group, we state that they evaluate the Interactive Handbook as beneficial for their work, but they perceive its contribution to a large extent in the field of improving technical skills and digital competencies. Respondents rated very positively that the authors of the Interactive Manual count on new, digital technologies in the educational process.

Focus group Workshop in Lisbon, Portugal (E4)

The focus group workshop “Media Literacy in Early Childhood Education” was held on July 8, 2020 (online meeting, due to the coronavirus pandemic), in Portugal, from 4 pm to 6:30 pm. It is one of the focus group workshops on media literacy in early childhood education and the use of technological tools and devices carried out under the Kit @ (Erasmus +) project. The focus group workshops are part of an extensive testing phase and represent an external evaluation of the project’s results (Intellectual output 2 and 4), including through the realization of a workshop: “Video and Stop Motion”, in the form of a conference with lectures and an practice-oriented short workshop.

This event was held with ECEC teachers, future ECEC teachers, and other educational professionals (e.g. directors, trainers, librarian teachers). This focus group carried out in Portugal made it possible to evaluate openly and through debate and discussion, with the sharing of opinions, perceptions, and practices, the resources produced within the scope of the project and their suitability for exploring media literacy with preschool children.

Participants at this event provided positive feedback on the interactive manual and the practical examples presented. They highlighted the pertinence of the topic and the presence of useful resources for their professional practice, with an appropriate articulation between theory and practice. Finally, teachers encouraged us to disseminate our resources broadly.

Focus group Workshop in Sofia, Bulgaria (E6)

Kit@ Focus group workshop was held on 1st July 2020 in Sofia, Bulgaria. The event was held between 11:00 and 15:00 o’clock in the form of presentation and discussions. 10 professionals from the area of early childhood education and care were present and very active participants in the focus group. After the free discussion and the structured interview, a lot of new ideas came to life for the future teaching activities in media literacy for the children between 3-7 years of age. The participants were particularly impressed and excited about the opportunities of using different applications and teaching materials both from intellectual outputs 2 and 4 (IO2 and IO4). All participants assessed the training very useful in terms of new knowledge and training materials.

2nd focus group workshop in Finsterwalde, Germany (E1, 2nd FG)

On June 19, 2020, the second focus group workshop planned in Germany was conducted as part of the one-time free advanced training in media literacy education for ECEC teachers in rural areas. The eight ECEC teachers from the Elbe-Elster region in Brandenburg, Germany, openly answered the focus group questions on the Kit@ training concept in the form of a modular, interactive manual and practical examples for use in ECEC. Developing media literacy already for the youngest members of our society is seen as very important. Initially expressed concerns, e.g. to use tablets already in ECEC, could be eliminated by intensive discussions among the participants.

Kit@ Media Literacy Training – Media Education for ECEC Teachers in Rural Areas (C1 and C3)

In June the long planned media literacy training for ECEC teachers in rural areas could finally take place. The free training was conducted on June 5, 12 and 19, 2020, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the training rooms of the partner E&G Projekt Agentur GmbH.

In the practice-oriented Kit@ further training programme, eight ECEC teachers from the Elbe-Elster region in Brandenburg, Germany had the opportunity to train their knowledge in the area of (digital) media literacy. In a vivid and practical way, they were given the necessary knowledge to successfully plan and implement media-pedagogical learning offers in ECEC.

In a professional setting, the ECEC teachers from seven regional ECEC centres were able to make their first experiences in working with photos, stop-motion and audio in a goal-oriented, meaningful and creative way. With a lot of motivation and fun they created their own photo collages, stop-motion films and audio plays. In addition to didactic tips, they received exciting background knowledge about today’s media world from children.

After the media literacy training in the classroom, some ECEC teachers took the opportunity to be coached by the trainer from E&G directly in their own ECEC centre. Many new experiences could be made and besides the children, the ECEC teachers and the trainer from E&G had a lot of fun.

 

On-site media literacy training with ECEC-Teachers in Greece (C2 and C5)

Within the framework of Erasmus+ KIT@ project, the Greek partner, EDUCATIONAL DYNAMICS Language and Teacher Education Centre, implemented the C2 workshops on 28th June, 5th and 12th July 2020 addressing kindergarten teachers deriving from the regions of the Cyclades and Attica.

The workshops were held at the Educational Dynamics premises on Syros island, Greece, and were attended by five kindergarten teachers from both public and private sectors.

The aim of the workshops was to introduce Media Literacy in the ECEC centres as an integral subject of the young children’s education. The main objectives were (a) to raise awareness of the importance of Media Literacy in the curriculum of preschool education, (b) to present various media and their role in enhancing learning at ECEC centres, (c) to develop practical skills of the ECEC professionals in using media to the benefit of the children’s development.

On completion of the C2 workshops, Educational Dynamics implemented the practical workshop C5 from 14th to 16th July inviting 3 kindergarten teachers from the public sector who were trained in Media Literacy and its practical implementation in the preschool education.

On-site media literacy training with ECEC-Teachers in Slovakia (C3 and C6)

As a part of project activities we organized a series of media literacy trainings for ECEC professionals in rural area in the Professor Sara’s Kindergarten in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia. The „C3“ Trainings were conducted on June 22 and 29, as well as on July 4, 2020. We invited 5 practitioners who are working with young children in 3 different pre-school settings or are preparing ECEC professionals as University professors. We provided all 5 participants with the new informations in the area of media literacy in order to deliver these kind of informations, knowledge and practical experiences to another ECEC professionals working with young children in pre-school settings in rural areas in Slovakia. After the completition of the „C3“ training we organized a practical part of the training planned as „C6“ (August 4 – 6, 2020). In the premises of involved kindergarten they practised their skills during the real educational process with children who are visiting this kindergarten.

We worked with respondents – kindergarten teachers from the Central region of Slovakia. We grouped teachers from kindergartens in Banská Bystrica, Slovenská Ľupča, Selce and Dobšiná.