UNESCO and Rex & Friends partner to promote Media and Information Literacy in China
On 24 August 2020, UNESCO’s Beijing Cluster Office and Rex & Friends launched their partnership on increasing Media and Information Literacy (MIL) for children, parents and teachers via online learning platform in China. Ms Marielza Oliveira, Director of the UNESCO Beijing Cluster Office, and Business Leader of Rex & Friends attended the cooperation agreement signing ceremony and gave keynote speeches.
Today, we are living in a world with a dramatic increase in access to information and communication. The mode of knowledge acquisition is vastly different from those of previous generations. The Internet has undoubtedly become a nucleus of information. Amidst the proliferation of information, it can be difficult for people to determine what credible information is; and sometimes it is unclear how one should respond, share and comment. It is more so during this turbulent time of COVID-19 when disinformation and misinformation run rampant.
In her remarks, Ms Oliveira pointed out that, as the most active yet vulnerable group among the Internet users, it is imperative and urgent for young people to acquire MIL competencies. Only in this way can they better capitalize on the benefits offered by the digital age and become more resilient to any negative effects. She further stressed the significant roles of parents and teachers in enhancing MIL among children and young people and called upon parents and teachers to firstly become media and information literate themselves.
Business leader of Rex & Friends in his speech reassured their commitment to leveraging innovative measures in teaching and learning in order to make sure that equitable quality education be enjoyed by all people.
In the following year, UNESCO and Rex & Friends will work together to develop animated video episodes and picture books on MIL. All these resources will be freely available to all, and promoted on various online learning and social media platforms, benefiting children, parents, educators, and the public at large.
Through capacity-building resources, such as curricula development, policy guidelines and assessment frameworks, UNESCO supports the development of MIL competencies among all. Free and open online courses are available for self-paced learning about MIL. Through media and information technologies, UNESCO facilitates networking and research through the Global Alliance for Partnerships on MIL (GAPMIL) and MIL University Network.
For more resources on media and information literacy, please visit: https://en.unesco.org/themes/media-and-information-literacy