Media use - reflected and practised

Twelve to nineteen-year-olds in Switzerland use media for an average of two hours and five minutes a day. The seventh-graders at Frenkendorf School also spend two hours a day. They know this so well because they have been working intensively with digital media during a project week. This includes reflecting on and measuring their own smartphone use.

This Friday morning, four hours of lessons with two external experts are on the timetable. The two Swisscom media education instructors are initially interested in what the young people do with their smartphones. «Communicating with WhatsApp and Snapchat. Posting pictures on Instagram. Searching with Google. Watching videos on YouTube and creating film lists with Playtube,» are the answers. These would probably have been similar in any Swiss class.
Over the course of the morning, the pupils create short video interviews with their mobile phones about the opportunities and dangers of smartphones. Impressive interviews. These young people use their smartphones thoughtfully.

What is in store for us?

After the real opportunities and dangers of everyday life, the two experts move on to the future. They show the pupils «intelligent digital helpers» that will probably exist in the near future. The pupils have to think: «Do I think this is good or not?» and justify their answers. Here, too, the class shows skill and an awareness of what is helpful and where problems could arise.

In another sequence, the students watch some short films and then analyse them: What sound is used, what music? What is the camera angle? How are the images composed in terms of colour? How was the film edited? And what effect does it achieve? With this knowledge, they then compare an information film and an advertising clip. They now recognise exactly which filmic means are used for which purpose.

Finally, there is a unit on the topics of personal rights, copyright and source references. The young people are particularly keen to know exactly how to cite sources. For example: «Do I have to label a contribution that I reword - in my own words?» And they learn from the experts: «If you leave the content unchanged, i.e. don't add your own ideas, and just change the words, you have to cite the source.»
The experts record all the content they have worked out on a class poster. This remains in the classroom so that the class teacher, Raffael Segna, can refer to it again and again and further consolidate what has been learnt with the class. «The start with the help of external professionals was a success.»
Picture: zVg

To the author:

On Medienstark you will find tips and interactive learning modules for the competent use of digital media in everyday family life.