Page 315 - Media&Information Literacy - Good Practices

work a specific ICT syllabus. Rather, the primary teacher includes the themes related to

ICT when teaching other subjects.

With the establishment of the Students’ Profile by the End of Compulsory
Schooling and the National Strategy for Citizenship Education, the Ministry of Education

took a step forward in what concerns enabling teenagers with powerful skills that will

make them better citizens. In fact, one of the compulsory topics to be discussed in the

Citizenship classes from Year 5 to Year 12 is Media, having the government published a
Media Education Book that can be used by the teachers responsible for teaching the

subject.

Another important project that is being implemented in Portuguese schools is

the Consortium “Centro Internet Segura” (Secure Internet Centre), in a joint effort
between the Ministry of Education, the National Cybersecurity Centre, the Youth

Institute, APAV, Altice Foundation and Microsoft. Within the scope of the Safer Internet

Programme, the Directorate-General for Innovation and Curriculum Development,

through the Computers, Networks and Internet Mission Team of the Ministry of
Education (DGIDC-CRIE), developed, in 2004, the SeguraNet Project, to promote an

enlightened, critical and safe use of the Internet among primary and secondary school

students.

Private organisations have a crucial role in the implementation of digital
consciousness among teenagers, cooperating actively with schools. Some of these

organisations are connected to Media as they are National Newspapers. I am going to

highlight the action of two of these organisations. The first is Media Lab, which is a digital

literacy project that provides training and resources to teachers and students.
Workshops, courses and materials on topics such as media production, digital

storytelling and multimedia designs are some of the activities that they promote for

school students.

In partnership with the Ministry of Education and the Belmiro de Azevedo
Foundation (through EDULOG), the Portuguese newspaper PÚBLICO promotes every

year the contest “PÚBLICO na Escola” (PÚBLICO in school) targeted to students from

Year 1 up to Year 12, and aims to foster media literacy, stimulate the practice of critical,

imaginative and quality school journalism, promote current knowledge and debate,
increase the importance of the use of school newspapers in the teaching/learning