ComCom Trains University Lecturers with a Specially Developed Media Literacy Programme

To facilitate the integration of media literacy into formal education, the Communications Commission trained the lecturers at partner universities in teaching media literacy. Based on a specially developed programme, participants received detailed information about media literacy and information literacy, which will enable them to develop a syllabus for the subject, conduct lectures and integrate media literacy components into the existing courses.

The two-day meeting was led by researcher and media literacy professor Marika Sikharulidze, who provided participants with detailed information about important topics such as the concepts of media literacy and information literacy, their historical development stages, the features of social media and digital platforms, their safe use, as well as the analysis of sources and media influence. Apart from theoretical topics, the event included practical activities that involved participants devising working versions of the syllabus on the basis of the programme.

The Communications Commission, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Science and Youth and with the support of UNICEF, continues to actively promote the integration of media literacy into formal education. Within the scope of the project, the Commission carried out research on media literacy needs, devised an educational standard, teaching module and textbook, which were used to train 1835 teachers across Georgia in teaching media literacy. Starting from the 2023-2024 academic year, media literacy has been taught as an optional subject in grades X to XII.

The Commission actively continues to implement the process of integrating media literacy into formal education at all levels in secondary and higher education to ensure that more young people acquire media literacy as a necessary skill in the modern world. 5/8/7