Effective approaches for developing media literacy skills in early school age children

Sonja Trifunovska

Abstract

Digital media have a very relevant place in the world of children today and they play an important role in the development of their personality. Digital devices are available to children from an early age and they are able to follow various media content and use the Internet, platforms and applications. This digital world for children is a real challenge, since they come across various information on daily basis that can be true or false and can affect their feelings and behavior, including understanding of the world. It is therefore essential to develop media literacy skills that help children navigate the digital landscape, question messages, critically approach information, recognize manipulation and seek the truth. The Republic of North Macedonia started reforms in the elementary education in 2020, making changes in the curricula for elementary education from I to IX grade – media literacy was introduced in the context of modern understanding. The delivery of media literacy content has become a challenge for classroom teachers with these changes, because approaches should be chosen in the teaching work that will be effective and will encourage critical thinking among students of early school age. This research will offer methodological approaches in teaching for delivery of media literacy content that have proven to be effective in working with students from the first to fifth grade. The given approaches are based on questionnaires and interviews with class teachers from several elementary schools and on survey questionnaires with students. Based on the results, there is a need to apply interactive approaches to classes, game activities and a necessity for rich selection of educational resources.

Keywords: media literacy, education, children of early school age