Slovenia national workshops

Digital media literacy refers to an individual’s ability to find, evaluate and compose clear information through writing and other media on various digital platforms.

Which competencies related to digital media literacy should young people strengthen? – this is the question the feedback on which we consistently sought for on different occasions during the months of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In our research, we involved 25 people working with youngsters in different contexts. They were from 13 different organisations, including high schools and vocational schools (BIC Ljubljana, SIC Ljubljana), organisations in the field of youth work (National Youth Council, Carlina, JZ Mladi zmaji, Socialna akademija, No Excuse, TiPovej!, Integrum, Zavod ZSB), adult education (Ljudska univerza Koper), psychological counselling (Drevo življenja) and employment agency (Adecco).

We gathered the answers from September 2020 to April 2022 on 4 different occasions.

• 15th Sept. 2020 – online via Zoom meeting
• 15th Dec. 2021 – Live meeting for youth workers and volunteers at Socialna akademija in Ljubljana
• 12th Apr. 2022 – Live meeting for youth workers and volunteers at Socialna akademija in Ljubljana
• 14th Apr. 2022 – Live meeting in Koper with cooperation of Ljudska univerza Koper

The most frequently mentioned answers involved critical thinking and gathering information on the internet. It was followed by various technical competencies and skills that are connected with the use of computers, other smart devices and the Internet. In the third place were answers deeply connected with online safety awareness and building personal resilience (against trolling, lowering the impact of influencer culture and other overwhelming practices).

Also, we asked the participants in the workshops: Which good practices connected with strenghtening digital media literacy competencies do you know?

Participants mentioned some websites and web-based initiatives, among which:

• Oštro.si – Oštro, the Centre for Investigative Journalism in the Adriatic Region, was born out of the realisation that the space for quality journalism is shrinking.

Oštro cultivates investigative and data journalism, upholds the right to know as a fundamental human right, spreads journalistic knowledge and contributes to the education of future generations of journalists. It investigates issues of public interest to the people of the Adriatic region (Slovenia, Croatia, Italy) and its neighbourhood. 

• Časoris.si – an award-winning free online newspaper for children. Its mission is to guide and inspire children in making informed decisions and becoming informed, active, and responsible citizens. The site offers news kids can trust – timely, relevant articles on current affairs. Information is put in context and presented in kid-friendly language.