The CMIL is pleased to announce the release of a new publication, “Survey on Media and Information Literacy with Youth Perspectives” co-authored by CMIL Director, Sherri Hope Culver and Alton Grizzle, Program Specialist for Media and Information Literacy, UNESCO. This publication is part of the UNESCO book series on Internet freedom. (https://en.unesco.org/unesco-series-on-internet-freedom )
In a world in which communication is increasingly global and online, the ability for a person to choose what information he or she wants to share, and what information he or she chooses to keep unknown to others, is growing in difficulty. But, restraining information from all the ways in which it may be shared or known, is, if not impossible, certainly daunting. Privacy concerns all peoples of all ages. MIL is for all. Privacy decisions can affect a person’s access to education, financial opportunities, willingness to speak freely and openly, and their safety. Advancements in media and technology thereby necessitate an ongoing reassessment of what it means to be media and information literate as a defense of private information, or to be private.
–
This report combines research findings from two related research studies carried out for UNESCO. The first is research into youth perspectives on privacy through a survey designed as part of a larger study on citizens’ response to MIL competencies, which started in 2015. From 100 countries, 2,300 young people aged 14-25 were engaged in a wider exercise of training and research. Of these, 1,735 completed the questionnaire, including the section on privacy. The second is a survey on privacy in MIL programmes globally conducted through the UNESCO-UNAOC UNITWIN Cooperation Programme on MIL and Intercultural Dialogue (MLID University Network). This involved 231 respondents involved in teaching privacy in connection with MIL. They are from various education environments, including: high school (14%); middle school (10%); primary/ elementary school (20%); university or college level (24%); educators, out-of-school or afterschool programmes (9%); civil society, including NGOs and non-profits (17%); and alternate environments, such as middle and high school combined (6%).
–
Understanding privacy is an increasingly important component of being media and information literate. This publication explores how that reality might affect educators and organizations that have focused programmes, research and events on media and information literacy., A shift in one’s understanding of privacy may require a shift not just in thinking, but in actions as well.
To read the book, you can download it for free here – (https://en.unesco.org/unesco-series-on-internet-freedom )