Jordan Media Institute - Amman
The first group of teachers and supervisors of the Ministry of Education completed a five-day training at the Jordan Media Institute (JMI) on Media and Information Literacy (MIL) skills.
The training consists of five main areas: an introduction to media and information literacy and media outlets, researching information and sources, news and verification, media ethics, pictures and photostories, the internet and social media.
Rose Al-Bast, an Arabic language teacher for seventh-grader at Al-Shmeisani Al-Gharbi School for girls, said she seeks to convey to her students methods for safe and secure use of social media, and to encourage them to verify the validity of news before believing them or circulaing them.
Al-Bast added that the importance of the training she participated in is not limited to MIL content, but rather includes the style of the training and the “attractive” method of participating in various activities, which she says she will adopt when teaching her students.
Muhammad Abu Sweilim, who teaches History, National Education and History of Jordan to students from the tenth to twelveth grade in a school in Madaba, had also participated in the workshop. He said the most prominent message he seeks to pass on to his students is the distinction between opinion and truth, between verified news and rumors, as well as means of verifying pictures.
Abu Sweilim says that he will develop the extracurricular activities and assignments that he gives to his students so that they address the fundamentals of MIL. He added that such kind of development enhances students’ self-confidence, and hones their leadership skills.
The project is implemented by JMI in partnership with the Ministry of Education, and is funded by the German "Deutsche Welle Akademie". It sims at training 240 male and female teachers and supervisors in public schools in northern, southern and central governorates.
The project is part of the national initiative to promote MIL concepts and practices in schools, universities, youth centers and the civil society at large in the Kingdom. In addition, the project aims to build teachers’ and students’ MIL skills in public schools.
Upon completion of the training, a total of 30 distinguished teachers will be selected and trained to become trainers for school students during the year 2021.