Current Perspectives in Media Education

At the dawn of the twenty-first century, education about and through the media has become a worldwide phenomenon, and is playing an increasingly important role in educational reform. The theory and practice of media education have profited greatly from recent and intensive development and application of new information and telecommunications technologies. Consequently, the importance of media and information literacy is taking on an even greater urgency. With this in mind, the contributors to this volume survey what has taken place over the last decade in different parts of the world, examine the current state of theoretical, conceptual, and research development, and consider where media education is going and where it ought to go. With two-thirds of its 22 contributions coming from outside the United States, Media Literacy in the Information Age is a genuine international effort, with many leading media and information educators in the world taking part. The work converts the notion of globalism from a slogan into a working hypothesis. The concerns in this volume are with literacy not just in computer technology, but as a broad concern of the educational process.

This chapter discusses the digital divide from the perspective of education and culture and highlights the forms in which the problem is presented in Brazil, understanding that it is not exclusive to this context. Given the complex challenges to digital inclusion in the context of globalization, the chapter emphasizes that for children and young people to be able to appropriate new technologies and languages in a significant manner, the promotion of digital literacy should be realized with respect to the concept of multiliteracies. Digital inclusion means much more than access to technologies and is understood as one of the fronts in the struggle against poverty and inequality. The authors propose that the understanding of the digital divide be enriched with the valorization of cultural mediations in the construction of digital literacy. In this sense, a culturalist perspective of media education can promote digital inclusion that is an experience of citizenship, belonging, and critical and creative participation of children and young people in the culture.

This article explores the intersection between activism, civic engagement, and the onlife dimension, a framework that conceptualizes the inseparability of online and offline experiences. Drawing on a series of in-depth interviews with 20 young activists with migrant background (11 males and 9 females aged between 20 and 31 years), this research investigates the ways in which anti-racist and intersectional practices are shaped and amplified by digital media in Italy. The findings highlight the obsolescence of the online-offline dichotomy, demonstrating how digital technologies are seamlessly embedded in activism and everyday life. Participants recognize the dual role of digital media: as a powerful tool for mobilization and awareness but also as a space where hate speech and harmful stereotypes are propagated. The study underscores the urgent need for educational interventions rooted in media education, critical thinking, and intercultural perspectives. Such approaches can equip younger generations with the tools to counteract online hate speech, foster inclusivity, and leverage the onlife dimension for positive social change. This article ultimately calls for reimagining education as a transformative space where the digital and physical converge to promote active, inclusive citizenship.

Current questions and perspectives in comparative education. A short introduction to this issue.

Global recession: Current processes, challenges and perspectives of teacher education in the Baltic countries

Research and Development of Adult Education through Higher Education Institutions: A Challenge and Perspective for Better Adult Learning and Education

As a scientific field within media education and educational sciences the research on and the practical implementation of mobile learning is evolving. An analysis of the predominantly British scientific process of the mobile learning discussion – to which this paper refers to (Seipold 2012) – is opening the view to a taxonomy of this discussion, its contexts, reference points, perspectives and conceptual focal points, as well as to success stories and challenges that are related to the implementation of mobile learning in formalised learning contexts, such as schools.

This study examines the Living Qur'an in the Religious Tradition of the Sasak Ethnic Group in Karya Mukti Village, Dampelas District, Donggala Regency from the Perspective of Islamic Education. The main focus of this study is how the implementation of the Living Qur'an in the religious tradition of the Sasak ethnic community in Karya Mukti Village is reviewed from an educational perspective, especially in forming Islamic character through the values ​​of the Qur'an. This study uses a qualitative method with a descriptive approach. Data were obtained through interviews with village heads, religious leaders, traditional leaders, and community leaders, as well as related documentation. Data collection techniques involve observation, interviews, and document analysis. The collected data are analyzed through data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions. The results of the study show that the implementation of the Living Qur'an is reflected in various religious tradition practices such as completing the Qur'an, praying together, serakan, and hiziban, which are full of Qur'anic values. In addition, Islamic values ​​are also manifested in the social life of society through attitudes of tolerance, mutual cooperation, and respect for religious figures. From the perspective of Islamic education, this tradition plays an important role in the informal inheritance of Islamic values ​​that shape the religious and social character of the younger generation. Thus, the Living Qur'an is not only a spiritual symbol, but also a contextual educational medium based on local culture.

This study examines the potential of tea ceremony education as a means of filial piety education by reinterpreting filial piety from the perspective of character education, in response to the weakening of its traditional meaning and practice in modern society. To this end, this study examines Confucian theories of human nature and the educational significance of filial piety, and proposes a tea ceremony–based model of filial piety education grounded in the humanities resources of the Yeongwol region. The findings suggest that filial piety can be understood as a practical dimension of character that begins with family ethics and extends to social responsibility and relational ethics. In particular, since tea ceremony education is an experiential and practical educational method based on courtesy(ye, 禮), stillness(jeong, 靜), and sincerity(seong, 誠), it serves as an effective educational medium for internalizing the attitudes of respect, gratitude, and consideration essential to filial piety. Furthermore, the humanities resources of Yeongwol, such as the spirit of King Danjong(端宗) and Kim Satgat(金笠), and the Jeongryeo(旌閭) culture, can be restructured from viewing-oriented cultural assets into experiential resources for character education when combined with tea ceremony education. On this basis, the study examines directions for the establishment and operational strategies of the Yeongwol Hyoinseong Education Center, with a focus on tea ceremony education. Ultimately, this study is significant in that it reinterprets traditional tea ceremony culture as a practical resource for modern character education and presents a model for filial piety education in the Yeongwol region.

This contribution introduces, from a media education perspective, two concepts which may be useful for further theoretical reflection upon the rich empirical material provided in the other articles of this special issue. The first concept, 'cultures of media practice', refers to habitualized patterns of media practice collectively shared by members of a specific social group. The articles provide many examples of such cultures of media practices, including different 'experiential spaces' such as gender, ethnicity, social class and generation. The second concept, 'media- bildung', covers fundamental changes which people undergo in their attitude towards the subject-matter covered by the media and/or the media itself. In the contributions to this special issue such processes of 'media- bildung'can be identified along with processes of media learning in which people acquire new knowledge and/or develop new skills without transforming their orientations.