About the project
“Big Small Screens“ is a media literacy project organized by media education and research centre “Meno Avilys” and the British Council Lithuania since 2016; it is focused on the Lithuanian schools and other educational institutions working with school-age children. The project is a part of the British Council cultural relations program “People to People”, organized in all three Baltic states. The project is partially financed by the Lithuanian Council for Culture.
The project aims to improve the media literacy skills of Lithuanian teachers and high school students; moreover, it should help discover and explore one’s own community and nurture the dialogue with other communities, by utilizing creative and analytic media literacy activities. The main focus is directed towards the audiovisual media and media products which are especially relevant to students (movies, advertisements, computer games, social networks, TV shows and series, and multimedia journalism).
Project objectives
• To improve the media literacy skills of Lithuania’s youth and their teachers;
• To develop project participants’ critical thinking and communication, cooperation and creativity skills;
• To encourage learning about one’s own community and educating its consciousness through creative media literacy activities;
• To encourage the sharing of project experiences between different local communities (including different national communities).
Project activities
• Training-creative seminars for teachers, organized by media education experts from Lithuania and the United Kingdom;
• Preparation of educational materials for teachers;
• Media literacy lessons for students;
• Creative workshops for students, organized by the media industry professionals;
• Lectures-meetings with the media industry experts;
• Dissemination events on project results for local communities.
Media literacy
According to UNESCO, media and information literacy is a set of competences which encompasses both traditional and new media and skills associated with them (from technical skills to visual and mass media literacy skills). Media and information literacy empowers people to use media efficiently and evaluate their content critically by searching for information, selecting it correctly and sharing information and ideas for personal and societal goals.
Our teaching material relies on the ideas and knowledge of some of the most appreciated European media literacy experts, such as Robert Ferguson, David Buckingham and Cary Bazalgette.
Here media literacy is understood as one’s ability to be in the world and act in it, by observing and reflecting various media texts, created by other people; they may be written, audio and moving or still images. Even more, one does not only observe and reflect, but also create one’s own media texts and shares them with others.
We aim not to fill in students’ media literacy gaps, but rather explore the surrounding environment in our screens and beyond them, and do it together with the students. Thus, it is a process; it is an everlasting journey through one’s own and other worlds.
Media literacy can hardly be understood as just another general competence, because it is an intrinsic part of other general competencies, such as communication, cultural awareness, creativity, social, civic and others.
Project moments
Tretieji metai
Projektas „Dideli maži ekranai". II etapas
Projektas „Dideli maži ekranai". I etapas
Teaching materials ready to download for the analysis of six audiovisual media topics and forms: cinema, advertising, video games, social networks, TV and multimedia journalism.
Project participants
Participants of the 6th stage (2021–2022):
Trakai Adult Education Center
Vėliučionys Children Socialization Center
Vilnius Vocational Training Centre of Technologies
Visaginas Technology and Business Vocational Education and Training Centre
Participants of the 5th stage (2020–2021):
Baltoji Voke “Silo” gymnasium
Klaipeda students’ self-expression centre
Klaipeda “Varpo” gymnasium
Vilnius Lithuanians’ House
Nemencine Gedimino gymnasium
Paberze “Verdenes” gymnasium
Senieji Trakai Kestucio basic school
Veliucionys children socialization center
Visaginas “Ateities” gymnasium
Visaginas “Verdenes” gymnasium
Participants of some project activities (2020–2021):
Ignalina gymnasium
Klaipeda “Aitvaro” gymnasium
Klaipeda “Vetrunges” gymnasium
Kretinga S. Daukanto progymnasium
Trakai Vytauto Didziojo gymnasium
Vilnius Abraomo Kulviecio classical gymnasium
Visaginas “Ziburio” progymnasium
BIG SMALL SCREENS
Project coordinator
Dovilė Alėbaitė
+37061812059
dovile.alebaite@gmail.com
MENO AVILYS
Gostauto St. 2, Vilnius
info@menoavilys.org
www.menoavilys.lt