This technical meeting is being organized by Santiago Bureau jointly with Education Research & Foresight (ERF) and Knowledge Societies Division (CI). It brings together the 7 pilot countries in LAC ‘Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras and Peru) that will pilot test instruments to assess media and information literacy competencies among teachers.

Assessing Media and Information Literacy competencies

The volume of information available in the digital age is staggering. The challenge becomes how to make sense of the vast amount of information we encounter every day, to be able to identify credible sources, to assess the reliability and validity of what we read, to question the authenticity and accuracy of information, to connect this new knowledge with prior learning.

Media and information literacy competencies provide citizens in the 21st century with the abilities to engage sensibly and effectively with media and information and develop critical thinking and life-long learning skills to socialize and become active citizens. Building on the work of UNESCO’s Information and Communication Sector, the aim of the study is to develop tools to assess individual media and information literacy competencies. The first phase of the study (2015-17) will pilot test and validate tools for assessing individual teachers’ competencies for the critical processing of information conveyed through various media. The pilot will be undertaken in a selection of countries in Latin America before the study is extended to other regions. The study is being undertaken in cooperation with the UNESCO Knowledge Societies Division at and the Regional Bureau for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean.