Media & Information Literacy (MIL)

TechCamp Malaysia alumni Melinda Quinones from the Philippines and Lai Cheng Wong from Malaysia launched an online mini TechCamp with participants from both countries.

Quinones and Wong participated in TechCamp Malaysia, the first online TechCamp organized by the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur and Penang Institute in October 2020. The event brought together journalists, content creators, and media professionals to learn and develop technology-based solutions to the disinformation challenges they face in the modern media landscape.

TechCamp mentors, Darin Bielecki of the International Republican Institute, Mimi Van Dun of Mediawijzer.net, and Kuek Ser Kuang Keng of Data-N, inspired Quinones and Wong to pitch a project that would create a multiplier effect.

“TechCamp brings together like-minded people and helps turn our ideas into action,” Quinones said.

The idea was to conduct a three-day mini TechCamp and train secondary school teachers and teacher educators in integrating Media and Information Literacy (MIL) into their lesson plans.

“By focusing on secondary school teachers and teacher educators, we hope to harness the potential of the multiplier effect,” Wong said, emphasizing that championing MIL leads to information literate societies.

Quinones and Wong established strategic partnerships with reputable organizations in Malaysia and the Philippines, namely Centro Escolar University (CEU), Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), and SEAMEO RECSAM. CEU provided some logistics, while PUP helped in evaluating the workshop. SEAMEO RECSAM also helped disseminate invitations to participants from both countries.

The three-day mini TechCamp, which happened from March 29 to 31, 2021, focused on the theme “Teaching Media and Information Literacy Skills in Everyday Life.” The workshop topics underscored the country-specific media landscapes and provided strategies to deconstruct media and information sources through fact-checking, verification, and countering false information. Resource speakers also shared some best practices on cyber safety, data privacy, and data protection.

TechCamp Malaysia-Philippines’ Workshop Outcomes

The evaluation shows that despite their reported intermediate level of expertise in teaching media and information literacy, participants’ overall knowledge level increased by 3% after the workshop.

Initial improvement in the pre-test and post-test scores is observed on meaning-making and fact-checking items, which garnered a four-point difference or 9% increase between the pre-and post-test. Moreover, there is a three-point difference or 7% increase between the pre-and post-test on creating media content and a two-point difference or 5% increase on digital media as an information dissemination tool.

Overall scores on participants’ practices relative to teaching media and information literacy have also increased, manifesting the expected change in post-TechCamp teaching practices.

Specifically, participants reported that before the mini TechCamp, they often include media and information literacy concepts in facilitating learning, based on the overall mean score of 3.26. After the workshop, participants are expected to give and facilitate activities that integrate media and information literacy concepts as manifested in the increased computed mean score of 3.43, which is verbally interpreted as “Always.”

Two months after the workshop, the team invited the participants to an online focus group discussion to validate the pre-test and post-test survey results. In the session, participants shared their post-workshop practices in integrating media and information literacy in their lessons.

It is good to note that the three-day mini TechCamp successfully shared new learnings and reinforced participants’ existing knowledge, attitude, and practices on media and information literacy.

Most participants admitted that it was their first time attending a workshop on media and information literacy. Some initially thought media and information literacy were related to technology use, while others joined out of curiosity.

“When I joined [the mini TechCamp], I was clueless. It was curiosity that made me register. But it was the best decision I ever made!” said Adam Geordrey Anak James Mairodi, a secondary school teacher from Malaysia.

A Filipino participant and secondary school teacher shared that the mini TechCamp inspired him to hold a mobile journalism webinar in his local community.

A Chemistry teacher from Malaysia will be presenting her research on media and information literacy at an international research conference in July 2021.

Other participants said they have learned to integrate verification and fact-checking concepts in teaching English, Science, and Mathematics subjects.

Ways Forward

The work of building a knowledge-based society that can counter the effects of media misinformation and disinformation should not end with a one-off workshop.

Quinones and Wong established an online and offline support group called Media and Information Literacy for Malaysia-Philippines Network (MIL for MY-PH Network) to sustain the movement.

Now a proud member of the UNESCO MIL Alliance, formerly known as the Global Alliance for Partnerships on Media and Information Literacy (GAPMIL), the MIL for MY-PH Network can connect with international experts on media and information literacy for benchmarking and knowledge-sharing.

In partnership with CEU and SEAMEO RECSAM, the team also started conducting online dialogues and webinar series for secondary school teachers and teacher educators on integrating media and information literacy in their subject areas.

Meanwhile, the team evaluated the lesson plans developed by teacher-participants during the mini TechCamp and will publish 20 lesson plan exemplars in the guidebook for teachers and teacher educators.

“One defense against the infodemic is to ensure that our citizens acquire MIL competencies…the education of our future generation must be geared towards providing them with skills and knowledge that will empower them to be media and information literate — critically evaluate information before using or sharing it,” Wong said.

For more information, please contact:

Secretariat TechCamp Malaysia-Philippines

Email:  techcamp.myph@gmail.com