Our colleague László HARTAI represented the HIERD at the final conference of the European Media Literacy Study (EMEDUS) on the 27th and 28th May in Paris, held at the UNESCO headquarters.
Discussions centred on some general topics related to EMEDUS, and a highlighted point was re-considering the use of terminology (media and information literacy instead of media literacy). Mr. Hartai assessed the role of media literacy in formal education: since 2002, the quality and the position of formal media education had somewhat dropped, although if looking at the quantitative indicators (for example the number of conferences organised about this topic), it can be argued that it had strengthened. To prevent the marginalisation of media education within schools, it is necessary to give more focus to media literacy in teacher training, to elaborate a conceptual framework and to guarantee the amount of time necessary for effective development. A good stimulus for member states to take media literacy more seriously would be to include it in the PISA tests – Mr. Hartai concluded.