In the last three years AMI has worked to introduce the concept of Media and Information Literacy (MIL) in non-journalism faculties, with the support of the US Embassy in Tirana. In the first phase, the concept of MIL was tested and popularized in different universities, creating the necessary resources for future actions and a core group of trainers/experts that tackle different topics of MIL, ensuring a good process of both curricula development and training. During the second phase, based on the rationale that links MIL in pre-university level with MIL in university level, AMI-US Embassy project focused in drafting the guidelines for future teachers to equip them for teaching MIL in the formal education settings.
The overall goal of the current Project is to strengthen Albanian democratic processes by increasing citizenry and strengthening capacities of young students through intervention for Media and Information Literacy in universities that produce future teachers, focusing on English Language Study Programs.
MIL interventions at the university level are planned at three levels: 1) operational (including promotion, awareness 2) analytical (understanding media, critical thinking, analytical skills, verification of sources, debunking fake news, disinformation and propaganda, etc.) and 3) creative (developing the ability to create content as well as publish it). This project addresses the three levels of the intervention for an effective intervention of MIL in universities.
The project is planned in several phases, each of them comprising of different activities. In total, there are 5 types of activities: 1) Development of MIL curricula and MIL MOOC; 2) Promotional activities; 3) Capacity building activities; 5) Sub-granting schemes; 5) Resources.
The project is supported by the US Embassy in Tirana.