15.06.2023
The Media Education Forum discussed the structures of media education and Artificial Intelligence
Media Education Forum held in the 23rd of May brought together media education planning and actors to gain new perspectives and discuss current media education topics. According to the feedback received from the day, the topics of the day – artificial intelligence and media education in municipalities – were found to be very interesting. Many participants praised the relaxed but knowledgeable and enthusiastic atmosphere created in Helsinki’s Paasitorni congress centre.
The first presentations of the day concerned Research Centre Cupore’s recent report on managing media education in municipalities. Specialist researcher Anna Kanerva and researcher Katja Oksanen-Särelä drew attention to media education’s structures and responsibility issues. Development manager Irmeli Myllymäki from Kuntaliitto (Association of Finnish Municipalities) continued to reflect on the role of municipalities, and Katariina Lauronen, Library service manager of the city of Espoo, gave a good example of how things can be done at the municipal level.
Perspectives of media education on artificial intelligence
Pennsylvania State University Docent Aaron Knochel talked about artificial intelligence and especially how to produce images with it. How should a media educator react to the development? According to Knochel, in the future, media literacy includes at least an understanding of what the new “cognitive assemblage” means, when humans and artificial intelligence produce and create together. According to Knochel, future literacy also includes scepticism toward algorithms. University Lecturer Tomi Slotte Dufva’s commentary included criticism of artificial intelligence also from the point of view of ecology and ethics. You can watch a recording of the artificial intelligence lecture.
The workshops affect the activities of the autumn season
In the afternoon, in the workshops led by experts from KAVI’s media education team, the topic of media education in municipalities was deepened by considering structures. In the second workshop, ideas were shared about the relationship between research and media education, and the subject of inclusivity,which was presented last year, was deepened in the workshop of the ICME project. At the end of the day, we still discussed at the rotating presentation tables.
What can promoting research-basedness mean in your own work? In the workshop led by Lauri Palsa, joint thinking was developed with a way of working that emphasized the connections of one’s own thinking with the thinking of others.
The topics worked on in the workshops will be returned to in many ways this coming fall, when the inclusive media education model has been worked on and when KAVI starts publishing the Media Literate Municipality newsletter, which offers information and ideas for developing media education in municipalities.
More information:
Communication specialist Leena Pylkkö, leena.pylkko@kavi.fi
Main picture: Aaron Knochel talking about AI. Photographs: Ville Sohn, KAVI.