The Faculty of Education of the University of Lapland and the Education University of Hong Kong have built a joint Global Media Education course. The course, which will run in autumn 2023, will introduce students to current research topics in media education, especially the importance of AI literacy.
With Chat GPT, AI literacy has become an increasingly important part of digital literacy. The topic is also strongly featured in the international Global Media Education (GLOMED) course, where AI literacy is taught by Professor Siu Cheung Kong of the University of Hong Kong. For the past years, Prof. Kong has been on the list of Stanford Top 2% Scientist in Education.
In addition to AI literacy, the GLOMED course will explore other internationally relevant research topics in media education, such as fact-checking, the digital divide in education and intercultural communication in digital media.
The partners from Hong Kong visited the University of Lapland 11.-16.06.2023. During the visit, a cooperation agreement on closer teacher and student exchange was signed. In the photo top row (from left) Professor Ming Yue Michelle Gu, Hei Tung Hilton Cheung, Associate Professor Lixun Wang and Assistant Professor Lau Chaak Ming. In Bottom row (from left) University Lecturer Mari Maasilta, Professor Chi Kin John Lee VP(AC) & Provost of the Education University of Hong Kong and Unesco Chair, Vice Chancellor of EducationSatu Uusiautti, and University Lecturer Satu-Maarit Korte. Missing from the photo are Professor Pigga Keskitalo, Professor Siu Cheung Kong, and Educational Development Manager Dr William Man Yin Cheung. Photo: Jenna Kiviniemi.
Northern Media Education Knowhow Attracts International Attention
Work on the GLOMED course started in 2021, when the Finnish National Board of Education awarded the international media education project a three-year funding from the Team Finland Knowledge programme. The project is also the first project of the UNITWIN/UNESCO Teacher Education for Social Justice and Diversity in Education network coordinated by Finns.
The first pilots of the course took place in autumn 2021 and 2022, with around thirty Finnish and foreign students participating. The pilots provided researchers with material to support research and teaching development further. The results are promising for teaching AI literacy.
“The learning methods we used in the course increased the students' interest in AI and significantly improved their AI literacy”, says Satu-Maarit Korte, University Lecturer, and Project Leader at the University of Lapland.
The international course also provides a unique learning environment for studying cultural media literacy. The students found it particularly meaningful to have the opportunity to discuss their own interests and share their experiences of peer learning between different cultures.
Next autumn, for the first time, the University of Lapland will offer the course to students from The Education University of Hong Kong. Satu-Maarit Korte and Professor Pigga Keskitalo will lecture about digital pedagogy developed especially for reindeer herder education. The results are based on the Arctic Pedagogy 2 project (European Social Fund, implemented in 2019-20). In addition to this, university lecturer Mari Maasilta will introduce the students to fact-checking.
The five-credit GLOMED course in English will be part of the media education curriculum at the University of Lapland. It will be offered not only to media education majors but also to all students and exchange students.
Further information:
Satu-Maarit Korte
040 4844492
satu-maarit.korte(at)ulapland.fi