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Critical digital and media literacy

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Digital skills and competences are today increasingly seen as a significant part of basic skills. There are a number of initiatives that aim at conceptualising and defining digital skills and competences. In many cases, however, and especially at policy level, critical thinking and reflection on digital content do not receive the attention that would be necessary to safely guide European citizens through current challenges.

In 2017 the UNESCO Broadband Commission published a report entitled Digital Skills for Life and Work. The report puts forward a set of interconnected skills that make up digital competence, a continuum from basic functional skills to specialist know-how, including critical information literacy, a concept that entails the ability to critically assess information, its purposes and the methods by which it is organised and spread.

In the forthcoming discussion we invite our participants to share their experiences and good practices answering the following questions:

  • To what extent is the use of critical information and media literacy present in the current provision of digital skills in your country?
  • To what extent are policy makers and other basic skills stakeholders aware of the need to develop critical media literacy among adults with low levels of qualifications?
  • What do you think the most important challenges when teaching critical information and media literacy?
  • How would you describe the most important factots that constitute a functional level of media literacy?
  • Can you describe any initiatives in your professional network that address critical information or media literacy in the realm of digital skills and competence development?

The discussion will be moderated by Graciela Sbertoli, Secretary General of the EBSN and will start 28 August (Wednesday) 12:00 CET and will be concluded 29 August (Thursday) 17:00 CET.

 

The Capacity Building Series of EBSN provides free open educational resources (OERs) and massive online courses (MOOCs) through EPALE, to help the implementation of the European Commission recommendations on Upskilling pathways in EU Member States. EPALE is funded by the Erasmus+ programme, as part the European Commission’s ongoing commitment to improving the quality of adult learning provision in Europe. The project is implemented with the support of the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).

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Themes addressed
Basic skills
E-learning
Policy

Comments

The modern information environment is aimed at the formation of clip thinking and is filled with a lot of destructive content. Of particular concern is the fact that through digitalization and social networks, children are actively involved in this space, while not providing them with the necessary knowledge and skills for a safe stay there.

A simple example. Children go to pick mushrooms once a year, but at the same time in school textbooks there is information about which mushrooms are edible and which ones can be poisoned. And children go online almost every day, but no one teaches them how to navigate there - how to distinguish harmful information from useful information.

In these conditions, teaching critical thinking and media literacy to the younger generations becomes a matter of particular importance.

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In Latvia for teachers, children and their parents education, we have very good resource Drošs internets https://drossinternets.lv/ where you can access different materials about importance of media literacy and how to look at information.

Latvian Safer Internet Centre's main tasks are to educate, inform and raise awareness in society about the safer use of internet and provide the opportunity to report breaches on the Internet to hotline and provide a professional consultations of psychologists via helpline. Project is co-financed by the European Union. 

Actually, besides this resource, there's plenty of other resources, both in Latvian and English. It's for us to evaluate with resource to use in which occasion and how to filter trustful information. 

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These posts are really interesting and highlight the importance of critical digital and media literacy awareness not just among adult learners but among all sectors within the educational framework.  From time to time I do have the opportunity to discuss these issues with students and parents and it is always interesting to share the knowledge among the group.
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Within the next two years, JSC “Latvia's State Forests”(LVM) will implement a project co-financed by the European Union Funds (EUF) aimed at developing a competency-based general education content by introducing a digital learning and methodological tool for sustainable forest management. The tool is intended for successful implementation of the interdisciplinary theme “Forest Research” for grade 8-9 students to be used in geography, biology and mathematics and computer science.
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My name is Ejvis Gishti and im the coordinator of EPALE NSS in Albania. 
Since media literacy is not a subject introduced in the curricula, there are no associations dealing particularly with media literacy, such as those of teachers, librarians, or professional learning centres. In the same way, the weak status of journalists’ association does not allow for any influence on education policy. Albanian Media Institute (ANI) is the main NGO in the country engaged in training of journalists, working in this field since 1996. It regularly implements mainly short-term programs in journalism training for both students of journalism and mid-career journalists. In recent years its activities have particularly focused on training journalists and students in digital skills, with the aim of improving abilities of journalists to use different forms of expression, adapting to the new developments in the profession. Apart from training in digital literacy for journalists, AMI has also attempted to pave the way for introducing media literacy in the pre-university curricula. Other organizations have also tackled the media literacy issue, although initiatives have been sporadic. One of the main supporters of such initiatives has been Open Society Foundation Albania, which has supported AMI and other organizations in this field. Media Aktive Center implemented another major project in te period 2013-2105 – “Intensive Practice of Multimedia Journalism”. Under the project 90 students from journalism and other department came together, realizing start-ups of citizen journalism in the shape of blogs, YouTube channels and a WebRadio, and produced media content under supervision of media professionals. Through these courses it has been enabled the young people to become familiar with the nature of the job that takes place in a radio and television and have urged them to use digital tools for quality and influential products in society.
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Hello from Italy, we, as FORMA.Azione srl, are currently running an ERASMUS + KA3 Project entitled IN-EDU "INclusive communities through Media literacy & Critical Thinking EDUcation"aimed at to reinforcing media literacy and critical thinking among students. The IN-EDU engagement programme, the main activity of the project, does this through interactive activities at local level that encourage action and participation from teachers, parents and families, and other stakeholders – thus increasing also their awareness, knowledge and competences on the subject. By working at local level the project intends to have an impact on the wider communities and play a part in preventing marginalization and countering inequality. After a first phase of key staleholders involvement through a preliminary mapping of them and in person meetings we are now in the phase of Training the trainers at Transational level to acquire skills and competencies to design an effective IN-EDu engagement programme. This is based on two pratices that have already proven to be effective in this fiedl: Training Positive Messengers, among school teachers and students to counter online hate speech and misinformation; Civic hackathons to engage a larger audience, civil society and citizens at large. More deails on the project website: http://in-eduproject.eu/
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... for this very interesting information!
As you will see in my most recent posting, I will stop moderating this discussion in less than half an hour - but I will make sure I take the time to access the link you sent and have a look at your project. And I hope all other discussion participants will do the same. It really sounds very interesting!
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Dear discussion participants,
As previously announced, this discussion will no longer be moderated after 5 pm today. But the comment space will remain open for a few days and you are extremely welcome to add your contributions! 
Heartfelt thanks to all of you for your comments and for all the information you have contributed. We promise we will make good use of it!
See you around! 
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Hello dear colleagues,
We are Aline, Françoise and Gabriela from Luxembourg. We are working together at the Ministry of Education in the adult education department as guidance counselors.
For us the most important challenge when teaching critical information and media literacy is to raise awareness towards the (safe) use of information and communication technologies. The question is how to contact adults that have a low level of proficiency in reading and writing in order to support them in acquiring competences in media literacy. The 2018 LEO Study found that adults with low literacy skills have a generally positive attitude towards continuing education. The most important reason for not participating in education activities was a lack of time due to work commitments or family obligations.
We are currently working on a learning center for adults. We have in mind to develop for example videos for a safer internet use for adults with a low level in reading.
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Safety first - that is a good slogan when focusing on Digital and Media Literacy. It would be wonderful if you could organize online courses on this theme for adults who are just starting to develop their digital competence, don't you think? The course could start with a face-to-face introduction of the tools to be used (smart phones?) and then set up a flexible program that the adults could follow from home... It would really be interesting to try this out!
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At Lire et Ecrire, a non formal literacy adult education organization in Belgium, we just organized a seminar stressing out the importance to gather relevant information on how people with low skills actually use digital media. To us this is the first step in order to better organize the next step: accurate critical digital literacy training. In Belgium we still now too little about how and how much people with low qualification levels use digital. We should know that in order to better answer their needs and better train them to be critical. All contents of the seminar are available here (in French, mainly audio : www.lire-et-ecrire.be/Numerisation-des-services-publics-face-au-public-… )
Best regards from BXL !
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Very nice to hear from you!
You are right that having access to the needed statistics and evidence is a success factor for any national policy on this field. But hasn't Belgium participated in PIAAC? There must be a way of finding out the level of digital competence of respondents that have answered they have low levels of qualifications? Check here: http://www.oecd.org/skills/piaac/publicdataandanalysis/
Thank you for the link! The seminar sounds extremely interesting!
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Back to discussion about real and fake news. It's so, in Latvia we trust the media. BUT! Year by year we learn more about this "new trend".  Well, in Latvia we trust the media. Many of us recognize ourselves as enthusiastic users of technology and skilful users of the latest media. But we also have doubts about knowledge regarding content, media principles and structure, and data security. If we also value our own media literacy then we have to admit that we may be good at media practice and media influence issues, but we are not always confident in our ability to recognize misinformation.
 RE:CHECK
  Re: Check is a virtual fact-finding and social networking laboratory run by Re: Baltica, the Baltic Center for Research Journalism.
  
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I'm Daina, a journalist and Latvian NSS expert for communications. I think the critical thinking unfortunately has become a very exclusive skill. People read rvery day plenty of texts on FB and web sites and do not have time or will to analyse what source the information is comming from. Then the best ways to show how actually adult persons should read new information using critical thinking are case studies. In Latvia there is "Re:Baltica"-a non profit organisation of investigative journalism. EPALE-Latvia used to republish an article about vocational education (https://epale.ec.europa.eu/lv/blog/pazudis-arodskola). Now we are translating in english an article about 5G internet (https://epale.ec.europa.eu/lv/blog/panika-par-5g-tiklu-ka-ta-radusies-u…) -step by step analyzing why the "facts" about "dangerous and unhealthy" 5G are fake.
(I don't know how the situation is in other countries, but in Latvia this is a big rumor and topic at the moment)
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It is so good to also have a journalist in the discussion group! You and your colleagues understand better than anybody to what extent information can be biased and untrustworthy - and how sources can be analyzed to make sure they are serious.
I don't speak Latvian, but the work "panika" is easy to understand! :-) No, I haven't heard about these rumours here in Norway. Maybe other discussion participants have?
We will be very thankful for any documentation you can translate to English!
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 Maybe this rumor depends on situation with developing 5G network in particular coutry...
In any case last year we also created our own webinar about critical digital thinking. Is still available in EPALE resources:  https://epale.ec.europa.eu/lv/resource-centre/content/epale-vebinars-pa….
 I just realized --maybe it would be worth to transcript the main thesis and publish on EPALE as blog on lv and en 
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About training and information campaigns, digital skills training at national level in Latvia.
Digital Week 2019 in Latvia has been successfully concluded. Training and information  - in spring - have been going on in Latvia for several years. They were originally called "E-Skills Week", then "Digital Week". More than 28,000 people and entrepreneurs throughout Latvia have used the opportunity to learn the opportunities provided by information and communication technologies in Digital Week 2019, making Latvia one of the most active participants of the week for the tenth consecutive year. The Digital Week in Latvia was organized by the Latvian Information and Communication Technology Association (LIKTA) together with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (VARAM) and its main partners Microsoft Latvia, Latvian State Radio and Television Center and Cultural Information Systems Center. The Digital Week was held throughout Latvia from 25 to 29 March and was part of the European Digital ALL 2019 campaign. In Latvia, 202 cities, regions and parishes were actively involved in organizing events. All in all, citizens and businesses had the opportunity to participate in 600 events with nearly 300 partners: ministries, government agencies, businesses, banks, schools and universities, libraries, municipal authorities and non-governmental organizations.on digital skills training at national level. Information from http://eprasmes.lv/ Digital Week 2019 in Latvia has been successfully concluded Training and information campaigns - in spring - have been going on in Latvia for several years. They were originally called "E-Skills Week", then "Digital Week". More than 28,000 people and entrepreneurs throughout Latvia have used the opportunity to learn the opportunities provided by information and communication technologies in Digital Week 2019, making Latvia one of the most active participants of the week for the tenth consecutive year. The Digital Week in Latvia was organized by the Latvian Information and Communication Technology Association (LIKTA) together with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (VARAM) and its main partners Microsoft Latvia, Latvian State Radio and Television Center and Cultural Information Systems Center. The Digital Week was held throughout Latvia from 25 to 29 March and was part of the European Digital ALL 2019 campaign. In Latvia, 202 cities, regions and parishes were actively involved in organizing events. All in all, citizens and businesses had the opportunity to participate in 600 events with nearly 300 partners: ministries, government agencies, businesses, banks, schools and universities, libraries, municipal authorities and non-governmental organizations.
Information from Latvia: http://eprasmes.lv/ Information from Latvia: http://eprasmes.lv/
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Answering to your invitation to share our experiences and good practices related to digital and media literacy, here is the contribution of Donald Vogli, Ambassador of EPALE NSS in Albania.
Thanks to the overall debate on media professionalism, especially ethics, there is a degree of reflection and discussion on media quality. The media professionals and academicians interviewed shared that the public has some knowledge and critical sense on media in Albania, but media literacy education would be very helpful in improving understanding of how media works and how the public should read it. “Citizens are aware that news, attitude and context that the media convey are biased, but it is also clear that the further the citizens are from the elites and the capital, the more difficult it is for them to understand why media is the way it is,” .The emergence of the new and social media is another driver for the introduction of media education in the curricula. “Part of the population, based on experience or intuition can make the difference between the reality constructed by media and the real life. However, this should not be left to chance and media education should be part of the curricula. This is even more urgent with the development of new media and Internet penetration, which has further complicated reading and understanding the massive messaging, in fact we should go from ‘media literacy to `communication literacy’. Apart from some initiatives of the civil society and the NGO sector there is no particular development or attempts to promote the concept of media literacy through events or to assess the needs and media literacy levels with studies and evaluations.
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What you describe is so very important... Unfortunately, creating the sort of critical competence that will enable an adult to really distinguish the difference between real life and the reality painted by the media - that is a very complex matter and it takes a lot of time and education. But we can at least attempt to make the learners aware of the pitfalls. And yes, this is a subject that should be present in all curricula, both as an individual competence goal and as a transversal skill!
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Hello everybody,
Nice to see that there is a fruitful discussion going on about an important issue like this,digital literacy. I can see that more developed countries which are already members of EU are using digital tools as a part of their work in all the segments of the community. Unfortunately, I cannot say that for my country, in all levels, at this point of time. A great accent on digital literacy is given in these last several years and we are starting to see the benefit of it now and luckily in the following years. Stakeholders are becoming more and more aware that it is becoming a necessity for every working surrounding and that they need to invest more in this area as in equipment as in trainings for the employed. Being a school educator, I am personally directly involved in the process of student's education and am glad that now, the educational system involved digital literacy for all the subjects. Students are more interested during the classes if the material is being learnt in a new,contemporary way,using digital tools. This also makes them prepared and skilled to use digital tools for all of their future education and employment. Unfortunately, not all the schools have the appropriate equipment for it so not all the areas of the country are covered with the same opportunity for the people who live there. Usually, the urban ares are more involved in the digital literacy process while the rural areas are a little bit neglected. Luckily, there are some projects, organized by EU funds, which involve the rural areas, some by giving equipment, some by seminars for the employees, so they can be a part of this process as well. 
Realizing the current situation, all the help we can get is more then welcomed, in a shape of suggestions for improvement or collaboration with some other organization which is more skilled on this issue for a project that can involve even more people from different kinds of backgrounds and communities. 
Thank you for giving us an opportunity to express our opinions and share ideas.
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Welcome to the discussion! (Can you please tell us your name?)
Yes, I understand you may feel you still lack the infrastructure needed to work efficiently with the issue we are discussing - but there is a lot that can be done using simply smart phones...
The EBSN is very interested in cooperating with your country within this field. If you have a look at our membership list, you will see we already have two member institutions in your country. Maybe you can contact them with a view to establishing an international project about this issue?
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My name is Snezana,
Thanks for the info about the two institutions suggested, we will gladly contact them and check for further collaboration. The idea for the smartphones is really good but people who work in the public institutions are still not used to use the smartphones during their work. There is still this barrier present in our country towards technology and appropriate applications and trainings for the employees are really necessary. Luckily, things are improving, slowly, but surely we are going forward. Lifelong learning network was part of the Digital Literacy project in the frames of the Braking Barriers project and we had a chance to learn and experience a lot, especially in the practical part. There was a dissemination of the training in our offices but also in several schools in different communities in our country. Hopefully, this will still go on and we will spread the theoretical and practical knowledge as much as we can. 
We will be in touch further on for any useful info we have
Thank you
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And very nice to hear that you were part of the Breaking Barriers project! That was a project that included several EBSN member institutions, and I think the results were extremely interesting! Do keep in touch! I am sure we will find ways of cooperating!
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I really agree learners today are more engaged when digital literacy is used in class.  As educators we need to create the right learning environment where learners can engage in collaborative and autonomous learning where technology is a catalyst to engage them in further learning opportunities.  

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Answering to your invitation to share our experiences and good practices related to digital and media literacy, here is the contribution of ANQEP, National Agency for Qualification and VET in Portugal.
1 – To what extent is the use of critical information and media literacy present in the current provision of digital skills in your country? 
In 2017 Portugal Government developed a national initiative to ensure digital competences for all till 2030. This initiative has several axes, such as inclusion, education, qualification, specialization and research, and one of its goals is to generalize digital literacy to guarantee a full exercise of citizenship and inclusion in a society with increasingly dematerialized practices and mediated by electronic devices. Therefore, the initiative has some milestones. Considering population qualification in digital skills, Portugal should have 55% of people with digital basic skills or more in 2020, 65% in 2025 and finally 80% in 2030. In 2016 Portuguese people rate that never used internet was 26%. For this initiative to be effective there is a strong focus on the qualification of the population, providing them with the necessary knowledge for their integration in the labour market strongly dependent on digital skills. This is done mainly through training solutions developed under the Qualifica program, both in VET and CVET, and are especially focused in info-exclusion and cyber security. 
 2 – To what extend are policy makers and other basic skills stakeholders aware of the need to develop critical media literacy among adults with low levels of qualifications? 
Portuguese policy makers and stakeholders have been developing work in the field of media Literacy, especially through the creation of the Informal Group on Media Literacy (which comprises several public institutions working in media and education). This group is mainly focused on youth. More recently, Portugal has been developing a National Plan for the Literacy of Adults that includes digital literacy. We are also in the process of restructuring the key-competence framework for adult education (basic level), where digital literacy will also be addressed and reinforced. 
 4 – How would you describe the most important factors that constitute a functional level of media literacy? 
It is important for people to be aware that today they are not merely recipients of information. All of us are contents producers and run a network of broadcasters that we choose for our group. Thus, the information we accept and choose to receive may not be the most reliable if it comes from less credible sources. In addition, we must be aware that as contents producers all of us can be influencers and manipulators of information even unconsciously. Therefore, it is desirable for each of us to be responsible as a producer and carrier of information. If we believe in common values and social inclusion then we all have to be responsible in our use of the social media. 
 5 – Can you describe any initiatives in your professional network that address critical information or media literacy in the realm of digital skills and competence development? 
In January this year, the Portuguese Ministry of Education signed a protocol with the Journalists Union to prepare media teachers to train informed citizens, conscious and participatory towards a collective future. 
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That was a thorough and very interesting answer about how this issue is treated in your country! Well done! 
I particularly like your answer to question nr 4. This is something I think we should discuss at length!
Additional task for everybody here: do you think your national stakeholders are aware of the issues Ana Isa mentions as answer to question nr 4?
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In Austria some stakeholders are aware, at least there is some discussion about it. The output of the dossier I mentioned before, where Helmut Peissl is one of the authors, e.g. was also perceived by political parties in the Austrian parliament and led after the publication to a discussion on the need to promote critical media literacy. The NEOS party proposed that the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research should come up with a plan for anchoring media literacy in adult education; however, the relevant motion for a resoultion of the NEOS was rejected by the governing parties. The status of the parliamentary treatment is at https://www.parlament.gv.at/PAKT/VHG/XXVI/A/A_00677/index.shtml#tab-Uberbersicht (in German).
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Mani sauc Ingrīda Muraškovska. Es esmu reģionālais izglītības eksperts Latvijā. Man ir labi jaunumi. Mūsu reģionam apstiprināja Erasmus + projektu "The spirit of entrepreneurial activity for families". Mēs plānojam kopīgi ar partneriem no Lietuvas un Maķedonijas apzināt labās prakses piemērus, kā ar pieaugušo izglītības palīdzību sekmēt uzņēmības garu ģimenēm. Es esmu pārliecināta, ka kritiskā domāšana ir viena no uzņēmības sastāvdaļām. Tādēļ vēlos pateikties par šo diskusiju un idejām, kā attīstīt kritisko domāšanu. Tās mums noderēs projektā, apspriežot uzņēmības veicināšanas ceļus. Cilvēku  profesionālā darbība ir atšķirīga un intereses arī ir dažādas. Taču visus vieno vēlme paaugstināt ģimenes labklājību. Manuprāt, kritiskā domāšana būtu ļoti pieprasīta, ja to pasniegtu šajā kontekstā. Labās prakses piemērus, kurus apkoposim, noteikti publicēsim EPALE platformā.  Lai mums visiem veicas!
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My name is Ingrida Murashovsky. I am a regional education expert in Latvia. I have good news. The Erasmus + project "The spirit of entrepreneurial activity for families" was approved for our region. Together with our partners from Lithuania and Macedonia, we intend to identify examples of good practice for fostering the entrepreneurial spirit of families through adult education. I am convinced that critical thinking is one component of the entrepreneurial spirit. Therefore, I would like to thank you for this discussion and for ideas on how to develop critical thinking. They will help us in the project by discussing ways to promote entrepreneurship. People have different professional backgrounds and interests. But everyone is united in their desire to increase family well-being. In my opinion, critical thinking would be highly sought after if presented in this context. The best practices we collect will definitely be posted on the EPALE platform. Good luck to all of us!

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As additional information for the participants of our TCA on "Critical Media Competence" in Berlin in December 2018, we have put together a dossier on Critical Media Literacy in Adult Education which tackles some of the core issues: What is critical media literacy? What pitfalls do we encounter in the engagement with media (information overload, fake news, media in the political system) and much more.
The dossier is currently available in German only (but of course if you would like to translate parts of it, let us know) and can be Access in the EPALE resource Center:
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Thanks a lot for this, Christine! I have been going through the document and realize there is a wealth of information about this theme. Yes, I do wish many of the documents you link to had been translated to English... We probably need to use some time to go through it and find out what should be prioritized, In any case: thanks an awful lot, and welcome to the discussion!
You mention that the dossier answers questions like "What pitfalls do we encounter in the engagement with media (information overload, fake news, media in the political system)"... Any chance that you or one of your colleagues could write a short summary of the answers the course gave about this issue?
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Hi Graciela,
The reason why the dossier is in German is that we had to make it manageable in the research process, so we cut it to predominantly German language publications - of which there is still a large amount as you have noticed (and this is just a small selection). If I remember correctly, some sections were translated into English to have at least some information for English speaking participants.
I'll be happy to summarise the information on the pitfalls. I won't manage today within the context of the discussion and I am happy to add it at a later point.
Best regards,
Christine
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We will leave the discussion open for some days after the end of the moderation period this afternoon. You can also send your summary to me by email to gs@basicskills.eu . The EBSN will be delighted to be able to include your resumé in one of our OERs within the Capacity Building Series. *https://epale.ec.europa.eu/en/blog/european-basic-skills-network-capacity-building-series
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Graciela,
My colleague, Karo Jagodzinski, will later post the English translation of the dossier, so you will already have a pretty good starting point. So look out for her post and I'll provide a summary for you to use.
All the best and Keep this very needed discussion going,
Christine
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Hello everyone,

for all of you who were interested in the dossier, we have had it translated into English as well. The English document is uploaded on EPALE so feel free to download it and browse for interesting Content: Although most of it is in German, some content in English is also provided:

https://ec.europa.eu/epale/en/resource-centre/content/critical-media-literacy-and-adult-education

Best,

Karolina

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Hi, I am Martina and I work the Austrian Library Association (ALA) (German: Büchereiverband Österreichs, BVÖ)) – the umbrella organisation representing the interests of Public Libraries in Austria.
When I first thought about critical and digital media literacy only trainings and workshops for kids and teens (in school) came to my mind. There should definitely be more offers for adults.
Libraries are centres of information and education. It´s not enough only to offer different types of media in the libraries, it´s necessary to teach people how to use them. The first step is to teach the librarians. Therefore media literacy is part of the curriculum. There are some difficulties we have to deal with. About 80 percent of the librarians in Austria´s public libraries work on a volunteer basis. It´s not necessary for them to do the training for librarians. It depends on their willingness. Before we can teach them about media literacy we need to convince them to do the training.
There were already so many useful links and sources mentioned. I´d like to add www.saferinternet.at. Although it´s mainly for students, teachers and parents they also provide information for e.g. senior citizens. And some information for students can be used in adult education, too.
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... thanks a lot for your input! 
The issue of volunteering is quite important. As a colleague of mine used to say, volunteers should be professionalized. Volunteering means only that they don't get paid - they should have good options for training!
Thank you for the link - I love the emphasis on a safe Internet. That is such an important part of the digital competence we need to teach adult learners...
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Hello, Graciela Sbertoli,
  I fully agree with you, Graciela, that people (librarians) who work with people and who have access to databases and a huge amount of information, including different views, both: online and in other media, need to be professionally educated. Probably, there should be a special training program  offered to these volunteers.Librarians are not only educators, they are guides in all this huge amount of data and information. It should not be run on its own. As librarians, we need to keep up-to-date with the latest developments
In Latvian: Sveicināta, Graciela Sbertoli,
 es pilnībā piekrītu Jūsu viedoklim, Graciela, ka cilvēkiem, kas strādā ar cilvēkiem (bibliotekāram), kuriem ir piekļuve datubāzēm un milzīgam informācijas apjomam, tai skaitā dažāda veida viedokļiem gan internetā, gan citos mēdijos, ir jābūt profesionāli izglītotiem. Un attiecīgi- brīvprātīgajiem varētu tikt izveidotas speciālās apmācību programmas. Bibliotekāri ir ne tikai izglītotāji, bet arī gidi visā šai milzīgajā datu un informācijas pārbagātībā. To nedrīkst palaist pašplūsmē. Mums kā bibliotekāriem ir nepārtraukti jāizglītojas jaunākajās norisēs...
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