Open training course for an international audience

Di Matteo Mancini

CREMIT – the Research Centre on Media Education, Innovation and Technology at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore – has long been committed to developing free, open online training grounded in its own research. Three of its MOOCs – Massive Open Online Courses – are now available in languages other than Italian, reaching teachers, educators, healthcare professionals, and media practitioners with no barriers to entry. All courses are hosted on the EduOpen platform, are fully self-paced – no tutor, no deadlines – and award a free certificate of participation from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore upon completion.

YO-MEDIA – Youngsters’ Media Literacy in Times of Crisis

Italian │ English │ Spanish │ Portuguese ┃ 4 modules │ 25 hours │ 5 weeks ┃ Teachers, educators, journalists

YO-MEDIA was developed within an international project funded by the European Media and Information Fund (EMIF), the European fund dedicated to combating disinformation among young people in times of crisis. The consortium brought together the Universidade de Aveiro (Portugal), the Universitat de Vic (Spain), and the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Italy), with CREMIT’s research team. The MOOC is the project’s primary training output.

The defining thread is game-based learning: the project produced a board game (Social Media Puppeteers, in which participants play roles within the information ecosystem – politicians, journalists, scientists, influencers) and a video game (Data Defenders, developed by the Universidade de Aveiro). Both are designed for structured pedagogical use in formal and non-formal educational settings. Before accessing the modules, participants are introduced to the course through a welcome questionnaire and an honour code.

Course modules

• Module 1 – Information Literacy today. The framework of information literacy in times of crisis – war, health emergencies, environmental uncertainty – with a focus on the key issues and support for self-training and continuous learning.
• Module 2 – Video games in times of crisis. The main findings of the YO-MEDIA project, translated into practical resources, suggestions, examples, and good practices for school and educational contexts. Includes peer-to-peer strategies to engage students, educators, and teachers.
• Module 3 – Data Defenders: the video game. An in-depth presentation of the project’s video game and guidance on how to use video games in education and training.
• Module 4 – Board games. A focus on the board game developed by YO-MEDIA partners, with support for integrating board games into educational practice.

Each module includes video lessons, textual resources (infographics, fact sheets, tips), an e-tivity – a practical activity to adapt concepts to real-world educational contexts – and a FAQ area. A gamified progression system rewards participants with a symbol of achievement at the completion of each module’s test, fostering participation and reducing dropout.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, participants will have developed the ability to:

• develop media literacy skills for times of crisis: new challenges and competences in contexts of war, health, and environmental uncertainty;
• understand media manipulation techniques, including those used in the creation of misleading news, with reference to AI and information;
• question the truthfulness of information and evaluate sources critically;
• reflect on the consequences of news dissemination, especially in fragile and uncertain times, and on the social impact of fake news;
• develop awareness of ethical responsibility in the media ecosystem and in the information system fed by social media and AI;
• build strategies and methodological approaches based on video games and game-based learning.

The teaching team is international: Alessandra Carenzio and Stefano Pasta from the Università Cattolica; Nelson Zagalo and Nadine Santos from the Universidade de Aveiro; Ruth Contreras from the Universitat de Vic.

Enrol now: learn.eduopen

Project website: yomedia

How to access the courses

All three courses are free and available on the EduOpen platform. Simply create a personal account and enrol in your chosen course: all modules are immediately accessible, with no deadlines to meet. Upon passing each module’s test, participants can download their certificate of participation from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. All content is distributed under a Creative Commons 4.0 licence (BY-NC-SA).

We look forward to seeing you on EduOpen.

Further reading

This article is part of the CREMIT MOOCs Beyond Borders series. Discover the other open training courses available in the same collection:

• Check & Design – Digital Information Literacy and Collaborative Learning at School
• Pallium – Towards a Culture of Palliative Care

All articles are published in the International MOOC section of the CREMIT website.