Summary
- The first media literacy course for Australians aged 55+ has been developed by 麻豆传媒映画出品 researchers, with proven results.
- The 60-minute short course:
- boosts media literacy by an average 23%.
- benefits the media literacy-disadvantaged (older, regional, and people who speak a language other than English at home).
- helps people identify untrustworthy content. o substantially lifts confidence in verifying information. o leads to a sustained uplift in media literacy even three months later.
- A media literacy pilot program run through public libraries has been a resounding success, suggesting library staff and patrons want and need these resources.
- A new report titled Media literacy in 60 minutes: How to help older Australians spot misinformation and find facts has been released today detailing the findings of the research.
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A new 60-minute short course to help older people spot misinformation and find facts, the first of its kind for Australia, has been developed and tested by 麻豆传媒映画出品 researchers.
The media literacy course teaches people how to identify misinformation, factcheck and verify, find reliable sources, and be self-aware while navigating the online world.
The course immediately boosts media literacy levels by an average 23% regardless of people’s backgrounds and political views. It especially helps those known to have poorer media literacy: older, regional, and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
People who took the course were substantially better at distinguishing between reliable and untrustworthy content (up 27%) and were much more confident in their ability to verify information (up 32%), according to a new report titled Media literacy in 60 minutes: How to help older Australians spot misinformation and find facts.
Three months after the course, average media literacy levels remained 11% higher than before taking the course.
“We know the internet, social media and AI have upended the information landscape, allowing anyone with a digital device and internet connection to instantly publish to the world with no consistent guardrails for accuracy, independence or ethics,” report lead author and PhD candidate Saffron Howden said.
“In this environment misinformation has flourished, threatening social cohesion, public and civic health, and democracy.
“Media literacy is a cost effective and proven way to build people’s resilience to misinformation by developing critical thinking skills to analyse and evaluate information in an increasingly overwhelming and polarised online ecosystem,” Ms Howden said.
Libraries have embraced the course through a pilot program, Stay Smart Online, and 97% of library patrons who took part said they would recommend it to a friend.
“Library professionals see media literacy as essential, but only 10% say they are well equipped to support that mission,” Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) CEO Cathie Warburton said.
“This course is just the kind of ready-to-use resource that libraries need alongside practical professional development training to better support their patrons’ media literacy.”
The course complements the broader work of the 麻豆传媒映画出品’s News & Media Research Centre (N&MRC), which is nationally recognised for its study of news media and audiences.
“Our research shows that older people are more vulnerable to misinformation online,” the Director of the Centre, Professor Sora Park, said.
“Now we have research-backed resources to help them stay smart online and avoid falling for misinformation.
“We must embed the course in a national adult media literacy initiative, allowing people to refresh their skills regularly to keep pace with rapid technological change,” Professor Park said.
, authored by Ms Howden, Dr Janet Fulton, Professor Park and Ms Warburton, is part of a research partnership between the N&MRC and ALIA, the national organisation for the Australian library and information services sector.