Media competence as key qualification
Günther Anfang, Director of the Department Practice of the JFF - Institute for Media Education in Research and Practice
During the past five years, we have been running the mobile clip competition entitled 'In the blink of an ear!'
We have joined forces with O2 to run this competition nationwide. It is intended to motivate young people to use their mobile phones creatively for their own stories.
We believe that these activities foster creative use of mobile phones as well as highlighting the associated risks.
We have joined forces with O2 to run this competition nationwide. It is intended to motivate young people to use their mobile phones creatively for their own stories.
We believe that these activities foster creative use of mobile phones as well as highlighting the associated risks.
A skilled and responsible approach to new media is now a key qualification. This relates to jobs as much as leisure. We are empowering children and young people to be in full command of their mobile-phone and Internet use. We inform parents and teachers about the risks and potential of communication technology.
Virtually every young person in Germany has a mobile phone. More than nine out of ten phones have a digital camera integrated and 79 percent of young people can go on the Internet with their mobile phone.1) The consequence of this media revolution is that mobile phones are no longer just used to make calls or send SMS messages. Young people use these devices to link up with friends and to the Internet with its booming social networks. However, the big upside to these developments also has a downside in the negative trends associated with media use. Phenomena like Happy Slapping (young people attacking others with someone else filming the incident on their phone) indicate that an irresponsible approach to new media can lead to increased conflict. This emerging trend highlights the importance of instilling a sense of responsibility in young people and giving them a roadmap for mastering the new media with acumen and skill.
Virtually every young person in Germany has a mobile phone. More than nine out of ten phones have a digital camera integrated and 79 percent of young people can go on the Internet with their mobile phone.1) The consequence of this media revolution is that mobile phones are no longer just used to make calls or send SMS messages. Young people use these devices to link up with friends and to the Internet with its booming social networks. However, the big upside to these developments also has a downside in the negative trends associated with media use. Phenomena like Happy Slapping (young people attacking others with someone else filming the incident on their phone) indicate that an irresponsible approach to new media can lead to increased conflict. This emerging trend highlights the importance of instilling a sense of responsibility in young people and giving them a roadmap for mastering the new media with acumen and skill.
Addressing children and young people in specific target groups
Creating media competence is a focus of our Corporate Responsibility Strategy and part of our commitment to protecting young people against negative effects of the new media. In 2010, our media competence projects are aiming to reach at least 7,500 young people and highlight the opportunities and risks presented when using mobile phones and the Internet. We are particularly keen to introduce young people to the possibilities available and given them practical information. Our aim is also to intensify their engagement with new technologies. We demonstrate how they can apply creativity and responsibility to their use of advanced communication technology. We will take great care to adopt the right approach to each specific target groups. We issue invitations to training sessions and dialogues, and initiate debates.
In 2009, we teamed up with our joint-venture partners to run a series of events dealing with the issue of media competence. These outreach events got through to numerous children and teenagers.
Enthusing young people to embrace media competence
We joined forces with the Institute for Media Education (JJF-Institut für Medienpädagogik) in 2008 to hold an ongoing programme of "Media Competence Days". We issued invitations asking young people to join us at our mobile roadshow "O2 World on tour". The roadshow events are directed towards young people aged 14 to 16. In 2009, invitations were sent out for three Media Competence Days. Some 1,000 young people and 50 teachers came along to see our roadshow in Hamburg, Cologne and Munich. The aim was to give teenagers a fun introduction to a responsible approach to mobile phones and the Internet. The content communicated by the media coaching team from JFF covered subjects like data protection and mobile networks on the Internet and the participants were tested on their knowledge in a quiz.
Naturally, the young people were also able to use their mobile phones to record videos on the subject of "Getting close". Professional editors then edited the material. All the contributions were presented at the end of the day. Visitors could also take part in a competition entitled "In the blink of an ear". JFF created the competition and Telefónica O2 Germany has been supporting it since it was launched. The best mobile clips submitted for the competition received prizes at an award ceremony in November in Munich.
Survey confirms good response with young people
A survey of 229 visitors to the Media Competence Days revealed that more than half (59 percent) of the young people thought that they had learnt something new about mobile phones and the Internet. There were evidently a lot of unknowns on the issue of data protection in social communities, because 63 stated that they had found out new things about their rights in the network. 33 percent reckoned that they had learnt something they didn't know about mobile phones and health.
Empowering school children and teachers
Since 2004, we have been supporting the Internet-based SCHOLA-21 platform as partner of the German Children and Youth Institute (GCYI). SCHOLA-21 provides support for school project work. It allows school children to develop, work on and present joint projects online. SCHOLA-21 provides teachers with materials designed to help with preparation of lessons. Since the start of the platform in 2004, virtually 5,000 schools and more than 37,000 users have registered. One of the interactive learning projects is the SCHOLA-21 Online Debate on the subject "My Life on the Net" where 30 school children exchanged views over a period of six weeks. Blogging links formal lessons with the informal world of the Internet. SCHOLA-21 Reporter Academy is another project supported by O2 where 50 school children in Berlin spent ten weeks learning about modes of presentation in journalism. The sports reports, news bulletins and columns written by the pupils with the help of professional journalists were presented at the Museum for Communication at the end of 2009.
We want to ensure that our campaigns reach as many children as possible. That's why we are working together with partners and teachers on disseminating the issue of media competence in schools. We are providing teachers' camps by supporting the Initiative D21. These workshops provide a forum for young trainee teachers to learn about innovative teaching and learning styles using new communication media. The project was headed by the German Children and Youth Institute (GCYI). We have been the Premium Partner for the project entitled "The best teachers for Germany's schools of the future!" since autumn 2009. O2 is committed to this project together with other partners in order to offer teachers a forum where they can exchange views and ideas on their experiences and concepts relating to IT in the context of teaching.
Telefónica Europe has joined forces with Europe's leading Internet, mobile phone and social network providers to establish a charitable network comprising more than 25 European education and cultural ministries in close cooperation with European Schoolnet. The online platform TeachToday went live online in April 2008. The network offers teachers support in overcoming problems dealing with the new media. It also addresses issues on interactive communication technologies confronting schools. They include bullying on mobile phones or the Internet, publishing photos, infringement of personality rights, social networks on Internet sites and handling personal data irresponsibly. Assisted by the TeachToday initiative, O2 wants to contribute to providing teachers and parents with extensive information on handling new communication technologies. For example, rules and hints for everyday use, ideas for teaching, and information about the latest trends.
Our goal is to work with our expert cooperation partners to raise the awareness of children, teenagers and parents and promote a responsible and positive approach to using our products and services.
Offering children a protected surfing area
Three quarters of all children have access to the Internet at home. We would like to help them to use it independently and responsibly. The search engine www.fragFinn.de provides a protected surfing area for young children. Parents who install this search engine on their own PC or on their children's PC can rest assured that their children will only be able to surf pages with content suitable for young people. "fragFinn" is based on a Whitelist with a collection of links where the content has been audited for suitability. This collection was put together by the initiative "A Net for Children", which was launched by the German government in 2006. O2 was one of the 20 founding members. Together with the other partners, we financed and sponsored the creation of the Whitelist The project was organized by the Voluntary Self-monitoring Multimedia Service Providers (Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle Multimedia Diensteanbieter e.V., FSM), who we have been affiliated with since 2006.
Informing parents
Our efforts to raise the level of media competence in children and teenagers are dependent on the support of parents. We teamed up with the Bavarian Child Protection Association (Kinderschutzbund Bayern) in 2009 to carry out special information events for parents. Under the slogan "Strong Parents - Strong Children", we invited parents to find out about children's media world. We addressed the issue of how parents can teach their children to use their mobile phone and the Internet responsibly. This project came to an end in 2009 and will continue under the title of "Strong Parents" under the management of the Information Centre for Mobile Telephony (Informationszentrum Mobilfunk, IZMF). Anyone who wants to find out more on this subject can access information and tips by clicking on Parent Guide at O2 (
Elternratgeber von O2, german).Deploying employees as competence trainers
We regard our employees as important multiplicators on media competence issues - at work and in the private sphere. Our Corporate Volunteering packages give employees the opportunity to teach children and teenagers to use mobile phones responsibly in selected projects. Members of staff who are interested in working in this area can receive training and are released for up to two days to carry out projects. In October 2009, we trained a large number of employees in our Munich Head Office to do this work. Next year, 80 percent of employees from Sales and Customer Service will be participating in a new online training course for media competence. Participation in this training will be obligatory for all employees. They will also have to go on refresher courses every three years.
Looking for dialogue
We initiated a discussion about media competence on the Internet platform www.diskutiere.de in 2009. The question we discussed with interested stakeholders was: "Are our young people adequately prepared for the digital future?" This triggered a lively virtual debate that concluded with a platform discussion involving participants from science and the humanities, politics and education.
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